Three takeaways from Jets' win over Texans on Thursday Night Football
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) reacts after a touchdown Davante Adams (17) against the Houston Texans during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Credit: Noah K. Murray
1. This was the Aaron Rodgers everyone expected.
In the second half, to be exact. Rodgers looked terrible in the first half. He overthrew Davante Adams on the first pass of the game on a play that could have and should have been a huge gain. Rodgers started 1-for-5 for minus-2 yards, but in the second half, he played nearly flawless football.
After halftime, Rodgers threw as many touchdown passes as incompletions: three. He was 15-for-18 for 179 yards and had a 147.7 passer rating. “The way we played on offense in the second half is the way we’ve been kind of waiting for this offense to wake up,” he said. “I was as close to perfection as I needed to be, but that’s the standard I need to play at.”
It helped that his teammates made some special catches. Garrett Wilson had an absurd leaping one-handed grab and somehow stayed inbounds in the end zone on what could be the catch of the year in the NFL. Wilson had an earlier one-handed catch for a touchdown that also was fantastic.
This could jump-start the offense. The Rodgers-Adams connection finally clicked with a big fourth-down conversion and a 37-yard touchdown pass that made it 21-10 with 2:56 left and all but sealed the win. On both plays, they looked as if they had done that before — a lot.
“That's something that takes years,” Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said of the former Packers duo. “That’s a relationship that is way deeper than the three or four weeks they have been together this year.”
2. Malachi Corley can’t drop the ball like that.
Rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley had a play called for him in the red zone in the first half. It worked beautifully — until Corley messed it up.
The touchdown was negated by what Rodgers called a “silly play.” That’s on Corley.
The Jets were at the Texans’ 19 when Rodgers pitched it to Corley on an end around. He had an easy touchdown but celebrated too early. Corley let go of the football before he crossed the goal line and it bounced out of the end zone. Touchback, Texans.
The Jets were scoreless in the first half. If the offense had not come to life in the second half and they had lost, that play would have been the latest memorable blunder by one of their players. Ulbrich said he told Corley, “First of all, you can’t do that. Second of all, you owe us one.”
Ulbrich was “frustrated” and “angry” when it happened, but he said Corley won’t ever do anything like that again. “What an amazing opportunity for this kid to learn and grow from,” he said. “I promise you, 10 years from now, when he is still playing in this league, that will never happen again.”
3. Both lines stepped up.
The defense harassed and contained Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, and the eight sacks were a season high for the Jets. Micheal Clemons and Jamien Sherwood had two, Quinnen Williams had 1.5 — his second straight week with multiple sacks — and Haason Reddick had 0.5.
The often-maligned offensive line had a good game, too. The protection was good, and Rodgers had time to deliver the football in the second half. This was a pieced-together line. The Jets already were without Alijah Vera-Tucker, and his backup, Jake Hanson, left with a hamstring injury. Left guard John Simpson exited with a groin injury. Rookie tackle Olu Fashanu stepped in and played right guard for the first time in his life. Max Mitchell ended the game at left guard. Fashanu had a holding penalty that negated a first-down run by Rodgers, but it was impressive how he held his own at a brand-new position. A left tackle most of his life, Fashanu has been cross-trained at right tackle. Now he can add right guard to his resume.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
