The final two minutes of each half have been alarming moments for the New York Jets under Aaron Glenn.
In his two seasons as head coach, Glenn's squad has been outscored 119-49 in the closing minutes of the second and fourth quarters, according to ESPN Research. That's the worst point differential in the NFL during that span.
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New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith puts on his helmet before an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
New York Jets wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (11) celebrates and taunts New England Patriots fans after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New York Jets running back Braelon Allen (0) leaps over New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) during the first half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots linebacker Elijah Ponder (91) celebrates after sacking New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
So, what gives?
The Jets can be moving the ball on offense throughout, only to often have things jam up as they approach halftime or the end games. Same for the defense, which can go from being stingy to sieve-like at the same point in games. Clock and timeout management have also been issues.
“Just the two-minute situation, we’ve got to get better at that,” Glenn said after the Jets' 26-19 loss at New England on Sunday. “I must say, offense and defense, that we have to get better at that. We have to be able to possess the ball more to go ahead and put stress on their defense to try to score points. On defense, you’ve got to make sure we stop them when we get that opportunity.”
Bad coaching? Bad play execution? Bad luck? All of the above?
“To me, I look at it as a shared process,” Glenn said Monday.
Against the Patriots, the Jets trailed 7-3 in the second quarter when they gave up a 12-play drive that resulted in a field goal. The offense got the ball with 1:46 remaining before halftime and went three-and-out. New England marched down the field and scored a touchdown with 20 seconds left to take a 17-3 lead.
By the way, New York has been outscored 100-6, according to TruMedia, in the final two minutes of the second quarter under Glenn, who's 3-8 in one-score games.
The Jets were within a score in the fourth quarter when Jason Sanders' 40-yard field goal made it 23-16 with 7:24 left. But again, the defense allowed the Patriots to go on a 13-play drive that ended with another field goal with 1:14 remaining, making it a 10-point game — and sealing things for New York.
“Just being able to finish,” Glenn said Monday. “Listen, I totally understand that stat and I know that on both sides of the ball, we have to get better at that. And that's one thing that we work on quite a bit. The thing is, we just have to continue to work and usually when you do that, the work's going to take care of itself and those things are going to end up showing up on Sunday.”
The running game. There was some concern when Breece Hall went down with a quadriceps injury two weeks ago that the Jets' rushing attack would suffer. Braelon Allen has kept it going and been impressive. The third-year running back had 78 yards on 17 carries a week after having a career-high 116 yards and a TD against Cleveland.
“He’s shown that he has the capability of being the bellcow," Glenn said, adding that Hall remains the starter but Allen has proven he can help shoulder the load out of the backfield.
Creating better opportunities for Garrett Wilson. The star wide receiver leads the AFC with 35 receptions and his 48 targets are second in the conference, but he had just two targets through the first three quarters Sunday and finished with four catches for 44 yards.
Wilson, who was targeted six times overall, did his best after the game to not amplify his frustration: “I just try to keep playing my role,” he said, "waiting for that moment they want to call on me.”
Whether Wilson has created separation enough is one question, but being able to get him in a rhythm early should be a priority for offensive coordinator Frank Reich.
“I think any time you watch the tape and we see Garrett in a 1-on-1 situation, you think of that as an opportunity,” Glenn said. “But again, there's only one ball. ... Obviously, Garrett's going to get his targets.”
WR Omar Cooper Jr. The first-round pick was a bright spot in his return from a stint on the injured reserve list. After being sidelined since spraining an ankle in Week 1, Cooper caught six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.
“What he did is showcase who he is: He’s a playmaker,” quarterback Geno Smith said.
Pass rush. After getting eight sacks against Cleveland, the pass rush disappeared in New England and New York failed to sack Drake Maye — even with the Patriots losing three of their offensive linemen during the game.
“I mean, we can always do better and we’ve just got to get better,” said rookie edge rusher David Bailey, who had three sacks last week.
LB Kiko Mauigoa injured a thigh Sunday after being sidelined three games with a quadriceps injury. ... Hall, WR Adonai Mitchell (finger), LG Dylan Parham (knee) and edge rusher Joseph Ossai (ankle) will be evaluated through the week.
0-7 — That's Glenn's record against AFC East opponents as New York's head coach.
Glenn and the Jets will get a chance at a so-far elusive division win when they face the winless Miami Dolphins (0-5) at home on Sunday.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith puts on his helmet before an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
New York Jets wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (11) celebrates and taunts New England Patriots fans after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New York Jets running back Braelon Allen (0) leaps over New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) during the first half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots linebacker Elijah Ponder (91) celebrates after sacking New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 20, 2026--
Blackwall today announced it has raised $100 million at a valuation of $2.2 billion. This C Round was led by AVP, who join existing investors Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures and Tera Ventures.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261020736847/en/
The new round of financing accelerates Blackwall's objective to build a global traffic management ecosystem around its hosting-provider network. By connecting providers, infrastructure and technology, Blackwall aims to provide greater control over how internet traffic is managed, secured and monetized.
Blackwall will use the investment to scale its global presence across the web traffic management market, establishing and expanding operations across 12 strategic regions spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
Currently spanning bot mitigation, DDoS protection, web application firewall, load balancing, server-side encryption and management of agentic AI traffic which is rapidly taking over the Internet, Blackwall is deployed inside the web hosting providers’ own infrastructure, identifying real visitors and legitimate automated traffic from malicious bots, attacks and traffic abuse, filtering billions of requests per day.
