Thanks, but no tanks.
That was the message from the Jets on Sunday as they struck a stunning 23-20 upset over the Rams in Los Angeles for their first win of the season.
The win detracts from the Jets’ chances of landing No. 1 pick and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. They are now tied at 1-13 with the Jaguars, but the Jaguars own the tiebreaker because they have a weaker schedule. There are two weeks left, but the surest way to get to Lawrence for the Jets was to lose every game.
Instead, the Jets players found a way to win their first game by beating a Rams team, which dropped to 9-5 on the road.
The Jets had a 17-point lead in the third quarter and the Rams declined, but the Jets held their ground. Jets coach Adam Gase ruined Christmas for Jets fans hoping for Lawrence by finding a way to win.
Quarterback Sam Darnold played an efficient game, completing 22 of 31 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. Ram’s quarterback Jared Goff went 22 out of 34 for 209 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
The defense of the Jets set the tone early on. They forced three-and-out on the Rams’ first two possessions. Quinnen Williams was a force at the front, and Frankie Luvu was disruptively flashing. Goff seemed out of sync and the Rams running game couldn’t start.
On their first possession, the Jets convert four third downs, three of them on passes to Ty Johnson. The last of those conversions was an 18 yard touchdown pass from Darnold to Johnson that gave the Jets a 7-0 lead with 6:25 left in the first quarter.
The Jets got a big special team early in the second quarter when JT Hassel blocked a Johnny Hekker punt and it was recovered by Lamar Jackson at the Rams ’27. But the Jets didn’t make it to the end zone after the big game. Two Frank Gore runs set up a third-and-4. Darnold rolled to the right and made a nice throw towards the front corner of the end zone, but Braxton Berrios was unable to pull the ball in. That led the Jets to settle for a 39-yard field goal from Sam Ficken and a 10-0 lead.
Rams’ next possession was extended by a neutral zone violation by John Franklin-Myers on fourth-and-1. But Franklin-Myers was released on bail on the next game when rookie Bryce Hall grabbed his first interception in his career and took a Goff pass meant for Robert Woods.
The choice gave the Jets the ball at the Rams ’22 and one more chance to reach the end zone. But after they got to the Rams’ 3, they started to regress. Aaron Donald blew Gore on the second goal for a loss of four yards. Darnold’s third down pass was incomplete and the Jets had to kick the field goal again. This time Ficken made it from 25 meters to bring the lead to 13-0. That lead was the biggest the Jets had all season.
It looked like the Jets would be able to retire with a shutout, which would be the first time the Rams went scoreless in the first half under coach Sean McVay. But Gase messed up half the Jets’ last run. The Jets took over on their own 10 with 1:48 left in the half. Johnson ran 6 yards on the first down, but instead of running the clock to limit the time the Rams would have before half time to score, the Jets threw down on the second and Leonard Floyd made the pass for one incompleteness to stop the clock. Johnson came 1 yard short of third place and the Rams used time out to get the ball back.
Goff designed an eight-play, 34-yard drive to set up a Matt Gay 45-yard field goal as time went on. That sent the Jets to the locker room with a 13-3 lead.
The Jets opened the second half with an impressive drive. They went 72 meters on 11 plays. Gore scored from 1st when Gase went for it in fourth place, giving the Jets an astonishing 20-3 lead.
However, the Rams responded to their possession in the first second half and finally showed some signs of life. Goff found Tyler Higbee tight for a 44-yard completion on their first game. That moved the ball to the 31 of the Jets. Four plays later, Goff hooked up with Robert Woods, who defeated Bless Austin, for a 15-yard touchdown to bring the Jets back to 20-10 with 6:09 left in the third quarter. .
Darnold put together another nice drive when the Jets got the ball back. They went 72 yards on 10 plays, but didn’t make it to the end zone this time. They had a first-and-goal in the 6, but couldn’t get in. Ficken kicked his third field goal of the day, this one from 21 yards to push the lead to 23-10 with 1:39 in the third quarter. .
But a Jets defense that was solid in the first half looked overwhelmed in the second half. Woods ended about 40 yards to set up the Rams with the Jets ’21 during the final game of the third quarter. Austin was called up for pass interference to move the ball to the Jets 6. It was the third penalty kick that was imposed on Austin on Sunday. Goff hit Higbee with a 3-yard pass for a touchdown that made it 23-17 with 13:47 left in the game.
The Jets ‘defense came to a stop on the Rams’ next possession. The Rams went to the Jets ’24, but Franklin-Myers fired Goff in second place, and the Rams couldn’t convert third-and-15. Gay kicked a 42-yard field goal to narrow the Jets’ lead to 23-20 with 6:35 left.
The Jets attack went into a shell after the touchdown in the third quarter. After a three-and-out, they handed the Rams the ball back with 5:33. The Rams joined the Jets ’37 and had a fourth-and-4. Marcus Maye broke a pass to Gerald Everett to turn the Rams away and return the ball to the attack.
The Jets took over with 3:54 left to play. The Jets were able to turn back the clock. The biggest action was a pass from Darnold to Gore with a third and six, who was knocked down a first time after the two-minute warning.
From there, the Jets could grab a knee and shut things down.