The Jets Fired DC Gregg Williams After Their Disastrous All Out Blitz Call

The New York Jets fell to 0-12 on the season on Sunday with a 31-28 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders that should have been their first win of the season.

New York led 28-24 late in the fourth quarter and actually got a defensive stop inside the 10 on a 4th and 3 with just over 90 seconds to play that, with one first down, would’ve allowed them to put the game on ice. However, the Raiders were able to get a three and out and force a punt with just over 30 seconds to play, but still needed to march all the way down the field for a touchdown, being that they trailed by four. What ensued was one of the wildest defensive playcalls we’ve seen all year, with notoriously aggressive defensive coordinator Gregg Williams blitzing eight and leaving poor DB Lamar Jackson in one-on-one coverage with speedy rookie Henry Ruggs III, who dusted him and hauled in a perfect deep ball from Derek Carr to give Vegas the win.

The Jets, who, to be clear, have been a disaster on both sides of the ball this season, likely were well served at a franchise level by the loss as it kept them a game ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars for the first overall pick and, as such, their choice of any of the top quarterbacks, headlined by Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. Still, it was a gutting loss for those on the team who are desperately trying to avoid becoming the second winless team in recent history. Williams knows a little something about going 0-16, as he was the new DC in Cleveland in 2017 for their winless season, but he will not have the opportunity to put a second complete winless season on his resume as the Jets made the decision on Monday to let him go after his…interesting play call that assisted in costing New York the game.

It was not just couch coaches that had questions for Williams’ decision-making after the game, as Jets safety Marcus Maye was even confused by the call in the postgame media availability.

As for what’s next for Williams, one has to wonder if this will be his last stop as a defensive coordinator. He was once highly regarded around the league, but will forever have the Saints bounty scandal on his resume as well as some disastrous seasons with Cleveland and New York — although it should be noted his last year in Cleveland was a solid one. The NFL loves to recycle coaches and give them chance after chance, but Williams’ time as a coordinator may be done — although you can never put it past an NFL team to decide he’s worth handing the keys over to once again.