The new funding will also be leveraged to expand Blackwall’s platform, introducing new traffic security capabilities for the hosting market that enable hosting, cloud and managed service providers to address a broader share of their customers' traffic management needs through a single infrastructure layer.
"The web is becoming more automated, more distributed and more complex, but the infrastructure that powers it remains highly fragmented," said Nikita Rozenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Blackwall. "Our ambition is to build the traffic management ecosystem that brings those worlds together. This funding allows us to expand globally, deepen our platform and give hosting and infrastructure providers the technology they need to participate in the next generation of the web."
Blackwall partners with web hosting, managed service and cloud providers that run much of the web. Hosting is a $200 billion market, and a fragmented one, because infrastructure has to stay close to the businesses it serves; for most of the web, the provider is the only route to a site at scale. Unlike the hyperscale and content-delivery platforms that compete with providers for their own customers, Blackwall sits inside the provider's infrastructure and strengthens the relationship between the provider and the businesses it hosts.
For web hosting providers the economics of Blackwall’s platform work in two ways. First, Blackwall stops unwanted traffic before it reaches their servers, cutting infrastructure and operating costs and making their customers' sites faster. Second, with the modular nature of Blackwall’s customer-facing web security features, providers can package, bundle and tier its components as products of their own, earning new revenue without building or maintaining the technology themselves.
"Blackwall has built something rare: a security company that grows with the internet itself," said Warda Shaheen, General Partner at AVP. "It is already the layer in front of millions of websites, and as more of the web's traffic comes from agents, the company in that position becomes indispensable. That's why we're leading this round."
Norman Fiore, General Partner at Dawn Capital, commented: “A tsunami of agents will overwhelm infrastructure optimised for human traffic. Nik and Denis are already delivering to their millions of customers the infrastructure optimised for the coming agentic web, and commercial success will flow to those businesses that are retooling today.”
Mina Samaan, General Partner, MMC Ventures, added: "We've backed Blackwall from its early days and have seen the business scale into critical infrastructure for the web. As AI changes how traffic moves across the internet, Blackwall's position at the front door of millions of websites has never been more important."
Stanislav Ivanov, Founding Partner, Tera Ventures: “Nik and Denis combine real grit, deep technical knowledge and a rare grasp of where the opportunity lies and how to capture it. Blackwall, now protecting millions of websites, is exactly the kind of born-global company Tera exists to back. We were their first believers, backing them from day one through the early years of building the product and winning its first partners and customers. This round shows we’re far from the last.”
About Blackwall
Blackwall is building the global web traffic management ecosystem, enabling hosting, cloud and managed service providers to manage, secure and optimize traffic across their entire customer base. Through a single integration, Blackwall gives providers a scalable platform to deliver and monetize security, performance and traffic management services while retaining control of their infrastructure and customer relationships. Built to grow with its partners, Blackwall is expanding its platform and global footprint to become the technology partner behind the service providers that power the web. Blackwall is backed by AVP, Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures and Tera Ventures.
About AVP
AVP is an independent global investment platform dedicated to high-growth, tech (from deep-tech to tech-enabled) companies across Europe and North America, managing more than €2.5bn of assets across venture and growth strategies. Its multi-stage platform combines global research with local execution to drive investment. Since its establishment in 2016, AVP has invested in more than 80 technology companies. Beyond providing equity capital, its expansion team works closely with founders, providing the expertise, connections, and resources needed to unlock growth opportunities and create lasting value through meaningful collaborations.
About Dawn Capital
Dawn is Europe's leading specialist B2B software investor, with assets under management of over $2bn. Dawn is primarily an early-stage investor, backing companies from Series A and B, and continuing to fund the top-performing through growth rounds to exit. Its roster of investments includes Mimecast (formerly NASDAQ-listed, taken private by Permira in a $5.8bn transaction), iZettle (sold to PayPal for $2.2bn cash), Tink (purchased by Visa for $2.0bn), LeanIX (acquired by SAP), as well as current market leaders, Collibra, Dataiku, Quantexa, Soldo, and Copper, amongst others.
Dawn is currently investing from Dawn Capital V, the firm's $620m fifth flagship fund, and Dawn Opportunities Fund, an $80m fund to enable Dawn to double down on its best performing companies to exit.
About MMC Ventures
MMC is a leading European venture capital firm with a research-driven approach. It invests in early-stage transformative technology companies that utilize AI and data science across sectors including enterprise AI, fintech, data-driven health and cloud & data infrastructure. Examples of companies MMC has backed include: Synthesia, Copper, Signal AI, Interactive Investor, Current Health, YuLife and Cloudsmith.
About Tera Ventures
Tera Ventures is a Tallinn-based seed-stage venture capital firm and one of the longest-running seed investors in the Nordic and Baltic region. Tera backs born-global founders from the Nordics, the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe. It invests with high conviction, often as a company’s first institutional backer, and stays alongside founders well beyond the first cheque, including through the toughest stretches of building a company.
Blackwall founders Denis Prochko and Nikita Rozenberg (L-R)
