Jets' grades vs. Texans in Week 8: Defense, coaching lead way

OFFENSE: C+ 

Here’s the best way to describe the difference halftime made: The Jets gained 69 total yards in the first and second quarters and then came out and scored on a 70-yard drive to start the third. From there they were off and running with touchdowns on their next two possessions, too. The only drive that didn’t reach the end zone in that second half was when they took a knee to end the night.

Aaron Rodgers had his first three-touchdown game of the season and Garrett Wilson may have single-handedly (get it?) saved their season with two one-handed catches. It was nice to finally see Rodgers and Davante Adams flash that chemistry we’ve been hearing so much about, too, first on a key fourth-and 1 in the third quarter and then on a game-sealing touchdown in the fourth. Rodgers said in his mind the 21-13 win was a 28-point game. He’ll have to take that up with Malachi Corley.

DEFENSE: A -

The Jets’ pass rush came to play and recorded a season-high eight sacks, two each from Jamien Sherwood and Michael Clemons, 1.5 from Quinnen Williams, and a half sack for Haason Reddick for his first tally as a Jet (Reddick also had seven pressures). Even without Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed and Michael Carter II at times (all three left with injuries but returned) the secondary was mostly solid and kept the Jets in the game when the offense was the pits. It wasn’t perfect. They did allow a 98-yard touchdown drive on which the Texans converted a second-and-13, a second-and-12 and a third-and-12, and they let Joe Mixon run for 106 yards. But they also had a big takeaway with the Texans in scoring position in the first half and held them to three points despite getting inside the Jets’ 11 twice in the fourth quarter,.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

It was a complicated night for the unit. Thomas Morstead was dazzling with a nice punt from his own end zone in the first quarter and then drilled a career-long 75-yarder that was downed by Jarrick Bernard-Converse at the 2 early in the second. And new kicker Riley Patterson was 3-for-3 on extra point kicks (although his first one banged off the left upright). But there were some ghastly mistakes, too, including a running-into-the-punter penalty against Irvin Charles that erased a fourth-and-21 and a flag for illegal contact with the long snapper against Eric Watts that prolonged another drive that had been held to a field goal. Luckily, neither was too costly as the Texans fumbled the ball away shortly after the Charles gaffe and missed a shorter field goal than the one they had made and taken off the scoreboard with Watts’ penalty.

 COACHING: B

 Jeff Ulbrich got his first victory as interim coach, which in itself is reason to celebrate, but given the path it took to get there, it felt extra special. Even in the first half when they weren’t executing offensively there was a difference to the play-calling and it paid off in the second half with some daring fourth-down conversions (like that pass to Adams) and taking shots down the field to Wilson. Getting the Jets’ offensive line to function without any true guards in the second half was quite the trick, too, a credit to both the players and the staff. Ulbrich’s defense was solid and able to penetrate that soft interior of the Texans’ offensive line with regularity. And Wilson’s highlight-reel go-ahead touchdown would have been just an impressive incompletion if Ulbrich hadn’t challenged the call and won.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.