Maurice Jones-Drew is getting a ton of praise for his awareness, selflessness, and foresight to kneel down at the 1 yard line in the final two minutes of the Jags/Jets game on Sunday. The Jags were down by a point, 22-21, with the clock at 1:48 and running, and they had the ball at the 10 yard line. The Jets decided to let Jones-Drew walk in for the touchdown so that they’d have a 1:30 or so left to try and score a touchdown to win it. Instead, MJD outfoxed them based on what his coaches instructed him to do:
From the moment Maurice went down I was saying it was the wrong move. Considering the Jaguars were losing at the time he did it, he was taking a big risk that they could wind up losing the game if something went wrong. When you make the decision what you have to weigh is the likelihood of the Jags botching the field goal with a bad hold, snap, or kick against Jacksonville’s chances of stopping the Jets from scoring a touchdown in 1:30. To me, there’s a greater chance of something going wrong with the game-winning field goal than the Jets going 80 yards or so in 1:30. Maurice is getting lauded for wearing his thinking cap and making the unselfish play but I thought it was the wrong move. Luckily it worked out for the 5-4 Jags but imagine how bad he would have looked for not taking the free points if something went wrong with the kick.
