WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Mark Sanchez reacts after being sacked during the second half of the Jets’ 23-17 loss to the Texans last night. (REUTERS)
A season-changing victory for the Jets went through Jeff Cumberland’s hands.
With just under two minutes to play, the Jets backup tight end could not pull in a Mark Sanchez pass. It ricocheted off his hands and into the arms of Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson’s arms to seal a 23-17 Texans victory at MetLife Stadium last night.
The Jets were not expected to even be able to remain in the game with Houston, but they battled the undefeated Texans all night and were in position for a game-winning drive before Cumberland’s drop.
“[People acted like] we shouldn’t have even shown up tonight, like we’re such an inferior team” wide receiver Chaz Schilens said. “We battled our ass off. We had some unfortunate turnovers. If you all can’t see that we’re a good team, then I don’t know.”
The Jets are now 2-3, but things do not look as bleak as they did after last week’s 34-0 loss to the 49ers. The Jets played with heart and fought the entire night, but moral victories don’t count in the NFL.
“This is a win business,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said when asked if they could take any solace from coming close against the 5-0 Texans. “Absolutely not. We knew we’d be in the game, but we thought we were going to find a way to win it.”
After a big defensive stop the Jets took possession of the ball with 3:28 left on their own 16, trailing by six. They moved the ball to the 40 and then gave up a sack to Brice McCain that cost them 8 yards. On the following play, Sanchez was intercepted for the second time on the night.
Houston rolled up 378 yards on the Jets, but settled for field goals much of the night. Sanchez finished the game 14-of-31 for 230 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was not the Jets’ biggest problem. They looked disorganized at times on offense with substitutions, using two timeouts because of it in the second half. The communication problems might have come from playing with so many new parts on offense because of injuries.
“The thing that’s upsetting is that the fact that we helped them,” Ryan said. “Clearly that’s a good football team. They don’t need any help. That’s the thing we’re kind of kicking ourselves about.”
The Jets grabbed some momentum in the third quarter when Joe McKnight returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to cut the Texans’ lead to 20-14. McKnight raced down the sideline and then broke a tackle attempt by DeVier Posey before plunging into the end zone.
Ryan then made a puzzling decision to call an onside kick following McKnight’s score. The play nearly worked with Schilens getting his hands on the ball, but he could not hold on and the Texans took over at the Jets 46. The Texans moved the ball to the 4 but the drive stalled and they had to settle for another Shayne Graham field goal to push the lead to 23-14.
The Jets cut it to 23-17 on a Nick Folk 21-yard field goal with 11:55 left in the game. The drive was aided by a 13-yard run from Tim Tebow that put the Jets inside the 10. After another failed Tebow run, Sanchez had two incompletions and they had to take the field goal.
For the second straight week, Sanchez committed a terrible turnover just before halftime. The Jets drove to the Texans’ 12-yard line with 29 seconds left in the half and a chance to tie the game at 14. Sanchez then threw a short pass to his left that Texans defensive end J.J. Watt tipped at the line of scrimmage and cornerback Brice McCain intercepted. McCain returned it 86 yards but was chased down by Bilal Powell and Jeremy Kerley before reaching the end zone.
“It’s not going the right way right now. Turnovers. It’s like unbelievable turnovers. BS ones,” Schilens said. “I’m sorry. They’re a great team, but tipped balls and things like that. Give me a break.”
Playing without top targets Santonio Holmes, Dustin Keller, the Jets offense was not as miserable as people expected.
“They’ve been taking a lot of heat,” Sanchez said of the receivers. “I’m proud of the way they fought.”
The Jets showed a little creativity on offense, letting Tebow throw his first deep pass of the season. The second-and-10 pass was a nice pass from Tebow that new receiver Jason Hill dropped.
Like most things for the Jets last night, they were close, but could not complete the job.
“For us to be 2-3 right now is not indicative of who we are,” Schilens said. “We came out here and battled. We could have won. We should have won. We got in the way of ourselves again. Sooner or later, we’ll fix it.’’