LAS VEGAS — A week after lamenting all of the “self-inflicted wounds” they had in the loss to the Chargers, the Jets were at it again with a bunch of costly penalties in their 16-12 loss to the Raiders.
The offense committed seven penalties, one that wiped out a touchdown and plenty of others that negated gains.
The defense only had one penalty, but it was a costly roughing-the-passer penalty on Bryce Huff that put the Raiders in position to kick a field goal just before halftime.
“Self-inflicted wounds, the same story as the last couple of weeks,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We’ve got to figure it out, figure out how to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
C.J. Uzomah was penalized twice for holding, the second time taking a touchdown off the board.
Breece Hall got into the end zone, but Uzomah tackled Maxx Crosby on the play and the Jets had to settle for a Greg Zuerlein field goal.
Uzomah’s first penalty nullified an 11-yard gain by Garrett Wilson on a reverse.
“I had two,” Uzomah said. “It’s bulls–t out of me. You can’t let that happen. I don’t know how many we finished with but we had a lot and we shot ourselves in the foot. It’s frustrating because we’re losing.”
The night started off with a penalty on the Jets’ first drive that stalled what was a great drive by their standards.
A 41-yard pass from Zach Wilson to Garrett Wilson put the Jets in Raiders’ territory.
But Zach Wilson was flagged for intentional grounding when he threw the ball away as Crosby closed in on a sack.
That killed the drive and the Jets had to kick a field goal, their first of four.
The Jets continue to take penalties at the worst times.
It is an instant reaction now to look for a flag when the Jets have a long gain.
“It literally feels like every good play we have is getting called back,” Zach Wilson said. “It is so frustrating. You understand how important every single drive is. We need to be better as a team. We need to find a way.”
Saleh said there is nothing they can do but continue to talk about it as a team.
“Just dumb, dumb stuff that we need to get cleaned up or it’s not going to change,” Saleh said.
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