Jets drop heartbreaker on walk-off Buccaneers field goal

TAMPA, Fla. – The Jets came back from the dead and still had their season killed off.  

After an uninspired, inept and injury-married first 50 minutes, the winless Jets scored three touchdowns in the final 11 minutes of the fourth quarter Sunday to take a one-point lead just after the two-minute warning against the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

Then, in the cruelest of fates, Chase McLaughlin, a former Jet, drilled a walk-off 36-yard field goal as the Buccaneers stole a 29-27 victory. It was redemption for McLaughlin, whose could-be game-sealing 43-yarder just minutes earlier was blocked by Will McDonald and returned 50 yards by McDonald for the touchdown that gave the Jets a stunning 27-26 lead.

Filling in for Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes sandwiched around a Buccaneers field goal to bring the hapless Jets back to life, from down 23-6 to down 26-20.

It didn’t seem meaningful when Garrett Wilson walked in an 11-yarder with 11 minutes to go – ending a streak of seven straight scoreless possessions, including the end-of-half surrender kneel-down.

But then Allen Lazard hauled in a four-yard touchdown pass – or did he? – on fourth down with 3:40 remaining to close the deficit to 26-20. Replays seemed to show that the ball slipped through Lazard’s hands and hit the ground as he tried to snuggle it but officials upheld the touchdown upon further reviews – much to Todd Bowles’ dismay.

The Jets had all three of their timeouts remaining with a chance to get the ball back in Taylor’s hands, but Baker Mayfield’s 33-yard run pushed the ball into field-goal range.

Bowles took a five-yard delay of game penalty on fourth-and-1 while trying to draw a penalty. Perhaps the extra yardage mattered as McLaughlin’s perfect 4-for-4 day blew up.

But Mayfield got the last laugh by driving the Buccaneers for the winning score, needing only seven plays to go 48 yards.

The Jets were left to rue Taylor’s pick-six just before the half that put the defense in a bigger hole (20-6) than it deserved. There were also drops by Tyler Johnson, penalties by Micheal Clemons and Sauce Gardner and a lack of pressure generated against the Buccaneers’ offensive line (missing three starters) that could be blamed.

The Jets are 0-3 for the first time since 2021. Only two percent of 0-3 teams since 1990 have rebounded to make the playoffs – none in the post-2021 era of seven playoff teams per conference.