Jets’ Win Wasn’t Pretty, But It Was Meaningful

Jets pull out a much needed win Sunday, Dec 26,2021 by Jeff Moeller ,The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com

If it wasn’t Jacksonville, you had the feeling the NY Jets wouldn’t have pulled it out.

But they did in a 26-21 victory that could easily be placed on a rookie quarterback’s mistakes and a bad team. Yet, the Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence bad spike call on third down and confusion on fourth down took an inevitable game-winning touchdown off the board.

These were the 2-13 Jaguars with the league’s 31st-worst overall offense and 32nd in scoring. As they showed, the 4-11 Jets were better enough.

In the future, there will be some more interesting and more productive Lawrence-Zach Wilson matchups

It wasn’t pretty, but the Jets showed some character as well further solidified the status of some of their younger building blocks. Yes, they allowed Jacksonville to slide back into the top spot in April’s draft, but a win still brings some much-needed satisfaction.

Still, after the Jags lost leading rusher James Robinson to a season-ending Achilles injury early in the first half that gave the Jets  a sigh of relief due to their poor run defense, Lawrence went to work the rest of the afternoon. He had his share of overthrows, but Lawrence carved the Jets’ secondary up like a post Christmas ham with a creditable 26-for-29, 280-yard performance without a touchdown pass.

Lawrence even set up the ominous go-ahead score with a 26-yard sprint down the sideline. 

He showed Jets’ fans why he can be the future cornerstone of their franchise, and made the kind of mistakes that will be washed away with experience. 

However, give the Jets credit. Their much-maligned defense bent back as far as they could without breaking.

The Jets were missing 20 players due to a COVID outbreak, seven of their starters were mostly on defense.

Linebacker and team captain C.J. Mosley led a valiant effort, but he was responsible for a costly pass interference penalty that led to a late score, and he also dropped an interception that could have sealed the victory a lot sooner than the closing seconds. Mosley did have a team-high 10 tackles and the lone sack on Lawrence.

Cornerback Javelin Guidry knocked the ball away from Marvin Jones Jr. on the final play of the game before the Jags were flagged for an illegal motion penalty. 

As for the Jets’ offense, they discovered that Zach Wilson doesn’t need to throw for 250 yards to have a good day.

Wilson made some mistakes like his counterpart, but reassured himself that he can make things happen running the ball like a franchise record 52-yard touchdown run and 91 yards overall on the day.

He had an effective 14-for-22, 102-yard effort throwing the ball and finding center Connor McDermott for a touchdown.

Wilson also had the benefits of the remaining 182 of the 273-yard rushing effort led by rookie Michael Carter’s 118-yard showing. Carter has all the qualities to be the team’s next hallmark back since Curtis Martin.

It wasn’t about numbers for Wilson. Instead, it was about poise.

Wide receiver/return specialist Braxton Berrios again proved how he easily can be the team MVP this season with his 103-yard kickoff return and his five catches for 37 yards, playing a key role with the Jets’ two leading receivers out.

In the end, the Jets won a game they should have, and they also gave us a glimpse of a slow, burgeoning future.