Jets’ Talent Overcomes Dumb Plays To Hold Off Texans
Brains over brawn? That’s not an equation the Jets have ever mastered.
New York (3-6), which snapped a brutal five-game losing streak by defeating AFC South-leading Houston, 21-13, on Thursday night, had their fans at MetLife Stadium and watching on Amazon cringing at their stupidity throughout the game.
Two New York personal foul penalties, one for roughing the punter and another for contacting the field goal snapper, put the Texans offense back on the field. The Jets were fortunate that neither extra possession cost them points, as the defense stepped up to strip sack Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was hounded throughout an awful night (11-for-30 for 191 yards with 8 sacks taken), in the red zone and then Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn doinked his next field goal attempt square off the upright.
Even on Houston’s last drive, a 4th-and-9 incompletion in which Stroud gave his receiver Tank Dell no chance on his sailed throw was offset by a completely unnecessary pass interference foul by Jets defensive back Isaiah Oliver. Whereas the game should have been over, the Texans were still breathing. Gang Green needed another hold from its defense to force a Fairbairn field goal and the hands team to recover the ensuing onside kick.
But the Dunce of the Year award goes to rookie receiver Malachi Corley, the so-called YAC (yards after catch) King who made every Jets fan yack when he went untouched on a second quarter Jet sweep from the Houston 19-yard line into the end zone. Well, Corley technically reached the end zone, only he dropped the ball a few inches before it broke the plane of the goal line. When it rolled out of bounds, Houston was awarded a touchback in a scoreless contest.
The Jets have been doing dumb things like this for much of their 14-year playoff drought. They are still terribly coached with too little evidence of accountability. It makes rooting for this team such a tortured exercise.
This year, though, the influx of talent was supposed to help alter the narrative. With quarterback Aaron Rodgers back from his recovery from Achilles surgery and weapons at every skill position, the Jets offense was expected to take off for a change in spite of the intelligence deficiencies that reek from the owner’s box on down.
Only it hasn’t gone as planned. The Jets entered Thursday’s tilt ranked 25th in the league in points per game and their playoff hopes for this season were hanging by a thread.
For a half, the trend continued, as New York managed just 69 yards of total offense, which was just one yard less than the gains from their opening possession after intermission.
Rodgers, who was admittedly terrible in the first 30 minutes, missing golden opportunities for explosive plays with inaccurate throws, finally just let his skill guys use their skills. Garrett Wilson made two fantastic catches for touchdowns, though in the latter case, “fantastic” doesn’t give his effort justice. Contorting almost as much as former Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did on that epic catch against Dallas, Wilson went up for a Rodgers duck into the end zone with one hand in the air while shielding Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter and came down with the ball stuck in his glove. On top of that, Wilson managed to get one shin down in bounds for a 26-yard touchdown that put New York ahead, 14-10, early in the fourth quarter.
On the Jets next possession, Davante Adams, Rodgers’ buddy from their eight seasons together in Green Bay whom New York acquired two weeks ago in a trade with the Raiders, entered the picture. Few receivers have Adams’ shiftiness at the line of scrimmage to juke defenders, yet the Rodgers-to-Adams connection in the last two games spewed rust. But when it mattered most on Thursday, Rodgers laid out a beautiful ball down the right sideline on a 3rd-and-3 with three minutes remaining that Adams ran down for a game-breaking 37-yard touchdown.
The play secured Jeff Ulbrich’s first victory as the Jets interim Head Coach since he replaced Robert Saleh after Week 5. Make no mistake, if New York plays like that next Sunday at Arizona, they’ll go back to getting their butts whipped again. But this team needed a win anyway, anyhow, so it’s a good thing these games aren’t determined solely by intelligence quotients.