NFL

Geno leads Jets to upset win over Falcons

ATLANTA — Rex Ryan asked his team to play fearlessly on Monday night.

Led by their rookie quarterback, they listened.

The Jets stunned the Falcons, 30-28, at the Georgia Dome in a thrilling game with twists and turns that ended with Nick Folk booting a 43-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired.

Folk’s field goal concluded an eight-play drive with less than two minutes left, during which Smith proved he can be calm in the toughest situation. Despite a frenzied crowd, Smith completed all four of his passes, ran for 8 yards and audibled out of a pass into a run that gained a first down and set up the kick.

Jets kicker Nick Folk reacts to his game-winning field goal in Monday’s game against the Falcons.Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

“[The coaches] told me to go out there and let it rip and play with no conscience,” said Smith, who competed 16-of-20 for 199 yards and three touchdowns. “I went out there and made the plays.”

Yes, he did. Teammates say before the final drive Smith was calm.

“There was no Disney pep talk,” guard Willie Colon said. “We didn’t have no time for that. Good offenses get it done.“

Smith connected on a 12-yard pass to Stephen Hill, then a 13-yarder to Jeremy Kerley, another 9-yarder to Hill and then ran around end for an 8-yard gain. He gave it to Bilal Powell for a 4-yard gain and then connected with Clyde Gates for a 3-yarder. On third-and-3 at the Falcons’ 31, he checked out of a pass and into a run that gained 6 yards from Powell and set up the kick.

“It takes [guts],” Colon said of the audible.

And Smith pulled out a victory the Jets looked like they might let slip away. Leading by 13 points in the second half, the Jets appeared to be on their way to the win when Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense awoke and put together two fourth-quarter scoring drives.

Ryan found Levine Toilolo for a 3-yard touchdown with two minutes left that put the Falcons up 28-27. But it was not the Same Old Jets. Instead, Smith drove the team down the field and gave Jets fans reason to believe this season can be much more than anyone anticipated.

“The key word was fearless,” Rex Ryan said. “I challenged our team the night before to play that way and that’s exactly how we played.”

The Jets improved to 3-2 with the win and face the winless Steelers at home Sunday. The Falcons fell to 1-4 after not being able to establish any running game and failing to stop the Jets’ offense.

The Falcons ran into an angry Jets team that was beat up by the media after last week’s loss to the Titans that included four turnovers from Smith.

“We’re forced to watch ESPN like everybody else and everybody [dumps] on the Jets,” linebacker Calvin Pace said. “This is a statement win and the message lets everybody know what the Jets are about.”

The Jets’ big win nearly vanished with the throw of a pink penalty flag. David Harris was flagged at the goal line for holding Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez on a fourth down incompletion. The penalty gave Atlanta a new set of downs and Matt Ryan found Toilolo for the 3-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 28-27 lead with two minutes left. Moments earlier Julio Jones had caught a 46-yard pass to move Atlanta into scoring territory. They then converted a fourth-and-1 on a pass to Gonzalez.

Until the fourth quarter, the Jets defense had done the job all night against the high-powered Falcons offense. Led by linemen Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson, the Jets held the Falcons to 64 yards rushing.

A key stop came just before halftime when Falcons coach Mike Smith decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with seven seconds left. The Jets sniffed out a pass to Gonzalez, but Demario Davis was called for pass interference, giving the Falcons a first down. With 1 second left, the Falcons gave the ball to Jacquizz Rodgers, but he met a wall of Jets led by Richardson.

The Jets had only three possessions in the first half, but scored on all of them. Smith moved the team down the field effectively and the Jets had their full complement of running backs for the first time this season.

“We might not be pretty, but we don’t care,” Ryan said. “We’re a football team and we’ll compete to the very end.”

It looked like the Falcons were going to take control of the game in the second half. A couple of sacks from former Giant Osi Umenyiora got the home crowd into it and you could see Ryan finding a rhythm. But the Jets held them off through the third quarter.

They took a 27-14 lead on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Smith to tight end Kellen Winslow before the Falcons came roaring back. Rodgers scored on a 19-yard run with 8:10 left that cut the lead to 27-21 and set up the final dramatics.

After a big road win, the Jets might now be taken seriously.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ryan said. “With us all we care about is the Jets fans and what’s inside our walls. That’s all we care about. Outsiders are going to say what they’re going to say and they have. They’ve already spoken when they picked us 32nd in the league.”