The Jets nearly suffered a disastrous loss on Christmas Eve, watching a 27-7 lead turn into a 28-27 deficit against the Washington Commanders. Then, Greg Zuerlein played Santa Claus, delivering a present in the form of a 54-yard field goal and the Jets survived, winning 30-28. The Jets improve to 6-9 on the season while the Commanders fall to 4-11.
Here’s our quick notes and thoughts on what became a roller coaster of emotions for the Jets as they wrapped up the home portion of their 2023 season with a win.
Final score: Jets 30, Commanders 28
Game notes
- The Jets avoided blowing their biggest lead since 2014 before Greg Zuerlein saved the day. The Jets had leads of 20-0 and 27-7.
- The Jets looked like they were on cruise control just minutes into the first quarter. On the second play from scrimmage, Jets safety Tony Adams picked off Commanders quarterback Sam Howell. The Jets turned that into three points.
- Shortly thereafter, Jermaine Johnson blocked a Tress Way punt. Three plays later, Jason Brownlee had his first NFL touchdown and the Jets led 10-0.
- After another three-and-out for Washington, the Jets needed just two plays before Breece Hall busted for a 36-yard touchdown, giving the Jets a 17-0 lead. The tank looked like it was on for the Commanders. They even fumbled a punt return — former Jet Jamison Crowder, in fact — and things were looking very ugly for Washington.
- Hall finished with 95 yards on 20 rushing attempts and two touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for 96 yards. Quick math tells us that totals 191 yards on 32 touches.
- The Jets took their foot off the pedal in the second half, hardly targeting wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Wilson did finish with 76 yards on nine catches. He’s now at 88 catches for 958 yards. He’ll start his NFL career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
- For once, it was the Jets’ opponent that went through a quarterback change. For the second time this season, Washington benched Howell for Jacoby Brissett, who nearly completed the comeback. Brissett finished 10 of 13 for 100 yards and a touchdown. Howell went 6 for 22 for 56 yards and two interceptions. His quarterback rating was 1.7. That’s not a typo.
- As for Trevor Siemian in his first start this season, he completed 27 of 49 passes for 217 yards, one touchdown and one interception with a quarterback rating of 64.8. 31 of his 49 passes were intended for either Hall (16 targets) or Wilson (15).
- Only three Jets finished with multiple catches: Hall (12), Wilson (9) and tight end Tyler Conklin (4). Brownlee’s touchdown was his only catch of the game and fellow undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson also had a catch. Tight end Kenny Yeboah and wide receiver Allen Lazard each had a target but did not haul in their respective target.
- The Jets got a nice look at Israel Abanikanda, giving him nine rushing attempts for 43 yards. Abanikanda can be a good complement to Hall in 2024.
- While some may have wanted the Jets to seal the loss and have Zuerlein miss the kick for draft purposes, getting a win at least gives the team some positive morale heading into a short week where they could play spoiler on the 10-5 Browns and their old friend Joe Flacco. The Jets are still likely to end up with a top-10 pick but top five may be out of the question now.
- The Jets do at least now have a chance to equal or surpass their win total from 2022. Certainly that should have been easily done before the season but with how the season played out, 8-9 doesn’t sound all that bad. New York finishes with trips to Cleveland and New England.
It was over when...
…Greg Zuerlein played Santa Claus. The Jets almost mismanaged the clock at the end and made things very interesting. But Zuerlein delivered as he is making a case for the Pro Bowl.
3 stars of the game
3rd star: DE Jermaine Johnson – Johnson’s sophomore season has been nothing short of phenomenal. Now he adds a blocked punt on Christmas Eve. The guy is becoming a star. Honorable mentions to Quincy Williams and Tony Adams for their interceptions.
2nd star: RB Breece Hall – 191 total yards and two touchdowns plus 12 catches. Huge part of the offense and a key reason for the win.
1st star: K Greg Zuerlein – Who else could it be? When things looked bleak and the Jets were staring at a nightmare ending, Zuerlein delivered. Zuerlein went 3/3 on field goals and 3/3 on extra point. He remains on a career-best pace. He is now 33/34 on field goals this season.
Play of the game
A bunch to choose from in this one, but Greg Zuerlein’s hero ball feels right here as the Jets survive and get the win.
#PROBOWLVOTE | GREG ZUERLEIN#WASvsNYJ on CBS pic.twitter.com/JHESnP7DD8
— New York Jets (@nyjets) December 24, 2023
What's next?
The Jets have their short week coming up as they’ll make their Thursday night appearance this week. They’ll travel to Cleveland to at least try and keep the Browns from clinching a playoff spot. It may be putting off the inevitable but the Jets can still play spoiler a bit and keep alive the chance of salvaging an 8-9 season.
