LOOK WHO’S WINNING!
May be time to end tank talk as Jets win second straight
“Sucking for Sam” has suddenly taken a backseat to “Balling for Bowles” as the slogan for the 2017 Jets.
Th e supposed tank took another blow Sunday with a 23-20 overtime Jets win over the Jaguars that puts the Jets at 2-2, somewhere no one expected them to be.
The Jets blew a 10- point, fourth-quarter lead with two huge turnovers, but were able to pull out their second straight win when Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 41-yard field goal with 32 seconds left in overtime. After blowing the lead, Todd Bowles walked up and down his sideline, telling his players the game was not over.
“Three weeks ago, we wouldn’ t have recovered ,” Bowles said of the late adversity. “Right now, they’re growing every week. They didn’t flinch. They stood up and made plays at the end. They knew the game wasn’t over, which is a credit to those guys.”
The Jet s broke some huge plays in the game, played strong defense and then got a few special-teams plays at the end of the game to send the Jaguars home also at 2-2.
After predictions of 0-16 and 1-15 and talk of tanking for USC quarterback Sam Darnold in the draft, the Jets actually look decent. No one should make hotel reservations for Minneapolis in February just yet, but clearly this is a better team than most anticipated.
“Surprising? How s urpri s - ing was that to you? Or you all? That was the real question,” wide receiver Jermaine Kearse said when asked if he was surprised by the win. “I mean, we know what we have in this locker room. It just comes down to us. It’s all about us and the guys have that belief in this locker room and we’ve got to continue to have it. … We can take this season as far as we want to take it.”
The Jets ran for 256 yards, including touchdown runs of 75 and 69 yards. Playing without Matt Forte, the Jets offense did not slip at all. Bilal Powell rushed for a career-high 163 yards on 21 carries, including a 75-yard touchdown in the f irst quarter. Rookie Elijah McGuire scored a 69-yard touchdown of his own in the third quarter and finished with 93 yards on 10 rushes.
It was a c ra z y game t hat feat ured several momentum swings. McGuire’s run gave the Jets a 17-10 lead early in the third quarter. A Catanzaro field goal at the end of the third quarter made it 20-10 and a Jets win felt fairly certain.
Jo s h McCown hit Ro b by Anderson for a 41-yard pass early in the fourth quarter that put the Jets on the Jaguars’ 14, ready to put the game out of reach. On the next play, though, McCown’s lateral to Powell bounced off the running back’s shoulder pads. Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack scooped up the ball, knowing it was a backwards pass, and raced 81 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-17 with 10:33 left in the game.
Disaster struck again for the Jets offense when Powell slipped on a third-and-6 passing play. McCown’s ball sailed past Powell, who was on the ground, and into A.J. Bouye’s arms. Jack- sonville took over with 3:19 left in the game at the Jets’ 35.
Three plays later, Blake Bortles hit Leonard Fournette for a 23-yard touchdown, but the play was called back because of a holding penalty on wide receiver Arrelious Benn. Jackonville ended up settling for a 22-yard field goal by Jason Myers to tie the game at 20-20, forcing overtime.
The overtime was ugly with each team getting three possessions. Jets punter Lachlan Edwards swung the field position with a 70-yard punt that pinned the Jaguars at their own 3. The Jets forced the Jaguars to punt. Jeremy Kerley returned the punt to the Jaguars’ 40 and then Jacksonville linebacker Paul Posluszy was penalized for taunting, putting the ball at the 25. Catanzaro kicked the 41-yarder to end the game and give the Jets their second straight win.
“We’ve got a team of fighters,” cornerback Buster Skrine said. “Regardless of what came ahead of us, our team was f ighting. Our coach kept saying, ‘Hey, this is our game. We’re still winning. Just keep fighting.’ That’s what our team did.”
The defense did a fairly good job against the rookie Fournette. After some early success, they bottled him up. They also shut down Bortles, who had multiple passes batted down and gave up an interception to defensive end Kony Ealy.
The Jets now head to Cleveland to face the winless Browns. They could easily be 3-2 in a week and in the thick of the AFC East race. They are one game behind the Bills — and tied with the Patriots.
The rest of the league can no longer view the Jets as an easy win.
“Don’t just mark us off on your calendar as a win,” cornerback Morris Claiborne said. “Believe me, we’re doing the same thing to you. We’re really working and not taking anything for granted. So, don’t come in and think you’re going to push us over.”