Jets' Kicker Sergio Castillo Takes Blame For New York's Offensive Meltdown vs. Seahawks: 'That's On Me'
Entering Week 14, Jets kicker Sergio Castillo had missed only two field goals all season. One was a block in his debut against the Chiefs back in Week 8.
In a span of 10 minutes and change to close out the second quarter against Seattle on Sunday, Castillo added three misses to his season totals.
New York's kicker ended three consecutive drives with missed field goals, the only three chances the Jets had to put points on the board after Castillo drilled a 45-yard field goal to cap off New York's opening drive.
"After the first kick I feel pretty confident making that one 40 plus," Castillo told reporters in a Zoom call after the 40-3 loss. "I just didn't follow through on a couple ones and then it was just one after another. So I have to do better bouncing back. That's on me."
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His first miss came after Corey Ballentine returned a kick for 66 yards to give New York tremendous field position deep in Seahawks territory. Seven plays and 11 yards later, the Jets settled for a 37-yarder. Castillo pushed it wide right.
After forcing Seattle to punt, the Jets put together an 11-play drive on their next offensive possession (their longest drive of the game). Castillo came out to cap it off with points and this time, pulled a kick wide left from 41 yards out.
Finally, with just a few seconds remaining in the first half, Castillo and the kicking unit assembled one last time for a 43-yard attempt. He pulled it once again, missing wide left. The Jets didn't return to Seahawks territory until the final play of the game in garbage time.
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Jets head coach Adam Gase said Castillo looked good in practice throughout the week. He explained that he would have preferred to score a touchdown with the field position that his offense had repeatedly in the first half, but to come away with no points at all was a debilitating blow.
"I would love to give ourselves a better chance there of scoring a touchdown," Gase said. "I felt like we did have some opportunities that we missed on those. Anytime that you can at least come away with points, it’s a different feel. We needed all of them."
Castillo, 30, got his big break with the Jets this season after kicker Sam Ficken got hurt earlier in the campaign. Ficken came back in Week 11 after missing a month, but proceeded to miss two extra points against the Chargers. That resulted in a trip to the injured reserve, opening the door for Castillo to return to the starting role.
"Every kick attempt that I go out there, I feel pretty confident ready to go," Castillo said. "I'm excited to play. It's a game where we don't get many opportunities so every kick that I went in to attempt out there, I felt calm and collected. Like I said, I just got to do better."
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Before making his NFL debut this fall, Castillo had kicked in the XFL and the Canadian Football League over the years since playing college ball at West Texas A&M.
Asked if he's worried about his job security after going 1-for-4 on Sunday, Castillo insisted he isn't concerning himself with something out of his control.
"At the end of the day, I just got to control what I can control," he said. "I think that's something that's part of being a pro and that's the beauty about life, there's always going to be ups and downs and there's no diamonds without any pressure, right? So we just gotta keep on working getting better."
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