LAWRENCE? WELP
A won and a boo- hoo as first win likely costs Jets shot at Trevor
Frank Gore (right) celebrates his third-quarter touchdown with Ryan Griffin as the Jets, 17-point underdogs, stunned the Rams to avoid becoming the third team in NFL history to go 0-16. The win, though, put the one-win Jaguars in the lead for the top pick in the draft and the chance to take Trevor Lawrence (inset).
Thanks, but no tanks.
That was the message from the Jets on Sunday as they pulled off a stunning 23-20 upset over the Rams in Inglewood, Calif. for their first win of the season.
The win dealt a severe blow to the Jets’ chances of landing the No. 1 pick in the draft and Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Jets are now tied at 1-13 with the Jaguars, but the Jaguars own the tiebreaker because they have a weaker strength of schedule. There are still two weeks left and the Jaguars could win a game, but the surest way to Lawrence for the Jets was to lose every game.
Instead, the Jets players found a way to win their first game, on the road, defeating a Rams team (9-5) that could have clinched a playoff berth with a win. The victory snapped a 13-game losing streak, the longest in franchise history.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” quarterback Sam Darnold said.
The Jets entered the game as 17- point underdogs but had a 17-point lead in the third quarter before the Rams chipped away and cut it to a three-point game in the fourth quarter.
Unlike other games this season that looked like possible wins, the Jets held on.
Jets coach Adam Gase ruined Christmas for Jets fans hoping for Lawrence by finding a way to win.
“They deserve this,” Gase said of his players. “They deserved this a while ago. We’ve had a few snatched away from us. To finally close out a game against a good team, too. It says a lot about what kind of character we have in this locker room.”
D arnold played an efficient game, completing 22 of 31 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. Rams quarterback Jared Goff went 22 of 34 for 209 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
A third-and-6 completion from Darnold to Frank Gore at the twominute warning iced the game after Marcus Maye came up with a huge pass breakup on fourth down to stop the Rams. Darnold then lined up in the victory formation and took three knees before the Jets players could celebrate.
“It’s the greatest feeling in sports to be able to ice the game out and to know we had it,” Darnold said. “It’s the best.”
While the “Tank for Trevor” crowd is upset about the draft pick, the players and coaches were ecstatic about getting the win.
“Our job is to try to go out and win every week,” Gase said.
The Jets defense set the tone early. It forced three-and-outs on the Rams’ f irst two possessions. Quinnen Williams was a force up front and Frankie Luvu was disruptive blitzing. Goff looked out of sync and the Rams running game could not get going.
On their f irst possession, the Jets converted four third downs, three on passes to running back Ty Johnson. The last of those thirddown conversions was an 18-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to Johnson that gave the Jets a 7-0 lead with 6:25 left in the first quarter.
The Jets settled for two f ield goal s in t he f i rs t hal f after a blocked punt by J.T. Hassell and a Bryce Hall interception. That left them leading 13-0 instead of by more in the first half.
The Rams kicked a field goal as time expired in the second quarter after the Jets botched their last possession and gave Los Angeles time to mount a drive. Matt Gay kicked a 45-yard field goal to make it 13-3 at half.
The Jets opened the second half with an impressive drive. They went 72 yards on 11 plays. Gore scored from the 1 when Gase went for it on fourth-and-goal. It was the f irst second-half touchdown the Rams defense had allowed at home this season in and gave the Jets a stunning 20-3 lead.
The Rams offense came to life in the second half and hit some big plays, including a 44-yard pass from Goff to tight end Tyler Higbee that set up a Robert Woods 15-yard touchdown catch to make it 20-10.
The Jets settled for another Ficken field goal to go up 23-10 with 1:39 left in the third quarter.
Woods gashed the Jets defense for a 40-yard run, and Goff found Higbee for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 13:47 left to play to cut the Jets’ lead to 23-17. The Rams made it 23-20 on a 42-yard Gay field goal with 6:35 left to play.
The Jets offense, which went into a shell after the Gore touchdown, went three-and-out and gave the Rams the ball back with 5:33 left in the game. The Rams nearly returned t heir punt al l the way, but Jets rookie punter Braden Mann made a nice tackle on returner Nsimba Webster at the Jets’ 43. The Rams got to the Jets’ 37 and had a fourth-and-4. Maye, who just missed an earlier interception, broke up a pass to Gerald Everett to turn the Rams away and give the ball back to the offense.
The Jets took over with 3:54 left and were able to run down the clock. The biggest play was a third-and-6 pass from Darnold to Gore that got a first down at the two-minute warning.
“We knew we couldn’t give it back to them,” Darnold said. “For us to be able to execute when we really needed to. That’s obviously something we haven’t done all year. To be able to execute and see it come all into fruition. I think that was the biggest thing for us. It was an amazing feeling.”
The game ended with Darnold taking a knee three times.
“I’m just happy for our guys,” Gase said. “They’ve done such a great job of how they’ve worked, been through a lot of adversity. It’s been too long for us to even remember what a win feels like almost. It’s great to see those guys that excited.”