With the ‘season on the line’, Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams sparked the Jets, Aaron Rodgers. What now?

On By Littum

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Facing third-and-19, down three points early in the fourth quarter, Aaron Rodgers made a decision.

If the safety on the weak side went down, the New York Jets quarterback would give Garrett Wilson a chance.

So Rodgers dropped back and sailed a pass 47 air yards to his receiver, who would end up being just 0.8 yards away from the defender, according to Next Gen Stats.

Wilson extended his right arm while in the air so spectacularly that his teammates would soon be quick to compare him to Michael Jordan’s JumpMan or Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous one-handed catch in the same stadium, or both.

As Wilson brought his left hand forward to secure the ball, his left foot hit the end zone, his right foot still well above his hips. The Jets’ 2022 first-round pick fell to his left, hesitant to celebrate as he wondered if he had settled into the NFL’s sometimes-seemingly shifting definition of a catch.

Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich contested the incomplete pass ruling.

“Just for posterity’s sake, you have to say it’s in,” Ulbrich told the official half-jokingly. “Just so it goes down in history.”

Only in hindsight did it not prove necessary. Replay confirmed Wilson’s left shin hit the end zone.

Rodgers to Wilson, 26 yards, touchdown.

“A game-changing play,” Rodgers said.

Those first-half weaknesses faded into their memory as the momentum of a star athlete making a splash swept through the sidelines. For the first time in more than three quarters, the Jets had the lead.

The Jets beat the Houston Texans 21-13 on Thursday night to snap a five-game losing streak and secure their first win in four tries under Ulbrich’s tenure.

They improved to 3-6 to stay alive in the playoffs, finding an offensive rhythm unlike anything the franchise had seen in a season and a half of the Rodgers era.

A MetLife Stadium crowd that booed and booed heavily in the first half broke into JETS chants as the night wore on. A home locker room that had fallen silent after a prime-time loss to the Buffalo Bills earlier this month now turned up the speakers as they traded dejected looks for smiles and bewilderment with confidence.

A win over a productive but shaky Texans team is not the Jets’ ultimate goal. But the winning had to begin somewhere, and even Rodgers admitted how terrifying another loss would have felt.

“It was kind of a season on the line there in the second half,” Rodgers said. “Obviously we wouldn’t have been mathematically eliminated. But mentally it would have been really, really tough to go 2-7. Hopefully this gives us confidence so we can beat anybody because we feel like we could. The the way we played offensively in the second half is the way we’ve been waiting for this offense to wake up.

“It was as close to perfect as I had to be. That’s the standard I have to play at. There were a lot of incredible performances.”

At halftime it was all in doubt.

Rodgers didn’t sugarcoat his 7-of-14 passing attempts for 32 yards before halftime.

On the first play of the game, Rodgers missed longtime friend and receiver Davante Adams. Rodgers targeted Adams on a hitch-and-go, and instead sailed the pass out of bounds.

Soon after, Rodgers threw to Adams and he didn’t look.

This was not the chemistry that two players nine years (albeit not consecutively) expected in their partnership. This was not the caliber of play that a four-time MVP quarterback and six-time Pro Bowl receiver planned to deliver.

Rodgers joked with Adams that they were “even” after each botched a play.

“Although we really weren’t because, God, the first one was so bad,” Rodgers said. – I played as badly as I could in the first half and knew it had to get better from there. … I mean, I was terrible.”

Rodgers was in good company and played poorly as multiple receivers dropped passes from him and running back Breece Hall fumbled (Jets recovered). Rookie receiver Malachi Corley nearly scored a 19-yard touchdown on a jet sweep before replay review revealed that Corley’s celebratory drop of the ball just before crossing the plane was a touchback rather than a touchdown.

Add in Jets defenders missing tackles and a special teams play giving the Texans a first down on the snapper, and Jets fans had reasons beyond Halloween to freak out.

