Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich will likely replay the decision he made in Sunday's 28-27 loss to the Colts over and over in his head.
The biggest decision came with just over three minutes left in the game and the Jets leading 24-22. The Jets reached 17 points but stalled.
At 4-2, Ulbrich decided to kick a field goal instead of trying for one.
Anders Karlsson's 35-yard run gave the Jets a 27-22 lead, but the Jets' defense collapsed and the Colts scored the winning touchdown on the next drive.
“I was confident our defense could stop us,” Ulbrich said. “That's why I chose to kick a field goal there and not go for it. But in hindsight, I probably should have, because obviously we didn't stop them. .”
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he wanted to go for it on fourth down but understood Ulbrich's decision.
“Brick was happy that Anders kicked and the defense stopped it, but of course it felt like we had to go to 30. [points] Just to play in the game,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, with the way we played, we still needed to get to 30 points to win, but yeah, if we were a great team, we would have scored seven points there.”
Before bringing in the field goal team, Coach Ulbrich instructed his offense to draw the Colts offside and called a timeout if the Colts did not jump.
That left one timeout in the final two minutes. Ulbrich was asked whether he should have delayed the game and saved a timeout.
“I just wanted to give the kicker the best opportunity to make the kick and didn't want to set him back any further,” Ulbrich said.
Carlson had a great debut with the Jets, making two field goals, including one for 58 yards. Karlsson becomes the Jets' fourth kicker in the last four weeks. We learned he would be playing this week on Thursday night, when the Chiefs signed Spencer Shrader from the Jets' practice squad.
“In my mind, I felt like we were just within field goal distance,” Carlson said of the long kick. “Before the game, I think we were up to 57 yards, I mean, 1 yard. They have a lot of faith in what they saw, so they were confident in what happened before the game and just I think we’re just working on it.”
The Jets had just two penalties in the game. …Inactive players are RB Israel Abanikananda, CB Jarrick Bernard Converse, LBCJ Mosley, OL Jake Hanson, OT Tyron Smith, DE Brayden McGregor.
— Additional reports Written by Ryan Dunleavy
