Tiki Barber credited the New York Jets for an "innovative" play call. The problem? Several teams have run a tight end sneak before. Credit: NFL on CBS
By Sam Neumann on

You can call the Jets offense many things. Innovative? Not so sure about that one, Jim.

In New York’s 28-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the Jets offense couldn’t get out of its own way in the first half. Aaron Rodgers and Co. eventually bounced back en route to scoring the most points they have all season, but it didn’t get off to a hot start.

With over 12 minutes remaining in the first half, the Jets elected to go for it on 4th-and-1. And instead of handing the ball off to their 6-foot-1, 235-pound back (Braelon Allen), the Jets opted to put tight end Tyler Conklin under center. Like many things with Gang Green in the Aaron Rodgers era, it did not work.

That led Tiki Barber to want to credit the team he’ll almost certainly hear about during WFAN’s afternoon drive on Monday. The former New York Giants running back turned famed radio host, and CBS Sports color analyst opined that while the Jets turned the ball over on downs at their own 40, at least they were creative.

“Look, you can give the Jets credit for innovation in this play because nobody’s seen a tight end do this,” said Barber. “But the reality is, Tyler Conklin, how many times has he tried to get a sneak like that? Doesn’t drive his legs and the Indianapolis Colts stone him at the point of attack.

That’s the thing. It’s not innovative. They’re not the first team to put a tight end under center, and they won’t be the last. In fact, Conklin, a seven-year veteran, has done this before—and it also didn’t work. It was a microcosm of the Jets offense in 2024: boring, predictable, head-scratching, unimaginative, old, archaic, and frustrating.

But innovative? No. No, sir.

That caught the ear of ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, who couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only was the play that offensive coordinator Todd Downing called from the sideline not innovative but it’s also been run before by the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals. The latter literally did it last week on national TV.

Announcers saying that the Jets deserve credit for innovation for running a fourth-and-1 sneak with Tyler Conklin because nobody else has done it. Not only have the Chiefs done it in the past, but the Bengals did it last week on national TV!

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell.com) November 17, 2024 at 1:48 PM

Below are some examples proving that Downing and Nathaniel Hackett weren’t reinventing the wheel.

Blake Bell, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, literally did this three years ago. The rest are examples from college football, which the NFL often borrows from, but you get the point. It’s not a new way of doing things like Barber led listeners and viewers to believe.

If the Jets are breaking new ground, it’s certainly not with innovation — just the same old mistakes.

[NFL on CBS]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann