Aaron Glenn Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
If Aaron Glenn’s job security is under as much scrutiny as we all believe, then his late-game decision-making in the New York Jets’ 20-17 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday is not going to help his case.
Yet, even after sleeping on it, he would not have changed anything.
After blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and with the game tied at 17 with roughly a minute to go in regulation, Glenn never considered calling a timeout when the Packers were set to punt near midfield. Instead, Green Bay ran the clock down, took a delay-of-game penalty, and then tried for a game-winning Hail Mary on the final snap of regulation. While they did not score on the play, the Packers went on to win in the extra period.
Glenn said the call was made to play for overtime because he did not want his offense pinned down deep in their own territory so late in the game — a significant indication of his confidence in the Geno Smith-led unit.
“Between me and our game management guys, our analytical guys, we’ve talked through those situations quite a bit,” Glenn said on Monday. “That situation actually came up in a number of our conversations. When we have the punter at the logo, we don’t want to put ourselves in a situation where we get our guys in a backed up situation, and I know that we’re talking about getting our offense going… but they had two timeouts also.
“If you put yourself in a backed-up situation and things don’t go as planned, you’re giving the other team an opportunity to go down there and make a play. I just thought that was the right decision to do at that point, and we were actually playing for overtime.”
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur admitted that he was “confused” by Glenn’s game plan down the stretch, though he certainly won’t complain. His team avoided going 0-2 thanks to yet another late-game collapse by Gang Green — something that has plagued them plenty over the last few seasons, regardless of the head coach.
Green Bay’s defense handled the Jets’ offense rather well on Sunday. Smith completed 27-of-41 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked four times. Star running back Breece Hall was limited to just 29 yards on 16 carries, though he did post 63 receiving yards on five catches.
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