Jets' Braxton Berrios Takes Responsibility For Touchdown Drop in Loss to Vikings

The Jets had a chance to take the lead deep in the fourth quarter, but their opportunity slipped through Braxton Berrios' fingers.

Mike White's pass sizzled through traffic, hitting Braxton Berrios on his back shoulder as he cut across the middle in the end zone. 

If Berrios held on, the Jets would've jumped in front of the Vikings with less than two minutes remaining on Sunday, a happy ending to what had been an infuriating afternoon in the red zone.

But as Berrios landed on the ground, with linebacker Jordan Hicks draped all over him, the football bounced out of the wideout's arms, trickling to the turf for an incompletion and turnover on downs. 

After the game, a 27-22 loss, Berrios took responsibility for the play he wished he could have back, telling reporters at U.S. Bank Stadium that he should've made the catch. 

"That's not on [White], that's on me," Berrios said. "It's fourth down, he has everything in his face, the rush coming and he's seeing bodies flying everywhere. he put it where I should have got it, so that one's on me."

Braxton Berrios can't come down with the catch on 4th down 😬

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/jK6FLj3Hix

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 4, 2022

White had a different opinion on what happened.

"I gotta figure out how to put that ball a tad more in front of him and let him securely make the catch instead of making a tough catch," White told reporters.

In a sense, both players are at fault while neither should beat themselves up about the play. Berrios could've hauled it in, but it was an incredibly tough play, with the ground also jarring the football loose. White could've led Berrios more, but he was under duress, trying to make the perfect throw in a tight window with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Mike White talks on his throw to Braxton Berrios and what went wrong in this situation: pic.twitter.com/UvbEWCWe4P

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) December 4, 2022

If it's any consolation, that play was close to a conversion simply because of Berrios' intuition, recognizing Minnesota's coverage while White understood where his receiver was going as he deviated from his route.

"That's not the route the play called for," White explained. "It was a break in and then back out, but he kind of saw the opening, and that’s just how he plays football. He sees things differently than others and I was on the same page with him. And we just couldn’t connect."

Whether New York should've scored on that fourth down or not, the Jets have bigger issues to solve as an offense. New York was 3-for-16 on third down, 2-for-5 on fourth down and scored a touchdown on only one of their six trips to the red zone. 

"It was one of those games," Berrios added. "Whatever plan they had, it was obviously good and it was really sound and they executed in the red zone better than we did throughout the game. We fought, it was another one of those dog fight games and we scratched and clawed back and had that opportunity at the end."

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