NEVER TREVOR LAND
Jets grab first win, but enter a world they might not like too much
The Jets nearly blew it. Instead, they merely blew their lock on the No. 1 pick, beating the Rams, 23-20. They’re 1-13 and have avoided the third 0-16 season in NFL history.
Even with 20-3 and 23-10 leads late in the second half, the Jets almost collapsed. The Rams got within 23-20 and had the ball with five minutes left and a chance to go ahead. But punter Braden Mann made a touchdown-saving tackle of Nsimba Walker on the return, then Marcus Maye broke up a would-be fourth-and-long long conversion to Gerald Everett to get the ball back. Frank Gore and Sam Darnold managed to salt the game away from there.
“I don’t think I’ve paid attention to the victory formation as much as I did in this game,” coach Adam Gase said of the game-ending kneeldowns. “It’s been too long for us to even remember what a win even feels like, almost.”
“It’s the greatest feeling in sports,” Sam Darnold said of running out the clock.
The poor special teams play that had haunted the team through 13 losses was nowhere to be seen Sunday. In his Jets debut, J.T. Hassell blocked a punt, and in his return from a groin injury, Sam Ficken hit three field goals.
“They deserve this,” Gase said. “They deserved it a while ago.”
The Rams were horrendous in all three phases until too late. Coach Sean McVay responded commensurately, saying the loss was “embarrassing” and he was
“sick to your stomach about it.”
With a Jaguars loss on Sunday, the 1-13 Jets are now tied for the NFL’s worst record, and the Jaguars hold the tiebreaker for the top pick in the draft with a softer schedule. If the Jaguars lose out, they get the No. 1 pick. They would need to beat the playoff-contending Colts or Bears to make Trevor Lawrence a Jet.
“Hey, our job is to win every week,” Gase said.
Though Gase’s clock management and decision-making were at best questionable on Sunday, he stitched together a game plan that mostly neutralized the Rams’ terrifying pass rush. Darnold played a clean game, hitting short and quick releases all afternoon. He was sacked twice and never turned the ball over.
The Jets were unspectacular on offense, but they did what they’d failed to do all season: convert turnovers into points, even if they were only field goals. The blocked punt and a Bryce Hall interception were turned into three points each.
“I’m sure I was throwing some slight temper tantrums in my head,” Gase said of the mere field goals on those two possessions. But in recent weeks, even short kicks hadn’t been a lock for the Jets. Ficken replacing the unreliable Sergio Castillo was huge.
Even when the Jets win, they lose, and that was true in more ways than one on Sunday. Quinnen Williams, who was unblockable all game, left with a head injury early in the fourth quarter. He’s being evaluated for a concussion, according to the team.
Williams was part of a defense that was as good as it needed to be, shutting down the Rams’ attack for most of three quarters before L.A.’s rally fell just short.
It was frustrating to watch Gase insist on feeding Frank Gore 23 times for just 59 yards on Sunday, and yet Gore made four plays that ultimately won the game. The 37-yearold punched in a touchdown in the third quarter to open up a 20-3 lead, then got the two end-of-game first downs the Jets needed with two runs and a catch.
Gore was wide open, waving his arms in the middle of the field for the game-clinching conversion.
“All right, Frank, I see you,” Darnold said, laughing. Gore ran backwards to convert the first down and put the Rams to bed.
Mekhi Becton flattened at least one Rams defender on the Gore touchdown, which came on fourth down from the 1-yard line.
“We were hoping Big Ticket (Becton) and the boys would give enough space where Frank would punch it in there,” said Gase, who credited Gore for the key clock-killers. “Good thing we had a Hall of Fame running back in there that seems to make plays at the right time.”
That back had been dreading 0-16 perhaps more than anyone. “I can’t go out like that,” Gore said when the Jets were merely 0-10. He won’t.
“I’m happy. I’ve had good years, I’ve had bad years,” Gore said Sunday. “This has been a tough one. One thing I can say now: I never went 0-16.”