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 give.
In a game that meant very little for the standings, the Jets found a fourth-quarter way to win as Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers rolled back the clock. Adams ended up with 198 yards and two touchdowns and set up Breece Hall’s game-winning touchdown run, going ahead 32-25 with 1:05 remaining on another long catch and run.
The teams were tied at 7-7 after Mac Jones threw a touchdown pass to rookie Brian Thomas, but the Jets hit back on Rodgers’ 22-yard strike to Garrett Wilson.
Three Cam Little field goals had enabled the Jaguars to push out to a 16-10 lead by the midpoint of the third quarter, but the Jets captured a 17-16 lead on a Rodgers pass to Adams.
Jacksonville recaptured the lead when Thomas beat Kendall Sheffield for 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 remaining as Rodgers hit Adams on a 71-yard deep ball for another score and then found him again for the two-point conversion, but Jacksonville drove down into range for Little to tie it with just under two minutes remaining.
Here are the key takeaways…
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The Jaguars wore out the Jets in the first half with long drives, limiting New York to just 17 offensive snaps. Jones, who was seeking 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’ first-quarter interception finally ended a long string of games without one for the Jets. Mills became the first person other than Brandin Echols to intercept a pass for the Jets this year. The last one was back in week five against the Vikings, which means that this was the first interception since Jeff Ulbrich took over as head coach. It didn’t give the Jets the kind of momentum shifting impact play they’ve been craving though because it came on a deep overthrow and was therefore essentially tantamount 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 as they racked up more than 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 went three-and-out but kept the drive alive when Ashtyn Davis ran for 21 yards on a fake punt. Rodgers then completed two passes to Wilson, including the touchdown pass, but only had 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 dropped 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 on his deep catch from Rodgers to give him his second straight 100-yard game.
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New York was without starting tight end Tyler Conklin and got little production from the position as they didn’t target Jeremy Ruckert or Kenny Yeboah until Ruckert finally caught a pass with under four minutes remaining. By contrast, Jacksonville were without their starting tight end after Evan Engram went onto injured reserve during the week, but his replacement Brenton Strange caught 11 passes.
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One unexpected source of offense was Rodgers’ legs. Rodgers, who ended up with 289 passing yards and three touchdowns, was also the Jets’ leading rusher as he racked up 45 yards on scrambles, including three first downs with a season-long 18-yarder.
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The decision to score from the goal line late rather than bleeding the clock and kicking a game-winning field goal was curious to say the least. Instead of an almost certain 28-25 win, this gave the Jaguars 65 seconds to potentially get back into the game at the end with two timeouts. Fortunately, they finally got the end of game stop that had been eluding them for so long as Sauce Gardner’s first interception since his rookie year iced the win.
Highlights
What’s next
The Jets head home next weekend as they host the Los Angeles Rams Sunday at 1 p.m.
