SUPER SAM
Darnold leads Jets past Cowboys in return to lineup
How EAST RUTHERFORD >> ‘bout them...Jets?
Gang Green pulled off their first win of the season on Sunday, largely dominating the first half and then hanging on to beat the Dallas Cowboys, 2422, at a sold out and raucous MetLife Stadium.
In his first game back after missing all but the season debut due to contracting mononucleosis, quarterback Sam Darnold turned in one of the best games of his career, completing 23 of 32 passes for 338 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
“There was a lot of good,” said first-year head coach Adam Gase in evaluating his sophomore signal-caller. “Obviously, his pocket movement creates a lot of opportunities for us. ... He had a good week of practice last week. He did a really good job of just getting it to the open guy.”
Early on, it actually seemed like the Jets, who had been outscored 84-23 with Darnold on the shelf and largely embarrassed in each of those games, were going to walk away with a somewhat easy victory.
Le’Veon Bell’s two-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter accounted for the Jets’ first time finding the end zone in the first half all year, and while the Cowboys managed to chip away with a 50-yard field goal by kicker Brett Maher, the defense came up big later in the half to decidedly turn the momentum in their favor.
With the ball on the Jets’ seven-yard line, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett elected to go for it with a risky run-pass option play call, which was quickly sniffed out and stuffed by rookie defensive lineman Quinnen Williams for a one-yard loss and turnover on downs. One play later, Darnold found Robby Anderson wide open down the right side of the field for a 92-yard touchdown pass that will go down as the second-longest offensive scoring play in franchise history.
“I could see that he was over there, giving me that look like, ‘You better call something deep here pretty soon,’” Gase cracked. “We just felt like it was the right time.”
After a three-and-out by the Dallas offense, Ryan Griffin followed that with a juggling catch on the goal line with just 27 seconds left in the half to stake the Jets to an improbable 21-3 lead. Maher followed that with an impressive 62-yard field goal as the clock expired to cut the Dallas deficit to 21-6, but the game remained firmly in reach for the Jets.
However, it slowly seemed to be slipping away, just as so many have in recent years; another Maher field goal midway through the third quarter made it a 21-9 game, but it was a red zone interception thrown by Darnold and picked off by Jourdan Lewis on the ensuing Jets possession that seemed to really turn the tide.
Although the Cowboys didn’t get any points off of that turnover, it didn’t seem to matter. Ezekiel Elliott’s five-yard touchdown run with 6:30 left in regulation made it a 21-16 game, but the Jets recovered on their next drive, which culminated in a critical Sam Ficken 38-yard field goal to give them an eight-point lead.
A flag-filled final drive of the game for Prescott ended on a four-yard quarterback draw with just 44 seconds left to play, setting the stage for a potential game-tying two-point conversion attempt. But, after a slew of penalty flags flew late in the game, the officials let some contact on the final play go, and Jason Witten was unable to haul in Prescott’s pass.
“(Defensive coordinator) Gregg (Williams) blitzed everybody, so I don’t think we really cared what they were doing on offense, because somebody was coming free,” Gase said. “I thought (the defense) did a great job. You try to contain 21 (Elliott) as much as possible. You can see you’d have three or four guys hitting him, and he doesn’t go down. He’s a tough matchup in the passing game, whether you’re in zone or man. If he gets in empty, all of a sudden, he’s an effective receiver.”
After some unexpected late drama, where an onside kick was nearly fumbled by Demaryius Thomas, the Jets hung on for a much-needed win that gets them out of the ranks of the NFL’s winless teams and gives them some momentum heading into what certainly feels like a must-win Monday Night Football showdown against the New England Patriots.
“All the little things that had to happen in the fourth quarter, that’s the way we had to win,” Gase said. “Our guys needed that. We had to make the play, it wasn’t going to be given to us.”