Davante Adams and the New York Jets made a very costly mistake late in their game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
The Jets and Dolphins were in a 23-23 tie with time winding down in the fourth quarter at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla. Adams made a big catch on 3rd-and-21 to pick up 14 yards and put New York in field goal range. He then voluntary ducked out of bounds, however, which stopped the clock with 56 seconds remaining.
The Dolphins were out of timeouts, so there would have been no way for them to stop the clock if Adams stayed inbounds. Rather than running almost the entire clock down and then kicking the go-ahead field goal, the Jets left Miami plenty of time to put together a game-tying drive of their own.
And that is exactly what happened.
The Dolphins got an excellent kick return from Malik Washington on their ensuing possession to set them up at their own 46-yard line. Tua Tagovailoa then orchestrated a field goal drive to send the game to overtime.
Miami won the coin toss in overtime and then the game with a 70-yard touchdown drive.
After the game, Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich told reporters that the goal was to have Adams stay inbounds, but the Dolphins did an effective job of forcing the receiver out.
Jeff Ulbrich was asked about Davante Adams stepping out of bounds after catching a pass inside four minutes:
"We had just gone on the field and told everybody, 'We are officially in four minute mode.' Stay in bounds, burn the clock as best as possible." pic.twitter.com/1qLJlWwkL6
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) December 8, 2024
Adams wasn’t entirely to blame. The Jets could have called a better play to complete a pass over the middle of the field instead. Still, Adams should have known the situation and at least fought to remain inbounds. That would have allowed New York to kick the go-ahead field goal with barely any time remaining.
