'Jets being Jets': Penalties, mistakes prove costly again vs. Raiders in third straight loss

Aaron Glenn’s seat is getting hotter.

The Jets scored on their first six possessions and led the Raiders by nine points in the second half. But Glenn’s defense gave it away. The Jets allowed 24 second-half points and lost 38-33 on Sunday afternoon inside MetLife Stadium.

“We had some bad penalties, bad mistakes, Jets being Jets,” safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said.

Later, a team spokesman said Fitzpatrick meant to say “beating.” Either way, Fitzpatrick wasn’t wrong. It was the Jets’ third straight defeat and sixth in seven games. The Jets are 2-6 and have lost five games by one score. They’re 5-20 overall under Glenn’s watch.

The Jets had a chance in the waning seconds to pull out the victory, but Geno Smith’s pass to Garrett Wilson in the end zone was picked off by Jeremy Chinn with seven seconds left.

“We got to get better on defense,” said Glenn, the Jets’ defensive play-caller. “There's no team that can give up that many points and expect to win. That's tough.”

Making matters worse, this was the Jets’ second home loss in two weeks in games that they were favored. They allowed Miami to win its first game of the season last week. On Sunday, the Raiders (4-4) snapped a four-game losing streak.

Compounding things even more, the Raiders’ fans were loud and drowned out the Jets’ fans in their home stadium. Loud chants of "de-fense" filled the stadium when the Jets had the ball in the second half. It was like a road game at that point and led to the Jets getting flagged for a false start.

“They had some fans in the building,” Wilson said. “We got to handle it. It’s a home game regardless, protect home turf. We’re sitting here at 2-6. We got to give our fans a reason to come out. I get it. As a team we got to operate better, regardless of the noise.”

As well as the offense played, the Jets are kicking themselves for not scoring more. They were in the red zone six times and produced only two touchdowns. They had their opening drive stall after having a first-and-goal from the 2. They settled for a Jason Sanders 21-yard field goal.

Sanders’ fourth field goal of the game, a 31-yard kick, made it 35-33 Raiders with 4:31 left. The Jets had a first-and-10 from the 13 on the series, but they couldn’t get any closer. Isaiah Davis was stopped on first down, and Geno Smith threw incomplete on the next two plays.

“You got to go put 40 up,” Wilson said. “That’s what we all talked about on the sideline, the mission is to get 40. We were all focused on trying to get 40. At the end of the day if we execute on that, we win the game.”

Smith completed 20 of 32 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns and one pick. Braelon Allen rushed for 147 yards — 121 of them in the first half — on 21 carries and scored a touchdown.

Adonai Mitchell caught seven passes for 142 yards and touchdown. Wilson, who was targeted only three times last week, had six receptions for 83 yards on 12 targets.

Kirk Cousins was 19-for-26 passing for 247 yards with three touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. Tight end Brock Bowers had seven catches for 92 yards and two scores.

Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, who provided some bulletin-board material for the Jets this week when he said they have “a couple guys out there that don’t really want to tackle,” had 73 total yards on five touches.

Westhampton’s Dylan Laube returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown for the Raiders.

“We can't give up that many points and expect to win,” Glenn said. “We can't give a kick return for a touchdown and expect to win. Those things are hard to recover from. And plus, it just sucks the life out of the whole building.”

After leading 23-14 at halftime, the Jets gave up three straight touchdowns. The Jets committed penalties on the third down of Las Vegas’ first two series, extending both drives.

Still, the Jets led 30-28 entering the fourth quarter. The Raiders went ahead on a 2-yard touchdown catch by Jalen Nailor with 11:33 left in the game. Jeanty had a 45-yard catch-and-run on the nine-play drive.

On the Raiders’ final drive, Glenn used all three of his timeouts to stop the clock. Matt Gay kicked a 53-yard field goal with 27 seconds left.

The Jets began their last drive on their 35. Wilson caught a 15-yard pass on second down. Chinn was flagged for unnecessary roughness, adding 15 yards and giving the Jets the ball at the 35 with 14 seconds left. On the next play, Smith was picked off, sealing another disappointing Jets’ defeat.

“There's nobody more desperate for the results than the guys in this room,” linebacker Demario Davis said. “When it gets dark, you just find a way to keep taking steps forward.”

It always gets dark early for the Jets.

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.