Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner can't believe Jets-Broncos game Credit: NFL Network
By Drew Lerner on

First-year New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn hasn’t done much to endear himself with the fanbase through five games this season.

An 0-5 start will do that. But some of the mind-boggling decisions during the first half of the Jets’ game against the Denver Broncos in London would understandably drive Jets fans up a wall. And maybe NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, himself a Jets fan but also the play-by-play voice for Sunday morning’s game, expressed a bit of that frustration on behalf of Gang Green during a sequence to end the first half.

After sneaking running back Breece Hall into the punt formation to successfully execute a fake on fourth-and-one, the Jets had a first down from their own 39-yard-line, with one minute and one timeout to try and score before the half. But then? A questionable running play on first down goes for just a few yards, with the Jets scrambling to get back to the line to run another play.

“Oh, they’re going to run it,” Eisen said perplexed. “There’s Breece Hall, just a couple yards. Aaron Glenn is screaming at everybody to get on the ball. Kurt Warner’s hair is on fire in this booth!”

“I’m not normally speechless, but I’m trying to figure this out,” Eisen’s partner Kurt Warner replied.

Fields then gets sacked on second down, with the Jets subsequently calling their final timeout.

“You can’t be speechless, Kurt, right? Your inner monologue, I want to hear it,” Eisen said.

“To me, after the sack, you let the Broncos call their last timeout in that situation, and then you decide what you’re going to do on third down,” Warner replied.

The Jets then complete a throw short of the sticks, setting up another fourth-and-one with the clock running. But in a bizarre twist, the Jets don’t run a play, and the Broncos opt not to call a timeout, and the clock runs down to halftime.

“The Brits are wondering what is happening in London, and so are the American announcers!” an exasperated Eisen bellowed out.

It makes little sense to risk a fake punt on your own half of the field, only to essentially run the clock out to take a 10-6 deficit into the locker room. But that is exactly what Aaron Glenn and the Jets did. The 37 yards of total offense probably didn’t do the optics any favors.

Even if Eisen is a Jets fan, that decision making was worthy of being called out regardless. The Jets’ follies this season are beginning to become innumerable.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

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