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Playoff dreams fading, Jets just want full effort – Metro US

Playoff dreams fading, Jets just want full effort

A season that started with so much promise has spiraled into mediocrity.

The Jets’ dwindling postseason hopes took another blow in Sunday’s 24-22 loss to Jacksonville. It dropped Rex Ryan’s team to 4-5, losers of five of the last six.

“We just spent all of our room for error. It’s ridiculous,” Ryan said. “We were in the exact same boat. They found a way to finish the game and we didn’t.”

Now, Ryan is just asking to put together a complete 60 minutes. It’s something they failed to do once again on Sunday, allowing Jacksonville to run down the clock, then kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

The loss dropped the Jets’ home record to 2-3. Those three home losses came by a combined 10 points. This team just hasn’t figured out how to put opponents away.

“We really haven’t played a complete game for four quarters outside the Oakland game,” said cornerback Donald Strickland. “We haven’t been able to get it so that our offense and defense both show up to play. It is one or the other.”

Consider the ground game, which produced only one rusher who went over 100 yards in the first five games, then had three straight games where Thomas Jones went over the century mark. In two of those games, the Jets’ rushers combined for more than 300 yards on the ground. Then on Sunday, the ground game stalled with Jones leading all running backs with just 77 yards rushing. Once again, the Jets failed to be consistent in reaching their marks.

“The personal accolades, the individual accomplishments, they just don’t matter,” said Jones. “Right now, we need to win and we can’t. We can‘t seem to find a way to win or get on track consistently.”