Final Score: Titans 26, Jets 22

On a beautiful late autumn evening in Nashville, Tennessee the New York Jets lost their sixth straight game and their ninth game of the 2018 NFL season with a 26 - 22 loss on the road against the Tennessee Titans.

The Jets defense carried the day early, with an early pick six by Trumaine Johnson giving the Jets a 10 point lead. The Jets defense continued to dominate the Titans offense for much of the first half, aided by a Titans team caving under a blizzard of penalties. A blocked punt set up a short Jets field goal as the Jets eventually extended their lead to 16-0, mostly due to defense and special teams. The Jets defense finally yielded late in the first half as the Titans put together an impressive two minute drill to score a late touchdown and bring the game back within 10 points at 16 - 6. A Jets block of the extra point kept the Jets lead in double digits going into the second half.

The Jets opened the second half with a long 61 yard kickoff return by Andre Roberts, but squandered a golden scoring opportunity when the offense went nowhere and was forced to punt. The Titans went three and out and a bad punt gave the Jets good field position at their own 40 yard line. A couple of Isaiah Crowell runs put the Jets in scoring position, but the offense bogged down and again had to settle for a field goal. The Titans then answered with a long touchdown drive, mixing the pass and run effectively, to bring the score to 19 - 13, Jets.

The remainder of the game was a war of attrition, with the Jets grimly trying to hang on as the Titans gradually narrowed the gap. A couple of long pass completions to Taywan Taylor set up a Titans touchdown and field goal and the Titans got the Jets lead down to 22-19 in the closing minutes. The Titans forced a Jets punt with just under two minutes to go, setting up a final Titans chance to tie or win. A long Marcus Mariota scramble and a crucial Trumaine Johnson facemask penalty got the Titans into field goal range with more than a minute to play. From there the Titans punched it into the end zone with a couple of Mariota passes to take the lead for the first time in the game.

A last gasp Jets drive fell short and the Jets collapse was complete.

With the loss the Jets record falls to 3-9, as they head to Buffalo, New York to take on a Bills team that annihilated them a few weeks ago. With playoff hopes now gone, the rest of the season shapes up as an extended series of meaningless games useful mainly for evaluating which players will be a part of the Jets future.

John will be around for a more in depth recap of today’s game a bit later this evening. In the meantime leave your comments and vent your frustration on the game and the season below.