Robert Saleh Says Miscommunication Led to Questionable Quarterback Sneak in Loss to Bucs
The Jets were two yards away from victory formation on Sunday afternoon, two yards away from clinching a stunning upset over the defending champion Buccaneers.
Rather than a fourth-down conversion, however, rookie quarterback Zach Wilson took the snap and was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on a quarterback sneak.
That allowed Tom Brady to get the ball back, setting up a game-winning touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining on the clock.
Whether you're a Jets fan or not, Wilson trying to get the first down on a QB sneak from two yards away probably sparked some confusion. Going for it on fourth down is one thing, when New York could've taken the points on a field goal to go up by seven. To go for it in that fashion, however, was questionable, costly and downright foolish.
As it turns out, Wilson wasn't supposed to keep the football. Well, he had an option to, but head coach Robert Saleh wanted the rookie to hand the ball off to his best playmaker in the backfield.
Allow Saleh to explain:
"It was a reverse to Berrios. Quarterback has an option based on the look that he has to sneak the ball. In that situation, we wanted the ball handed off to Berrios, but we did a very poor job as a coaching staff communicating that in the huddle. Zach executed the play as it's designed. Unfortunately, if you look at the copy, Braxton probably has a first down and the game is over. Poor job on our part for the lack of communication."
Miscommunication happens in the National Football League, but at that stage in the game, on a potential game-winning conversion, for that to happen is unacceptable.
And to make matters worse, New York was coming out of a timeout before the ball was snapped. Saleh and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur had ample time to make it clear to Wilson that he needed to hand the ball off to Berrios.
"We gotta be better as a coaching staff in terms of communication and making sure that everything we want is exactly the way it needs to be done," Saleh told reporters. "That's a first down to Berrios and we're talking about something completely different right now."
During Wilson's postgame presser, the signal-caller had a bit of a different take on the decisive play, standing up for his coaching staff after Saleh took the blame.
"I did what I thought was necessary to do right there," Wilson said. "We just didn't execute right there, it's part of the game. That's why situations like fourth-and-two are so hard. It really is so hard to get a yard in this game. We're all going to learn from that and it's part of it, but I thought LaFleur did an amazing job today of putting us in good situations. We get that and no one says anything."
Wilson reiterated that he had an option to go for the sneak. When he saw an open A Gap at the line of scrimmage, he decided to try and make it through there, prefacing that if he handed it off to Berrios and they didn't convert, everyone would still be criticizing his decision because it works both ways.
"I think everybody is just being hard on themselves obviously because of what happened," he said. "I think just from an offensive perspective, we've just got to execute the play that we had called. [The coaching staff is] learning for next time. If next time they really do want that handed off, then we're communicating that."
The bottom line is it's unfortunate that New York lost in this fashion, washing away what was a promising performance through the first three quarters. Who knows if Berrios makes it to the edge and New York wins the game, or if Gang Green would have converted on a different play call. You take that chance either way with Tom Brady on the other side, waiting to get the ball back and march down the field in the other direction.
To lose when miscommunication stood in the way of your execution, however, it becomes even more of a tough pill to swallow.
"We needed to communicate to him to hand the ball off no matter what," Saleh said one more time. "It just makes you sick."
MORE:
- Bucs Escape Upset Against Jets on Tom Brady's Game-Winning Drive
- New York Special: Jets Take Early Lead Over Bucs on Trick Play
- Jets' Michael Carter Leaves Game, Ruled Out With Concussion
Follow Max Goodman on Twitter (@MaxTGoodman), be sure to bookmark Jets Country and check back daily for news, analysis and more.
