The New York Jets authored a season-saving second half Thursday night at MetLife Stadium against the Houston Texans, securing a 21-13 win after a dismal first two quarters.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 32 yards on 7-of-14 passing with a dismal 2.3 yards per attempt average through two quarters. The 32 yards passing was the fewest in a first half and tied for the fewest in any half in his career (minimum 10 attempts). However, things finally clicked in the second half, as Gang Green found pay dirt on its final three possessions.
"It was kind of season on the line there in the second half," Rodgers said. "Obviously, we wouldn't have been mathematically eliminated. But mentally, to go to 2-7 would have been real, real tough. Hopefully this gives us confidence so we can beat anybody because we feel we could. The way we played on offense in the second half is the way we've been waiting for this offense to wake up.
"That was close to perfection as I needed to be. That's the standard I need to play at. There were a lot of really incredible performances."
It looked like the Jets were headed for a sixth consecutive loss on Thursday night. Mistakes began piling up. Malachi Corley's boneheaded ball drop before crossing the goal line wiped out a TD. A bad roughing the kicker penalty gave the Texans new life. Missed tackles plagued the defense. And once again, New York had a trove of bad penalties.
"I mean, I was terrible," Rodgers said of his first half. "We had a touchdown called ... you know, taken off the board, silly play. But I feel like the energy was good at halftime. We had a chance to cash it in there. Morgan (Moses) gave a little speech, which was good. We all kind of were positive talking. Nobody was isolating at halftime. And we just knew, hey, let's go out and score every possession."
Rodgers generated his first three-TD game of the season as the offense finally woke up, thanks in large part to a ridiculous grab by Garrett Wilson.
The victory was the first for interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, pushing the Jets to 3-6. With just one of their final eight games against a team currently sitting above .500, the victory kept the Jets' season alive in a muddled AFC. Now, a team that's disappointed for most of 2024 has a chance to re-write its season.
"After three weeks of a lot of adversity and a lot of setbacks, some self-imposed, for them to have the resiliency to come back and play the way they did against a really good opponent, I was proud of them," Ulbrich said.
