Entering Sunday’s matchup in the Meadowlands, we thought we understood the Houston Texans and New York Jets. Led by the bright C.J. Stroud, Houston was an underrated playoff contender brimming with promise. Led by the incompetent Zach Wilson, New York was a team spiraling down the drain of a lost 2023 season.
It seems the powers of Wilson and the Jets’ offense (as well as the team’s elite defense) rubbed off on an abysmal first-half display.
In a scoreless opening half, the Texans and Jets punted 11 times. That is not a typo or a misprint. Not one possession between both teams ended with anything but a booming punt downfield. No wonder this was the first NFL game with a scoreless first half since 2019. Woof.
And yes, in case you were wondering, it was genuinely as ugly as it sounds:
THEY DID IT! AN IMMACULATE HALF! pic.twitter.com/eC3kUYSNm8
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) December 10, 2023
For what it’s worth, Stroud and Wilson seemed to exchange their quarterbacking powers. Wilson eventually got the Jets on the board with not one but two touchdowns to start the second half on a better foot. Stroud, meanwhile, struggled to get his offense rolling in a proper rhythm, having completed just single-digit passes near the end of the third quarter.
Even still, we won’t soon forget that first half of football that seemed determined to set back offense as we know it.
This was how Twitter reacted to the Jets and Texans' first half of endless punts
https://t.co/gMKBMK2Uoq pic.twitter.com/KC4rr4WWvp
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) December 10, 2023
now I'm wondering if RedZone has shown any clips of this game at all… https://t.co/vopYcY094R
— 506 Sports (@506sports) December 10, 2023
Kirk Ferentz shedding a single tear at the sheer beauty of it all https://t.co/XfQ7U3OCdS
— Psychic War Vet (@Post_Punk_Prick) December 10, 2023
Printing in, framing it, hanging it https://t.co/c4KzSQT1DG
— DasherDougDonner (@DigDougDap) December 10, 2023
Based on how garbage the National Football League has been all year I can’t believe it took this long https://t.co/6o2eWfs4k4
— John Lund (@lundinbridge) December 10, 2023
https://t.co/BZdmmntuUW pic.twitter.com/7HLbqH7knK
— Mia O'Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) December 10, 2023
https://t.co/nLCDANup3z pic.twitter.com/LPjMgPdnfY
— Coach Kinzie 🏈 (@KinzieLikeABoss) December 10, 2023
#Punts https://t.co/i52WzZFAW9 pic.twitter.com/m01sfwotM2
— 32BeatWriters (@32BeatWriters) December 10, 2023
it could only be the Jets https://t.co/gJaW4DPR57
— The RU Screw Podcast (@RUScrewPod) December 10, 2023
