Jets Captain Criticizes Play Calling After New York Gives Up Game-Winning Touchdown

New York Jets safety Marcus Maye called out the Jets coaching staff after losing to the Las Vegas Raiders on a last second game winning touchdown pass on Sunday

With just over 10 seconds remaining in Sunday's Jets-Raiders game, New York's defensive coordinator Gregg Williams called for an all-out blitz.

The Jets sent eight defenders at Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, leaving three defensive backs to cover three Las Vegas wideouts.

Under duress, but never touched in the pocket, Carr stepped up and skied a beautiful ball to speedster Henry Ruggs III in stride down the field. It was a game-winning 46-yard touchdown pass, clinching a 31-28 victory for the visiting Raiders.

READ: Jets Blow Late Lead in Gut-Wrenching Fashion as Raiders Hand New York 12th Loss

After the game, safety Marcus Maye called out Williams, articulating exactly how he felt about the call to bring pressure with a slim lead at the end of the game.

"Just felt like it could have been a better call in that situation," Maye said.

CARR TO RUGGS. WOW. #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/l66xyxhgtt

— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2020

He didn't say that only once. 

In a four-plus minute Zoom call with reporters, the former second-rounder calmly mentioned that the coaches should have made a better play call in that situation eight different times.

"It's tough. We fought hard to put ourselves in a position to win. At that point of the game, it's just got to be a better call," Maye added.

Maye was covering Hunter Renfrow on a deep route over the middle while two rookies—Bryce Hall and Lamar Jackson—flanked him in the secondary. Jackson had Ruggs while Hall attempted to cover tight end Darren Waller, who had 200 yards receiving on Sunday.

It was Jackson that got burned on the far side, biting on a double move from Ruggs just enough to fall behind on the go route with no help over the top.

"Tough situation for our young guys, I just felt bad for him, just being out there on an island," Maye explained.

The safety claimed he was speaking on his own behalf, explaining that he hadn't spoken to any of his teammates yet regarding Williams's decision to blitz. 

Jets head coach Adam Gase told reporters that he had already met with Williams before addressing the media. He'll have more to say about the play after watching film, but explained that the plan was to get to Carr before the quarterback had a chance to load up and fire the football down the field. New York had sacked Carr twice previously in the game.

"We were trying to create pressure. [Carr] hadn’t done well with it all game," Gase said. "That’s what happened. We had a couple of free runners, but we didn’t get there."

Adding on 46 yards on the Raiders' final offensive play, Carr wound up with 381 yards through the air on Sunday. His longest pass of the day came on that final toss to Ruggs.

"I couldn't believe they all-out blitzed us," Carr said after the game.

Ruggs was involved in both of Las Vegas' turnovers earlier in the contest—tipping a pass toward corner Arthur Maulet for an interception before fumbling, a ball scooped up by Maye—but the rookie had the final say in which team would come out on top.

Another veteran on defense for the Jets, Jordan Jenkins, didn't explicitly provide his take on the play call. He did tell reporters, however, that the onus falls on the players to get the job done regardless of the call.

"It's on us as players," Jenkins said. "We're the one that's out there. We got to make plays. We just got to be better and finish that."

Asked if he believes he'll be in jeopardy of being disciplined for giving his opinion on a coaches' costly decision, Maye assured he wasn't criticizing anyone. He just felt that in an alternate situation, seconds away from this team's first win of the season, the result could have played out differently.

"It's a call that you've got to make and live with being aggressive. I mean, we all know how that works out," Maye explained. "We know the type of coaching staff that we have we know the type of coaching that we have is aggressive play calling. But at this time you know there's always things that you can always do better I feel like."

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