Thomas Morstead’s 75-yard punt to the 2-yard line was the Jets’ highlight of the first half.

But the Jets had told themselves: Adversity was bound to come. How will we respond?

For the first time in six weeks, they found answers.

After two quarters with five punts and a fumble, the Jets scored touchdowns on three straight drives to close out the game.

Hall continued to find the rhythm. But this time, so did Rodgers.

That 7-of-14, 32-yard first half turned into a 15-of-18, 179-yard, three-touchdown second half.

Wilson’s acrobatic JumpMan was his second integrated touchdown, his first a 21-yard touchdown on the opening drive after halftime that the Jets knew could dictate their momentum.

Wilson ran a draft route and saw Rodgers spy him “at the last second.”

Texans safety Jalen Pitre jumped for the ball and fell, clearing the way for Wilson to drive another one-handed catch 14 yards to the end zone.

The Jets’ defense continued to exploit a porous Houston offensive line, holding it to a field goal and paving the way to finally take the lead.

But then Rodgers and Wilson were 1 yard short on third down.

So Rodgers trusted Adams 17 yards down the left sideline and fourth-and-1 melted into the continuation of a drive.

This Adams would finish.

And facing third-and-3, up four points with 3:02 left, Rodgers would find Adams in stride for a 37-yard touchdown.

The receiver’s first score as a Jet (after he left for a neurological evaluation and was then cleared to return) gave New York the cushion to win.

The stakes of this Jets win are complicated.

There are ramifications for the team, basically five days before the trade deadline. And it has implications for Rodgers, specifically about a month before he turns 41.

The Jets’ initial expectations for this season are still far from reach. The 6-2 Buffalo Bills are still 3.5 games ahead of the Jets in the division, the Miami Dolphins just half a game back of New York.

The Athletic’s playoff predictor pegs the Jets’ chance of making the postseason at 17%.

And yet, only one of the Jets’ eight remaining regular-season opponents enters this weekend above .500. If the Jets find their stride and a number of injured players get healthy during the 10 days of rest they have now and the bye two weeks later, it’s not impossible to envision a talented rally roster.

Expect the team’s record and their approach to affect Ulbrich’s chance to coach a group of players who respect him highly into 2025.

Rodgers, meanwhile, will have to decide how much longer he wants to play and can.

Against the Patriots last week and in the first half Thursday, he looked 40 years old. The cayenne pepper and water concoction he called his “fountain of youth” didn’t work in quarters one and two.

But Rodgers was more exuberant in the second half, his decision-making and precision sharper too. He scrambled emphatically on a red-zone play that was ultimately called back for a penalty, but energized him nonetheless.

“It was third down, I looked halfway athletic, I didn’t hurt myself in the process,” Rodgers said.

Then he became reflective.

“I wanted to bring the joy and the passion to the game,” Rodgers said. “This has been a frustrating season at times. But I love this game. This game has done everything for me. And a little perspective, a little gratitude tonight.

“A little bit of extra passion in the second half.”

Could that extra passion carry through the second half of the season? The Jets will hope so.

Rodgers did not elaborate when asked if the next eight games could be his last as a pro.

Is he thinking about it?

“No,” he said after a pause and smiled.

Because now, as the Jets and the quarterback they banked on edge closer to a losing season, they will enjoy the franchise’s first win in a long time.

The expensive quarterback, receiver and edge rusher New York acquired in the last 18 months contributed meaningfully to this victory.

The players felt they were beginning to understand the culture they hoped to create, even if they wished it had materialized sooner.

“Bottle the feeling we have and take it,” Adams said. “Not the feeling of being high off a win; the feeling of what it feels like to execute and to click and be on the same page.”

Wilson, still processing his highlight reel catch, agreed.

“We definitely just wanted to get back in the win column,” he said. “Losing five in a row feels like you would expect. It doesn’t feel good. We’re better than that, most importantly, and it was time to go and prove it.

“We want to start our run. And the only way to do that is to win one.”