Darnold back, and team feels better
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Sam Darnold returned, bringing with him the New York Jets’ hopes to turn around a season that was quickly unraveling.
Darnold gave the Jets’ struggling offense a huge boost by throwing two touchdown passes, and New York held on to beat the Dallas Cowboys 2422 on Sunday.
“I’m just really, really excited for the guys in this locker room,” said Darnold, who missed his team’s previous three games while recovering from mononucleosis. “We were starving for a win.”
The Jets (14) led 219 in the fourth quarter, but the Cowboys stormed back and had a chance to tie in the wild closing moments.
Beginning with the first play after the twominute warning, officials called penalties on six consecutive snaps — four of the calls against the Jets — as the Cowboys drove into scoring position.
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott scored on a 4yard run with 43 seconds left, making it a twopoint game. Going for the tie, Prescott was pressured by a blitzing Jamal Adams and threw a pass that fell short of tight end Jason Witten in the end zone.
The Cowboys (33) tried an onside kick, but Demaryius Thomas recovered for the Jets, ensuring Dallas’ third straight loss.
“To come out here and do it in the fashion we did and the defense getting a huge stop on the twopoint conversion,” Darnold said, “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Darnold finished 23for32 for 338 yards — including a 92yard touchdown throw to Robby Anderson and a 5yarder to Ryan Griffin. Darnold did see one of his passes intercepted by Jourdan Lewis late in the third quarter, ending Darnold’s string of 179 throws without a pick.
Le’Veon Bell also ran for a
“No one counted us to win that game. Everyone bet on the Cowboys. They thought we were going to come in and get blown out.” Jordan Jenkins, Jets linebacker, after his team’s first win of the season
score, his first on the ground with the Jets.
The Cowboys played without firststring tackles La’el Collins and Tyron Smith, and Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper was sidelined for most of the game with a quadriceps injury. But Dallas made it a fivepoint game on Ezekiel Elliott’s 5yard run with 6:30 remaining, capping an 11play, 84yard drive.
Sam Ficken’s 38yard field goal with 3:24 left made it 2416, but the Cowboys had one more long drive in them.
And, the Jets’ defense had one final stop in them.
“No one counted us to win that game,” linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “Everyone bet on the Cowboys. They thought we were going to come in and get blown out.”
Prescott was 28for40 for 277 yards. Elliott finished with 105 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.
“We’re putting ourselves behind,” Prescott said. “We’re putting our defense in a tough spot. We’re not playing complementary football. It’s simple as that. We’ve got to start faster. We’ve got to get points. We’ve got to get touchdowns and allow our defense to play from up.
“As long we have these slow starts, we’re going to struggle.”
Darnold came out throwing in his first snap since the season opener and connected with Thomas for a 17yard gain. But Robert Quinn sacked him on the next play and the drive stalled. That’s 29 straight games the Jets have failed to score a touchdown on their opening possession, the longest active streak in the NFL.
But Darnold and the Jets got on the scoreboard on their second drive, capped by Bell’s 2yard touchdown run.
Darnold was efficient on the 14play, 83yard march, going 6for8 for 43 yards. New York was also helped by three penalties on Dallas, including a horsecollar tackle of Darnold by Maliek Collins on 3rdandgoal from the 7.
“I definitely felt like myself out there,” Darnold said. “Especially after the first play, that pass I made to D.T., I knew we were going to have a good game offensively.”
New York finished with 382 yards after getting 233 combined in the previous two games with Luke Falk at quarterback.
“It’s unacceptable for us to give up that many points,” Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith said. “That’s not an elite defense.”