After breaking to the left and rambling 21 yards for a TD giving the Jets a 9-point lead, 30-21, with 8:26 to play in the third quarter, RB Braelon Allen had 2 more carries and 1 reception the rest of the way as the Jets were forced to chase the game. The Las Vegas Raiders scored 24 points in the second half en route to a 38-33 victory at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The outcome, while a bitter pill to swallow for the Jets (2-6), does not detract from Allen's solid performance -- 21 carries for a career high 147 yards (17 carries and 121 yards in the first half) and a TD -- in his fifth straight start in place of the injured Breece Hall (quad).
"There's a lot of things we did well," Allen said, referring to the Jets' first six possessions when they put points on the board, with a pair of Geno Smith TD passes and three Jason Sanders field goals.
"Unfortunately, when the game doesn't call for pounding the rock in the second half, I got to do my part in other ways. So either way, whether I'm running the ball or [in] pass protect, I try to do my job to the best of my ability."
Allen, a third-year player, has rushed for 100-plus yards in three of the last four games. He also had 5 runs of 10-plus yards, 19 carries of 10-plus yards in the past four games. Allen surpassed Curtis Martin, who since 2000 was the only other Jets player with as many similar games with 15 runs of 10-plus yards in the first 3 games of the 2004 season. And over this 5-game stretch, Allen has rushed for 565 yards.
"Braelon did a hell of a job, I think he had close to 150 yards, and I think that speaks for itself," HC Aaron Glenn said. "And Breece is close. He's close. But again, we want to make sure that we're handling that situation the right way, he's an important part of what we're doing, of what we're building."
On the Jets' first series, Allen picked up 30 yards on consecutive 15-yard runs as the Jets took a 3-0 lead on a Sanders field goal. His longest run of the day, 24 yards, came on the Jets fourth possession that ended with a Smith-to-Adonai Mitchell (7 catches for 142 yards) TD pass on fourth down.
"The guys up front ... moving people, being patient, and just letting the game come to me not trying to force anything," Allen said. "Just going by my reads and progressing. The guys up front make it happen."
Overall, the Jets ran for 166 yards (6.1 per).
"Very disappointing," Allen said about the result. "Obviously, no matter how many times you score, or don't score winning the game is the objective. So we didn't do that. It's disappointing, no matter how well you play."
