FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A butt fumble and a butt wipe. Mangled ligaments. A ghost sighting. The return of a villain. Blowouts, lots of blowouts. Tears in the locker room. A regrettable Snapchat in the locker room. An enemy celebration that went long and high into the night, with margaritas, lots of margaritas.
Get ready, America: The New York Jets are back in prime time, which usually means night terrors for the franchise with the NFL’s longest active playoff drought.
“When the Jets are in prime time,” former quarterback Boomer Esiason said, “expect the unexpected.”
The Jets have lost six straight and 17 of their last 23 games at night, dating to the infamous Butt Fumble in 2012, but there’s more to their recent nocturnal history than the record. You see, they don’t just lose; they sometimes lose in calamitous fashion, with everything from quarterback injuries to embarrassing moments.
The franchise that delivered one of the greatest games — the Monday Night Miracle in 2000 — also is responsible for memorable clunkers. Desperate to change their losing culture, the Jets (2-5) hope to start a new trend Thursday night in their only scheduled prime-time appearance in 2021 — a matchup against the Indianapolis Colts (3-5) at Lucas Oil Stadium (8:20 p.m. ET, Fox/NFL Network).
New coach, (mostly) new team. New karma?
“We’re definitely moving in the right direction, but we’ve got to make sure that we don’t let a victory like (last Sunday) get to our heads,” said linebacker C.J. Mosley, referencing their upset over the Cincinnati Bengals led by quarterback Mike White. “When you do the right things, you’re supposed to win those games. That’s the next step we have to get to — don’t be satisfied because we got a big win. We have to keep going, keep going, keep going.”
There’s no better stage than a national game, but the Jets have a tendency to shrink under the glare of the lights.
Starting with the Butt Fumble game, their winning percentage in prime time (.304, 6-17)…
Source : espn
