PITTSBURGH – Just one more drive.
That’s what the Jets were saying in the visitor’s locker room at Heinz Field after their 24-19 loss to the Steelers in the AFC championship game on Sunday.
The Jets have made it a habit of winning games on their final drive. Just check their regular season results. They took down the Lions, Browns and Texans on their final drive. They proved those weren’t fluke results two weeks ago when they knocked off the Colts in the AFC wild card round with a last second field goal.
Fast forward to Sunday where all the Jets needed was their vaunted defense to make one last stand in the fourth quarter to get the ball back to a hot Mark Sanchez. But “Big” Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t having it. Facing a 3rd-and-6 from the Jets 40 with 2:00 to go, the burly quarterback rolled to his right and found bakcup wide receiver for a 14-yard gain and a first down. Game over.
It’s a shame, because the Jets finally found the answer on offense. Sanchez, after a slow first half, came out on fire, completing 13 of 18 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Sanchez finished the game 20-for-33 for 233 yards and two scores.
The Jets outscored Steelers 16-0 in the second half after falling behind, 24-3.
Jets running back Shonn Greene was confident the Jets would’ve scored if they got the ball back.
“We had our momentum going offensively,” Greene said. “There’s no doubt in my mind we would’ve went in and scored. We did it in the past.”
Rex Ryan, always the voice of confidence and optimism, was in agreement with his second-year running back. “Yes, I always think that,” Ryan said when asked if he thought they would’ve had scored given another chance.
“As long as we have the ball in our hands we have a chance to win it,” the coach added.
The Jets battled back after a terrible first half. Terrible might actually be an understatement. The Jets were bad on both sides of the ball. It was more so the defense, however, as the offense had the ball for just a little over eight minutes.
But all of that was in the rear view mirror late in the fourth. All the Jets needed was one more drive.
This time they ran out of time.