Before you come for my neck, this isn’t intended to bash Aaron Glenn – it’s intended to highlight a clear, much-needed area of improvement. You may have heard people criticize his timeout management, the inefficiencies of his 2-minute drills, but have you been able to quantify these late-half gaffes against other teams?
I did some digging and looked at the end of every single half the Jets have played under Aaron Glenn so far. I specifically looked at all the halves where the Jets had the ball for more than one play with less than 2 minutes left. There were 35, but I disqualified two because they were second halves where they were in victory formation instead of driving down the field. That left 33 halves to review, and the results were astonishing.
First of all, the New York Jets are scoreless in their last 14(!) attempts with two minutes or less. In the six halves played this year, they’ve had the ball five times, scored zero times, and fumbled once. I could’ve added a 34th entry, the OT game, but left it to strictly when the clock read 2:00 or less.
By comparison, Saleh’s Titans scored a field goal in the last two minutes of each half against the Eagles this year. The Bills, obviously a very good team, have only had the ball in the last two minutes of three halves this year. They scored a touchdown all three times for a 100% score rate and a healthy average of seven points per 2-minute drill. Buckle up for this next paragraph:
In the 33 halves in which Aaron Glenn’s Jets have had the ball with two minutes left, they have scored only six times. They average less than 1 point per attempt, which makes sense since they’re currently on a streak of 14 consecutive scoreless attempts. They have lost the ball via interception or fumble just as frequently as they’ve scored (6). If we just limit it to this year, the Jets are 0-5. No scores, one fumble. 0% score rate, 0 points per attempt.
Let’s compare those horrific 2-minute drill numbers to some winless teams this year: We’ve already established the Titans have scored multiple times. The Dolphins have scored two field goals and a touchdown for a respectable 3/5 score rate (60%) and 2.6 points per attempt. The Buccaneers have been horrible this year (but still better at this than the Jets), with a 1/4 (25%) score rate and 0.75 points per attempt. The Chargers have been even worse, allowing a safety on one attempt, but still have a 1/4 score rate and 0.25 points per attempt.
I hope I’ve numerically illustrated just how awful Aaron Glenn has been at ending halves this year and throughout his entire run as Jets head coach. If I had more time to scan through every team’s schedule and play-by-play records, I’m sure this 20-game run would rank among the absolute worst in NFL history but I was only limited to the data presented in this article so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
The point is, even the worst teams in the NFL score points to end halves. Even the worst teams in the NFL catch interceptions. The Jets are the only team in this article that does neither. This roster is certainly better than last year, but that was a requirement, not a wish. When will we see our favorite team get involved in some of the most fundamental and routine concepts of football? Can they end this streak this Sunday? Let’s go Jets!
