Jets’ miserable loss had a huge NFL draft upside
Those Jets fans hoping to see a win Sunday were disappointed. Those hoping to see the Jets remain in the top four in the NFL draft order were not.
The 44-38 loss to the Packers helped the 4-11 Jets hold onto the No. 4 spot behind the Cardinals, Raiders and 49ers. San Francisco passed the Jets for the three spot after Sunday’s games affected the strength of schedule. If the Raiders beat the Broncos on Monday night, the Jets would move past them into the No. 3 spot entering the final week of the season.
It looked like the draft watchers might be left frustrated when the Jets had a 35-20 lead in the fourth quarter. A win likely would have dropped the Jets out of the top five. But the Jets blew the lead in the fourth quarter and lost the game in overtime. Jets fans hoping for a good performance out of Sam Darnold in a loss got the day they were looking for.
Darnold was not the only Jets rookie to have a strong performance against the Packers. TE Chris Herndon scored his fourth touchdown of the season, setting a new franchise record for rookie tight ends and tying the league-high for rookie tight ends this season. He finished the game with six catches for 82 yards and a 5-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
“Chris has been amazing throughout the year,” Darnold said. “He’s progressing really well. It’s really cool to see. Just his attitude every single week — it doesn’t change no matter how much success he has. He comes in and works really hard every single day, and everyone appreciates that.”
CB Morris Claiborne was searching for answers after another late-game collapse by the Jets. This is the third time in four weeks the Jets have blown a fourth-quarter lead.
“I don’t know,” Claiborne said when asked why the Jets can’t close out games. “I have no idea. If I knew, we’d be winning.
“It’s frustrating.”
WR Robby Anderson had a season-high 140 receiving yards on a career-best nine receptions. … The Jets inactives were: QB Davis Webb, CB Derrick Jones, DB Jeremy Clark, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, OT Eric Smith, WR Quincy Enunwa and DL Folorunso Fatukasi.
