BALTIMORE -- When Aaron Glenn was a player for the New York Jets, he experienced a one-year turnaround that gave the franchise hope. Bill Parcells inherited a team coming off a 1-15 season, and when they won their eighth game in 1997 to secure at least a .500 record, the Hall of Fame coach famously proclaimed, "You can't call us losers anymore."
Glenn the coach will have to wait until next year to make that statement, if then.
On Sunday, the Jets lost for the ninth time, 23-10 to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, clinching their 10th consecutive losing season. It extends the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest streak in franchise history.
"We don't want to be 2-9," Glenn said, "but I do understand this: There are some things that we're doing -- underlying things that we're doing, some foundational things that we're doing -- that I am excited about. We just have to make sure now the record catches up with those things that we're building."
For the second straight week, the Jets were competitive on the road against a heavily favored opponent, this time with a new quarterback. Tyrod Taylor started for benched starter Justin Fields and threw for 222 yards and a touchdown -- improvement from Fields -- but the Jets were undermined by familiar bugaboos.
There was a killer mistake on offense (Breece Hall's fumble at the Ravens' 3-yard line in the fourth quarter), costly third-down penalties on defense (Isaiah Oliver and Tony Adams) and a questionable, fourth down coaching decision by Glenn that backfired.
For a team like the Jets, with a roster in transition, the margin for error is slim. They took a 7-0 lead, but not even early leads seem to help. This was their sixth loss of the season after scoring first. All told, they've lost 10 in a row after scoring the first points in a game, tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2019-2021) for the second longest such streak in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns (2015-2018) lost 11 straight.
Clearly, they're missing that winning mentality.
"Once we get that mental toughness," Glenn said, "we'll be a tough team to beat."
Perhaps Glenn was trying to accelerate the process with his fourth-and-2 decision in the third quarter. At their own 42-yard line, trailing by only three points, he decided to go for it. After playing the field-position game for 36 minutes, he changed the calculus. He dialed up the aggressiveness, yet the playcall was low percentage.
Taylor threw incomplete on a sideline pass to wide receiver John Metchie III -- a 9-yard throw that actually traveled 28 yards in the air. The completion probability was only 28%, according to Next Gen Stats. Right guard Joe Tippmann was pushed back into Taylor, causing his throw to fall well short of the target.
The Ravens capitalized with a short-field touchdown, taking a 17-7 lead.
"[We're] definitely disappointed it didn't work out," said Taylor, crediting the Ravens for closing off the inside routes and forcing him to look outside. "It's a concept we like. We just didn't execute it."
Glenn made the right decision, according to ESPN analytics. The win probability was slightly higher when going for it (28.2%) than punting (27%). That, of course, doesn't consider the flow of the game or the quality of the punter. Austin McNamara is one of the league's best and could've pinned the Ravens deep in their territory.
The coach defended his choice, saying he trusted Taylor & Co. and liked the way his defense was playing.
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"I want to be aggressive ... and we didn't make it," Glenn said. "That's just what it was. And I trust our guys to go make those, and that was a situation where I warned our guys to not blink and get ready to go. And we didn't make it."
These Jets don't quit, and they had a chance to make it a one-score game, but Hall's fumble while trailing 20-10 with 6:51 to play was a momentum killer.
"I know the type of player I am, and I want the ball in those high stakes, high pressure situations," Hall said. "I just have to be better with it."
Glenn went over to Hall on the sideline and tried to console him after the fumble. That wasn't exactly what it was; Hall said Glenn was "holding me up because I was dog tired." Afterward, Glenn reaffirmed his faith in Hall, calling him a "damn good player."
But one who failed his team in crunch time, resulting in another losing season. The players talked about finishing strong and setting a foundation for the future, but the record is what it is. As tight end Jeremy Ruckert said of the current plight, "It stinks."