Everything came up ‘Jets’ on Sunday afternoon
Coerced into their league-mandated bye week—representing paid time off that their franchise quarterback would happily decline—the New York Jets might have had their best weekend of the season.
Week 6 was an anomaly on the NFL schedule, as it was one that provided the 1-4 Jets all sorts of good vibes as they prepare to get back into the swing of things.
Matthew Wright wins it for Jacksonville 🙌
The Jags’ 20-game losing streak is finally over
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/4z6e67pbPQ— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 17, 2021
Reeling Dolphins sink to AFC East cellar
If the 2021 Miami Dolphins have accomplished one thing, they have reminded Jets fans that things can always get worse.
Miami’s rebuild hit has a disastrous new depth on Sunday, as the Dolphins were the victims of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first win of the season. A London-based game that was more entertaining than it had any right to be saw the Dolphins lose a fourth-quarter lead through two long field goals from Matthew Wright, including a 53-yard triple as time expired to create the final 23-20 margin.
It allowed the woebegone Jaguars to snap a 20-game losing streak, the third-longest in NFL history and brought about the first win in the Urban Meyer/Trevor Lawrence era.
A loss in London’s battle of the Sunshine State drops the Dolphins (1-5), fresh off their first winning season since 2016, to the bottom of the AFC East standings and effectively renders head coach Brian Flores’ seat to a raging inferno. The Dolphins and Jets will face off at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 21.
Sam Darnold interception on the first play of the game 😬
Welcome to Week 6!
pic.twitter.com/NT9feQ3SJl— PFF (@PFF) October 17, 2021
Ex-Jets fail to save Panthers in overtime
Those alarmingly desperate to get their Jets fix on Sunday likely found their way to the NFC battle between the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers (3-3). Sam Darnold and Robby Anderson united for a score for the first time since opening weekend against Gang Green while Frankie Luvu had a blocked punt that led to a Carolina touchdown.
On the purple side, Chris Herndon scored a two-yard touchdown on his first reception of the year. Herndon and the Vikings eventually secure the last laugh in a 34-28 overtime decision won through a 27-yard hook-up between Kirk Cousins and K.J. Osborn.
Though Darnold led a 98-yard drive that tied the game in the final minute of regulation (doing so through the aforementioned seven-yard toss to Anderson), it’s safe to say that his Charlotte honeymoon is over. Darnold completed only 41 percent of his passes on Sunday (17-of-41), his worst output since the infamous “seeing ghosts” game in October 2019.
He has also lost seven turnovers over the last three games after yielding just two in the first three. Darnold’s woes have coincided with the loss of star running back Christian McCaffrey, who is out until at least Week 9 after enduring a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
With the Panthers’ loss, the Jets’ imported second-round draft pick moves up to 46th, their last of four picks over the first two rounds.
Embarrassment @Giants a parade of people leaving in the 3rd quarter. Lifeless pic.twitter.com/wOkTyM3nTd
— JR (@joeywingspan) October 17, 2021
Giant disaster yields MetLife supremacy
Nowadays, being the best team to play football at MetLife Stadium is like being the best-reviewed Alvin and the Chipmunks movie: such a status is hardly an honor.
The Jets nonetheless own New Jersey’s professional football crown for the time being after the Giants (1-5) were the victims of a 38-11 shellacking at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Big Blue’s ineptitude, which yielded 28 unanswered points in the second quarter, cast a pall over the 10th-anniversary celebration of their victory in Super Bowl 46.
Dak to CeeDee for the WIN!
(Via @NFL)
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) October 17, 2021
Cowboys corral Patriots in OT thriller
New England Patriot losses have been as valuable of a commodity as Jet victories over the last decade. Sunday provided one of the more thrilling New England defeats in recent memory, as the Patriots (2-4) fell to the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys by a 35-29 final in overtime.
The game was defined by a seesaw final quarter that saw three lead changes over the final six-plus minutes of regulation before the visitors escaped Foxboro with a win thanks to Dak Prescott’s 35-yard scoring hook-up with CeeDee Lamb. Mac Jones threw for 229 yards and two scores in defeat while Damien Harris averaged nearly six yards a carry.
The Jets will have an opportunity to extend New England’s misery when the teams conclude their annual season series on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
Jamal Adams doesn't see the easy interception until it's too late pic.twitter.com/kgC2VyUf43
— Main Team (@MainTeamSports) October 18, 2021
Adams, Smith’s crucial drops allow draft board gains
Geno Smith turnovers now work in the New York Jets’ favor. The former franchise quarterback put in an admirable second-half effort for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night, helping the team force overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers after falling behind 14-0 at halftime. But a Smith fumble in the extra session set the Steelers up for the winning field goal of a 23-20 triumph.
Smith is currently filling in for the injured Russell Wilson for at least the next two weeks; Sunday marked his first appearance in a regular-season starting lineup since his ill-fated single appearance with the Giants in 2017.
Metropolitan schadenfreude took center stage through Jamal Adams’ Sunday night efforts. The former Jets safety went viral for a bold declaration during NBC’s presentation of starting lineups, as, rather than his alma mater of LSU, Adams declared that he was “the best in the nation.”
Adams, however, failed to live up to his self standards when he dropped an easy interception in the post-two minute warning stages of the fourth quarter, one that could’ve ended a Pittsburgh scoring drive and set Seattle up in prime territory to win the game. Adams had six tackles in defeat but has failed to earn any interceptions or sacks through six games this season.
The latest loss of the Seahawks (2-4) shot the Jets up the draft board, as they currently own next spring’s 10th overall pick thanks to the trade that sent Adams to the Pacific Northwest.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
