What We Learned from New York’s 21-13 win

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1. Wilson’s freaky catch propels Jets, whose season is alive for now. Garrett Wilson‘s incredible touchdown and a relentless Jets pass rush were just enough in Thursday’s win over the Texans to keep the Jets treading water and faint playoff hopes alive at 3-6. Early in the fourth quarter, Wilson made one of the all-time great catches, a one-handed-cross-body grab with a foot and a shin (barely) inbounds to give the Jets a 14-10 lead after a painful night to that point. The touchdown came while Davante Adams was being assessed for a concussion after falling hard a few plays earlier. Adams had been Aaron Rodgers‘ go-to guy early, but Wilson stepped into that role while Adams was out, catching four big passes in the final 16 minutes. Adams returned to put the cherry on top of a much-needed victory, catching a pretty Rodgers throw for a 37-yard score. Rodgers had only 32 first-half passing yards, tied for the fewest he’s ever had in a half, but his big-play receivers both stepped up in the second half.
2. Texans’ pass protection was a nightmare. The Texans knew they’d have to dig deeper offensively with wide receivers Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs out, and Joe Mixon and Tank Dell stepped up to help fill some of that void. But it was undone by a Texans offensive line that struggled all night, with C.J. Stroud being sacked eight times, getting up slowly more than once after contact. Stroud was only 11-of-30 passing for 191 yards, battling until the end and scrambling several times successfully, but it was often out of self-preservation. Dell caught six of Stroud’s passes for 126 yards, and Mixon ran for 106 yards and a score, but offensive mistakes did the Texans in. Offensive holds wiped out Mixon runs of 10 and 17 yards. Stroud lost a fumble in the red zone early on. Six offensive linemen allowed multiple pressures, including both Greens (Kenyon, who left with injury, and Kendrick, his replacement). In addition to that, the Texans missed two field-goal tries, including a 27-yard miss by Fairbairn Hunter after he’d made a 43-yarder minutes earlier that saw New York flagged for unnecessary roughness. The Texans accepted the Jets penalty, and it backfired.
3. Corley, Watts mistakes don’t come back to bite Jets. On a night when many things were going wrong, it was easy to envision either Malachi Corley‘s mindless fumble or Eric Watts‘ crucial late penalty coming back to thwart the Jets’ comeback hopes. In the end, both were absolved. The Jets’ best play call of the first half was an end-around to Corley, who appeared to score a 19-yard touchdown. But it officially went down as an 18-yard gain because Corley dropped the ball prior to the goal line. It rolled through the end zone for a Texans touchback. It was Corley’s second NFL touch, and it should have been his first TD — and a Jets 7-0 lead — but he cost his team dearly. He was the biggest goat until Watts vaulted over the Texans’ long snapper on a late field-goal try, with the Jets up 14-10. The kick was good, but the Texans took points off the board and tried to take the lead after Watts’ 15-yard penalty. Thankfully, Watts was off the hook when Fairbairn’s 27-yard try doinked off the upright. Earlier, the Jets’ new kicker, Riley Pattersondoinked in an extra point. Maybe the football spirits were looking down on the Jets on All Hallows’ Eve.
4. Texans fell apart in the second half. The Texans took a tenuous 7-0 lead into halftime, but the good news was that the Jets looked worse than they did. But things changed in the second half, with the offense stalling out, the defense coming unglued and even the special teams costing them points. Stroud led the Texans on a field-goal drive to start the second half, but they wouldn’t score again until the final minute, getting close enough just to lose by one score. DeMeco Ryans has coached this team to a lot of close victories, but his decision to take points off the board backfired. The biggest problem, however, was on defense. That unit was in Rodgers’ head early, holding the Jets to 69 first-half yards, but their battered unit drove 70, 70 and 80 yards for touchdowns in their only three possessions of the second half. Rodgers was sacked twice in the first half, but he had a brilliant second half, completing 15 of 18 passes for 179 yards and three TDs.
5. Jets’ pressure was difference. The Jets’ defense allowed a 98-yard touchdown drive by the Texans before the end of the first half, giving Houston a halftime lead and spoiling Tommy Townsend‘s brilliant 75-yard punt. But other than that drive, New York looked more like the elite unit it was pegged to be before the season than the one we’ve seen more often this regular season. The Jets racked up eight sacks and a whopping 33 pressures, with Will McDonald IV, Haason Reddick, Quinnen Williams and Micheal Clemons dominating up front and Jamien Sherwood coming in as a timely blitzer. The Jets didn’t need to bring extra pressure with Reddick making a clear difference, although the Texans’ shoddy blocking had something to do with it. But either way, Stroud completed only 11 passes in 38 dropbacks, so the Jets did their job, even on a night when the Jets’ tackling was not great and Sauce Gardner struggled and was banged up.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Texans-Jets (via NFL Pro): Joe Mixon carried the ball 15 times for 86 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown when facing a light box (six or fewer defenders), including +31 rushing yards over expected.

NFL Research: Aaron Rodgers was 7-of-14 passing for 32 yards in the first half against the Texans, which were the fewest passing yards Rodgers has ever had in a first half and tied for the fewest pass yards in any half (minimum 10 passes). He threw for more yards on the first drive of the second half (47) than in the entire first half (32).