Anders Carlson’s lone kicking miscue dooms Jets in OT loss
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Jets kicker Anders Carlson had just made the biggest kick of the season, booting a 42-yard field goal to give the Jets a 26-23 lead with 52 seconds left in the game.
Then, he made one of the biggest blunders.
Carlson mishit the ensuing kickoff, and instead of kicking it into the end zone for a touchback, his kick landed at the 1 and Malik Washington returned it 45 yards to the Dolphins 46.
Six plays later, Jason Sanders hit a 52-yard field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime where the Dolphins won 32-26.
“He missed it,” Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “We’re supposed to kick that out of the end zone. We just missed the kick. So went into play, but at the end of the day, we got to cover what’s kicked, and we didn’t cover it well enough.”
Carlson had four touchbacks in the game but missed on this one.
“The call was to hit it out, and I just got too aggressive with it,” Carlson said.
Carlson, who is the fourth kicker the Jets have had this season, tried to tackle Washington but got run over.
“I’m honestly pretty frustrated because that was a big play,” Carlson said. “After the ball was in-bounds, I just tried to do my job and force him inside. Obviously, the low man wins there. I learned that. I thought I did what I could after the kick to slow him down a little bit.”
WR Davante Adams had a big game but made a blunder in the fourth quarter by going out of bounds with 56 seconds left before Carlson’s go-ahead field goal.
That gave the Dolphins extra time to go down and tie the game.
“Absolutely,” Ulbrich said when asked if he wanted Adams to stay inbounds. “We had just gone on the field, told everybody we are now officially in four-minute mode, stay inbounds, burn the clock as best as possible, and they did a good job pushing him out.”
RT Morgan Moses injured his left wrist during pregame warmups.
Moses took a pain-killing injection and tried to play with it but lasted only the first half before being replaced by Max Mitchell. Moses said he did not even know what happened.
He said he was doing blocking drills when he felt something.
“My hand went numb and I looked down. It was, like, just bulging,” Moses said. “I got it shot up and tried to go.”
Moses said he will have tests done Monday to see if it is fractured. This is the third pregame warmup injury this season for the Jets.
Michael Carter II and C.J. Mosley both hurt themselves before games this season, too.
Special teams ace Irv Charles injured his knee and left the game. Ulbrich said he did not know how serious it is, but he looked like he was in a lot of pain. … CB Sauce Gardner was inactive with a hamstring injury. WR Malachi Corley was inactive with the return of Allen Lazard to the lineup.