The New York Jets are celebrating their first and only victory of 2020 – a victory over the Los Angeles Rams, which could cost them a chance to sign Clemson superstar Trevor Lawrence in the NFL draft.
Photo:
kirby lee / Reuters
The New York Jets eventually won a football game. It may prove to be their biggest loss of the season.
The Jets defeated the Los Angeles Rams 23-20 on Sunday in an extremely unlikely upset, avoiding the ignominy of finishing the season without a win. But the consequences of this victory are potentially disastrous. I’m now following the Jacksonville Jaguars in race no. 1 of the NFL draft.
The jets turned out to be absolutely terrible in a season when there was actually a tremendous incentive to be the worst team in the NFL. The team with the lowest record always gets the best choice, and this year this choice is very tempting. Clemson’s defender, Trevor Lawrence, is seen as one of the best clients in recent years and able to return with any club dying enough to be in a position to choose him. Even the Jets.
The only thing the Jets proved to be exceptional was the loss enough to win Lawrence. In most of their games, they were completely blown up. In the rare game, they defied the chances by simply being competitive, they managed to throw the advantages in a phenomenal way.
At the start of the season, they led the New England Patriots by 10 points in the fourth quarter and gave up 13 unanswered points in the final minutes. This was less impressive than their loss two weeks ago to the Las Vegas Raiders, when they dropped a 46-yard touchdown pass with five seconds left – a piece so unlikely that Jets fans wouldn’t they could believe their luck when it happened.
The Jets went 0-13 on Sunday, and this seemed like a very easy game for them to lose. The Rams were 9-4 and everything the Jets aspired to be.
Not long ago, the Rams were bad enough to win option # 1, take on a defender and return it later with a new coach, Sean McVay. This is the precise future that the Jets could at least hope for as they continue to fly. He could take Lawrence at number 1 and hire a new coach to replace Adam Gase.
Then the Jets managed to torpedo this with a historically unlikely upset. The jets had about 17 points subject to most sports books – and subjects of this magnitude have won only four times previously since 1978, according to stathead.com. The win was led by Sam Darnold, the No. 3 defender the Jets took just a few years ago, who was already facing questions about his future with the team.
Now the Jets’ best hope for claiming No. 1 is if the Jaguars win another game. The Jaguars, like the Jets, have only one victory, but currently hold the tiebreaker, depending on the strength of the program, to get first place.
The only consolation for the Jets is the consolation prize that seems to be available with option no. 2: Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.
Write to Andrew Beaton at [email protected]
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