The Jaguars and Jets have both lost several close games in 2024. But as Sunday’s game entered the fourth quarter with New York up by one point, something had to be done.
In a game that meant very little to the standings, the Jets found a way to win in the fourth quarter Davante Adams And Aaron Rodgers turned back the clock. Adams finished with 198 yards and two touchdowns and set himself up Breece Hall‘s game-winning touchdown run, leading 32-25 with 1:05 remaining after another long catch and run.
After that, the teams were tied at 7-7 MacJones threw a touchdown pass to rookie Brian Thomasbut the Jets struck back on Rodgers’ 22-yard strike to Garrett Wilson.
Three Cam little field goals had allowed the Jaguars to reach a 16-10 lead midway through the third quarter, but the Jets gained a 17-16 lead on a pass from Rodgers to Adams.
Jacksonville regained the lead when Thomas defeated Kendall Sheffield before the go-ahead 19-yard touchdown to make it 22-17 with 13:37 remaining.
New York then went ahead 25-22 with 3:24 to go when Rodgers hit Adams with a 71-yard ball deep for another score and then found him again for the two-point conversion, but Jacksonville drove into range for Little to tie the score could pull. with just under two minutes to go.
Here are the key takeaways…
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The Jaguars wore down the Jets with long drives in the first half, limiting New York to just 17 offensive snaps. Jones, looking for his sixth win in six starts against the Jets, had an efficient first half in a game plan that was heavy on screens and dump-off passes.
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Safety Jalen Mills“The first-quarter interception finally ended a long stretch of games without one for the Jets. Mills became the first other person then Brandin Echols to intercept a pass for the Jets this year. The last was in week five against the Vikings, meaning it was the first interception since then Jeff Ulbrich took over as head coach. However, it didn’t give the Jets the kind of momentum-shifting impact play they craved, as it came down to a deep turnover and therefore essentially came down to a punt.
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Overall, it was another disappointing defensive performance from the Jets, who allowed Jacksonville to go 8-for-15 on third down while gaining over 400 yards.
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The Jets scored a rare opening drive touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. However, this only came after they had gone three-and-out, but then kept the drive alive Astyn Davis ran 21 yards on a fake punt. Rodgers then completed two passes to Wilson, including the touchdown pass, but had only one other completion in the first half.
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Adams went without a catch in the first half with one deep ball off his fingertips and another throw falling over the middle. However, Rodgers found him on the first play of the second half and he had five catches, including a touchdown in the third quarter. The touchdown was the 100th touchdown catch of Adams’ career and No. 101 came after his deep catch from Rodgers to give him his second straight 100-yard game.
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New York didn’t have a tight end Tyler Conklin and got little production out of the position because they weren’t aiming Jeremy Ruckert or Kenny Yeboah until Ruckert finally caught a pass with under four minutes remaining. Jacksonville, on the other hand, didn’t have a tight start after that Evan Engram went to injured reserve during the week, but his replacement Brenton Strange caught 11 passes.
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An unexpected source of offense was Rodgers’ legs. Rodgers, who finished with 289 passing yards and three touchdowns, was also the Jets’ leading rusher as he gained 45 yards on scrambles, including three first downs with a season-long 18-yarder.
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The decision to score late from the goal line instead of running out the clock and making a game-winning field goal was curious, to say the least. Instead of an almost certain 28-25 victory, this gave the Jaguars 65 seconds to potentially get back into the game at the end with two timeouts. Luckily, they finally got the ending to the game that had eluded them for so long Sauce Garner‘s first interception since his rookie year cooled the win.
Highlights
What’s next
The Jets head home next weekend, hosting the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at 1 p.m
