When the Jets defense walked off the field Thursday, having just allowed what would eventually become the winning touchdown in a pivotal game, the players had a dejected feeling that's become all too familiar lately.
The unit, coach Rex Ryan's pride and joy and one of the league's most respected defenses, failed to get off the field and close out the offensively challenged Denver Broncos. What's worse, the demoralizing 95-yard touchdown drive in the game's closing moments—which left the Jets at 5-5 and put the team's playoff hopes in serious jeopardy—resembled a couple of other contests this year.
The defense faltered in the final quarter against the Raiders in Week 3, allowing a touchdown and late field goal that, with a 10-point deficit, essentially put the game out of reach.
Then in Week 5, when New York was down six points to New England in the final quarter, the Jets couldn't stop Patriots tailback BenJarvus Green-Ellis from milking the clock. He slowly twisted a dagger into New York's comeback hopes that day, running the ball 10 times for 59 yards on a late 13-play, 69-yard drive that ate up more than six minutes and allowed the Pats to go ahead, 30-21, by two scores.
But the stunning finish in Denver marked the low point of the year for the Jets, who in four days went from an opportunity to jump in the AFC East driver's seat to needing considerable help to take a wild-card playoff spot. "This one's tough," Ryan said, noting that it hurt more because his defense couldn't make a stop. "It's the kind of loss that will make you take a long, hard look at yourself."
The Jets were dominant defensively in the second and third quarters against Tim Tebow and Denver's unconventional offensive attack, forcing six three-and-outs and allowing just 51 yards over that span. But, under pressure, the Jets wilted when it counted, particularly on the Tebow scoring play, in which he took advantage of an all-out blitz featuring eight pass rushers by scrambling for a 20-yard touchdown with 58 seconds left in the game.
Ryan said he figured Tebow would keep the ball on that play and acknowledged it was a risky call to blitz so many players. "Hindsight behind 20-20, obviously, we would've done something—anything—but that," he said. "Quite honestly, he made a great play. If you had to do it over again, of course you would've called something else, knowing the result."
The team's strategy also backfired in the fourth quarter of the October loss at New England. The defense, expecting Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to throw to protect his team's six-point edge, got carved up by Green-Ellis, who made the most of the Jets' defensive alignment.
The Jets at least yard-wise, aren't statistically worse in the fourth quarter. About 25% of the yards they've allowed this season have been in the last frame, comparable to the past two years. And they've come up big in the final stanza at times—particularly in the wins over Dallas and San Diego. Still, the four 100-yard fourth quarters the team has allowed this season are the most the Jets have given up through 10 games in the Rex Ryan era, according to Stats LLC. And the loss at Denver, in which the Jets allowed 103 yards in the final frame, appeared to hit the team and its confidence hard.
Asked whether New York's defense could still be considered elite while allowing game-winning and contest-sealing drives, All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis paused before giving a response. "I think it's something we probably need to focus on," he said. "We haven't been finishing strong in the second half or the fourth quarter. We really have to critique ourselves and see where we're going wrong."
Write to Chris Herring at chris.herring@wsj.com
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