Former Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams called a play at the end of New York’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday that helped cost him his job, and even head coach Adam Gase was reportedly stunned by the coverage.
With a 28-24 lead and just seconds remaining, all the Jets had to do was keep Las Vegas from going 46 yards for a touchdown on one play. A safe coverage seemed like the obvious call, but Williams dialed up a blitz. According to Michael Silver of NFL Network, the Raiders were not surprised by the call. Gase was, but Las Vegas snapped the ball before he could do anything about it.
Silver provided a breakdown on Monday of what happened on the final play of New York’s 31-28 loss. He said Jets linebacker Neville Hewitt could have changed the coverage when he saw Carr make a pre-snap adjustment, but no one blames Hewitt for Williams’ mistake. Gase was said to be “shocked.”
2) One person who was caught off guard: Jets HC Adam Gase, who never imagined his DC would make a call leaving the back end so vulnerable with the Raiders so far from the end zone and without a timeout…
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) December 7, 2020
4) Theoretically, linebacker Neville Hewitt, the Jets' defensive signal-caller, could have checked out of the defense (specifically, in reaction to Carr's check changing the protection), but the player decided against making that executive decision…
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) December 7, 2020
5) Afterward, Hewitt was beating himself up for not having checked to a Cover-Two defense… but no one was blaming the player. And with the firing of Williams this morning, it's clear who the Jets' Powers That Be felt was responsible.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) December 7, 2020
Several analysts immediately questioned whether the Jets threw the game intentionally, as the loss got them one step closer to the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft. Jets players also trashed Williams over the call.
Williams is known for his blitz packages. Calling a safe coverage in that situation seemed like a given, but there are many reasons the Jets rank near the bottom of the NFL in defense and have not won a game this season. Costly mistakes like that have become the norm for the team.
