Jets’ horrible roughing the passer penalty negates pick-six vs. Patriots

The New York Jets squandered an opportunity to go up two scores at halftime against the New England Patriots thanks to a horrific roughing-the-passer penalty. And this time the call was warranted.

With less than a minute left in the first half, Jets cornerback Michael Carter II appeared to return a Mac Jones interception for a touchdown to give the Jets at least a 16-3 lead. However, the play was called back when Jets defensive end John Franklin-Myers pushed Jones after the pass.

The penalty negated what would have been Carter’s second interception of the day and would have stopped the Patriots from scoring before halftime. Instead, the penalty pushed the Patriots into the red zone where New England mustered a field goal to draw within four going into the second half.

In a season where questionable roughing-the-passer calls have become an almost weekly occurrence, this one was clearly a mental error from Franklin-Myers. The hit effectively resulted in a nine-point swing that could come back to haunt the Jets in the second half.