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Jets' Joe Flacco, Jamison Crowder Did the Improbable on Monday Night

New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco and wide receiver Jamison Crowder converted on an improbable touchdown pass on Monday night against the New England Patriots

Max Goodman

When examining the Jets ninth loss of the season, it's hard to look past quarterback Joe Flacco forcing a deep ball into double coverage for an interception in the fourth quarter.

That play, the inconceivable, gave Cam Newton and the Patriots an opportunity to march down the field, tie the game and eventually win it with a last-second field goal. 

For just a moment, however, block the result of this game out of your mind. Focus in on the highlight that made jaws drop. It was one of the best plays of the year for the Jets, something improbable.

On a first and ten from the 20 yard line, with just 30 seconds to go in the first half, Flacco lobbed a ball toward the corner of the end zone from the right hash. With New England's cornerback Jason McCourty draped all over him, wide receiver Jamison Crowder hauled in the pass while dragging his back foot to stay in bounds.

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The play was initially ruled incomplete, but was quickly overturned after a replay review. Crowder said after the game he knew it was a touchdown right away.

"Yeah I did, I did," the wideout told reporters in a Zoom call. "I just needed to see the replay just to get that confirmation. But yeah, I felt like you know once I caught it, I did a good job of playing my foot and dragging the other foot. So at that point it was just seeing the replay but I feel like I had it the whole time."

So, wait. What's the big deal? Highlight reel plays happen every week in the National Football League. Sure, this pitch and catch was particularly pretty, and helped fantasy owners needing some points from Crowder and Flacco on Monday night, but what made it so special?

The pass from Flacco, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, had a 6.2 percent completion probability. In other words, not only was it the most improbable completion so far this year, but it was the least probable completion of any touchdown over the last four seasons (dating back to 2017).

Here's another angle of the play from Next Gen Stats. Crowder was separated from the Patriots defender by 0.9 yards and made the grab just 0.2 yards from the sideline.

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It took an absolute dime from Flacco and some toe-drag swag from Crowder to get it done, one of the most exciting moments of the season for the Jets as the touchdown gave New York a 10-point lead going into halftime.  

"Beautiful pass from Flacco and I was just able to make the catch, do my job and just make sure I got my feet in and was able to connect and able to get six," Crowder said. "It feel good to get that for sure."

Flacco, who threw for 262 yards in his third start of the season, added two more perfectly placed touchdown passes on Monday night. That said, the veteran was disappointed after his team came up short. 

"I felt like our guys really executed [our game plan] well," Flacco said on Monday night. "We felt damn good about how we played all night. That's obviously why we're talking about part of the disappointment is how well we did play and still didn't end up with a win."

The only other pass since 2017 with a lower completion probability, per Next Gen Stats, was a 47-yard pass from Tennessee's Ryan Tannehill to A.J. Brown last year. 

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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