Jets vs Texans: Garrett Wilson makes potential catch of the year as New York defeats Houston to make it five games

CNN
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Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson had a candidate for catch of the year Thursday night as New York beat the Houston Texans 21-13 to end their five-game losing streak.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Wilson reached back with one arm in the end zone and twisted his body to grab the ball out of the air as Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter watched.

Perhaps even more remarkably, the second-year receiver was able to get his left shin and right foot down in the end zone while keeping the ball. Although it was initially ruled an incomplete pass, a challenge by Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich led to a review, and the officials overturned the decision to rule it a successful catch and touchdown.

The play bore a striking resemblance to another magnificent catch at MetLife Stadium. The one-handed diving nature of Wilson’s effort was compared to Odell Beckham Jr.’s grab for the New York Giants against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.

Afterward, Wilson said the two moments of brilliance had their differences.

“(Beckham) came down two yards, the ball was going to go out of bounds and it was Odell, man,” Wilson told reporters. “Odell against the Cowboys, that was the one. So for that to even come up in that conversation, I’m blessed. I’m honored.”

Ulbrich said the Wilson and Beckham catches were two of the same.

“Oh my god,” Ulbrich said. “I mean, I was talking to the ref when they called it, I was like, ‘Just for posterity’s sake, you have to say this is just how it goes down in history.’ I mean, it would rival the Odell catch, it was great.”

Wilson explained what was going through his mind as the ball traveled through the air during the extraordinary catch.

“Honestly, you don’t think too much about, ‘How can I make a play?'” Wilson told Prime Video’s Kaylee Hartung after the game. “Give myself a chance to make a play. (Jets QB) Aaron (Rodgers) believed in me. Once the ball was going up, it’s like you have no choice but to go and try to , what you can. I’m glad they changed the call, so it was a cool play. In the end, I’m proud to come through need it.”

It was the second one-handed catch Wilson made during Thursday’s game, having already caught a Rodgers pass midway through the third quarter with one hand and ran for a 21-yard touchdown.

Wilson’s second-half explosion was a big factor in the Jets ending their five-game losing streak after slow starts by both teams at MetLife Stadium.

The first points of the game came with 3:21 left in the first half thanks to a three-yard touchdown run by Texans running back Joe Mixon after both defenses suffocated their rival offenses to force punts.

The Jets thought they had taken the lead on the first play of the second quarter when Malachi Corley ran 19 yards into the end zone, but after a review by officialsthe rookie is believed to have dropped the ball before it crossed the goal line, then rolled out of bounds, resulting in a turnover and giving Houston the ball.

Jets QB Rodgers had historic first-half numbers, going 7-of-14 on his passes for 32 yards, which was the fewest passing yards Rodgers has ever had in a first half and tied for the fewest passing yards in any half (minimum 10 throughput), according to the NFL.

But Wilson’s first touchdown of the game on the first drive of the third quarter tied the game, and his extraordinary one-handed grab at the start of the fourth quarter gave the Jets the lead.

New York’s advantage was stretched further near the end of the game when Davante Adams got his first touchdown for the Jets after catching a 37-yard throw from Rodgers.

Although they got a late field goal, the Texans were unable to mount a comeback as they fell to 6-3, while the Jets improved to 3-6.

“It feels good,” Wilson told reporters. “We definitely just wanted to get back in the win column. Losing five straight feels like you’d expect. It doesn’t feel good. We’re better than that, most importantly, and it was time to go and prove it.”