Thanks, but no tanks.
That was the Jets ’message on Sunday, when they got an impressive 23-20 upset over the Los Angeles Rams for their first win of the season.
The win hurt the Jets’ chances of getting No. 1 pick and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. They are now tied at 1-13 with the Jaguars, but the Jaguars own the tiebreaker because they have a weaker schedule. There are still two weeks left, but the safest way to Lawrence for the Jets was to lose all games.
Instead, the Jets players found a way to win their first game, defeating a Rams team, which fell to 9-5, on the road.
The Jets had a 17-point lead in the third quarter and the Rams got it, but the Jets held on. Jets coach Adam Gase ruined the Jets ’Christmas fans who were waiting for Lawrence to find a way to win.
Quarterback Sam Darnold played an efficient game, completing 22 of 31 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. Rams quarterback Jared Goff was 22 of 34 for 209 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The Jets defense set the tone soon. They forced three and three exits to the first two possessions of the Rams. Quinnen Williams was a force to be reckoned with and Frankie Luvu was tensely disruptive. Goff seemed out of sync and Rams ’running game couldn’t pull off.
In their first possession, the Jets converted four third downs, three in passes to Ty Johnson. The last of those conversions was an 18-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to Johnson that gave the Jets a 7-0 lead with 6:25 left in the first quarter.
The Jets played a great special team early in the second quarter when JT Hassel blocked a Johnny Hekker point and was recovered by Lamar Jackson in the Rams ’27th. But the Jets failed to get into the end zone after the big play. Two runs from Frank Gore set up a third and a 4. Darnold rolled to his right and made a good throw to the front corner of the end zone, but Braxton Berrios was unable to stretch the ball. That made the Jets settle for a 39-yard field goal from Sam Ficken and a 10-0 lead.
The Rams’ next possession was extended by a penalty kick in the neutral zone with a bone head by John Franklin-Myers in the fourth and 1st. But Franklin-Myers was rescued on the next play when rookie Bryce Hall caught his first professional interception, picking a Goff pass to Robert Woods.
The selection gave the Jets the ball in the Rams 22 and another chance to reach the final zone. But after reaching the Rams ’3, they started to retreat. Aaron Donald blew Gore in the second goal for a 4-yard loss. Darnold’s third pass was incomplete and the Jets had to throw the ball back. This time, Ficken has managed from 25 yards to advance to 13-0. That advantage was the biggest the Jets had all season.
It looked like the Jets could reach the break with a shutout, which would have been the first time the Rams ran out of goals in the first half under coach Sean McVay. But Gase missed the final series of the Jets by half. The Jets took over in their own 10 with 1:48 left in the half. Johnson ran 6 yards on the first down, but instead of letting the clock run to limit the time the Rams could have before the half to score, the Jets threw the second down and Leonard Floyd deflected the pass for a incomplete stop of the clock. Johnson reached 1 short yard in the third and the Rams used a timeout to retrieve the ball.
Goff designed an eight-yard, 34-yard game to set up a 45-yard field goal by Matt Gay as time went on. This sent the Jets into the locker room with a 13-3 lead.
The Jets opened the second half with an impressive boost. They went 72 yards in 11 plays. Gore scored from the 1st when Gase bet on the fourth and the target, giving the Jets an impressive 20-3 lead.
The Rams responded, however, in their first possession of the second half, finally showing some signs of life. Goff found Tyler Higbee for the completion of 44 yards on his first play. This moved the ball to the 31st of the Jets. Four plays later, Goff connected with Robert Woods, who beat Bless Austin, for a 15-yard touchdown to reduce the Jets ’lead to 20-10 with 6:09 left for the third quarter. .
Darnold mounted another good boost when the Jets got the ball back. They went 72 yards in 10 plays, but this time they didn’t make it to the end zone. They had the first and the goal in the 6th, but they couldn’t get in. Ficken threw his third field goal of the day, this one from 21 yards to advance to 23-10 with 1:39 left for the third quarter.
But a Jets defense that was strong in the first half seemed excessive in the second half. Woods finished about 40 yards to place the Rams on the Jets 21 in the final play of the third quarter. Austin was called up for interference to pass the ball to the Jets 6. It was the third penalty that Austin was asked for on Sunday. Goff hit Higbee with a 3-yard pass for a touchdown that made it 23-17 with 13:47 left.
The Jets ‘defense came with a stop at the Rams’ next possession. The Rams reached 24 from the Jets, but Franklin-Myers fired Goff in second and the Rams were unable to convert a third and a 15. Gay threw a 42-yard field goal to reduce the Jets’ lead to 23-20 in the absence of 6:35.
The Jets ’offense fell after the touchdown in the third quarter. After a game of three and three, they returned the ball to the Rams with 5:33 left. The Rams reached 37 from the Jets and got a quarter and a 4. Marcus Maye broke a pass to Gerald Everett to push the Rams away and return the ball to the offense.
The Jets took over with 3:54 left to play. The Jets were able to run the clock. The biggest play was a pass from third and 6 from Darnold to Gore who got a first down at the two-minute warning.
From there, the Jets could rip off the knee and shut things up.