It was not quite the Miracle at the Meadowlands, more like the Mess at the Meadowlands, but the Jets pulled off a stunning overtime victory over their crosstown-rival Giants on Sunday.
The Jets looked like they were going to lose with less than two minutes to play in regulation but a missed field goal by the Giants gave them new life and they found a way to win 13-10 in overtime.
The Jets had seemingly lost when, down 10-7, Zach Wilson was sacked on fourth-and-10 with 1:33 left in regulation.
But Giants kicker Graham Gano missed a 35-yard field goal wide left and gave the Jets life, leaving them down only three instead of six and needing a touchdown.
Wilson then found Garrett Wilson for a 29-yard gain and followed that up with another 29-yard pass to Allen Lazard.
The Jets got on the ball and spiked it with one second left in regulation.
Greg Zuerlein did what Gano could not and kicked a 35-yard field goal to tie the game 10-10 and send it into overtime.
The Giants got the ball to start overtime but could do nothing with third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito unable to get anything going in the passing game.
Zach Wilson completed a third-down pass to Garrett Wilson, just the Jets’ second third-down conversion all day to get the ball to the 50.
Then, Wilson threw a deep pass intended for Malik Taylor.
Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson ran into Taylor and was flagged for pass interference, giving the Jets the ball at the 15-yard line.
Zuerlein booted a 33-yard field goal to give the Jets the stunning victory and improve their record to 4-3.
The Jets went 2-for-15 on third down, reached the end zone just once all day and committed nine penalties in the sloppy game.
It was a strange game that featured barely any offense and a slew of injuries to both teams.
The Jets found themselves down to their fourth-string center in the second quarter.
Starting center Connor McGovern left the game with a knee injury. The team was already without Joe Tippmann, who would have been McGovern’s backup but was ruled out of the game Friday with a quad injury. Wes Schweitzer, who started the game at right guard in place of Tippmann, slid over to center after the McGovern injury. Then, he hurt his calf. Xavier Newman, who was elevated off of the practice squad on Saturday, then played the rest of the game at center. Newman’s first snap was botched and the Giants recovered it.
The Giants had major injury issues of their own. Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who started in place of the injured Daniel Jones, left the game in the second quarter with injured ribs. That left the Giants with DeVito, an undrafted rookie, at quarterback. They also lost Darren Waller to a hamstring injury in the first half.
The game had the feel of the annual preseason matchup with lots of bad play and plenty of backups seeing action.
The Jets held a 7-3 halftime lead but then DeVito and the Giants put together an 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half.
The big play was a 34-yard run by Saquon Barkley, but the Jets also assisted the drive with two personal foul penalties.
The second of those penalties came after the Jets stopped a DeVito run on third-and-goal from the 10-yard line.
Jermaine Johnson was flagged after he came in late to hit DeVito.
That gave the Giants a new set of downs and DeVito ran it in from the 6 for his first career touchdown to give the Giants a 10-7 lead with 8:59 left in the third quarter.
Penalties hurt the Jets throughout the game.
The Jets got a stop with 7:19 left to go in the game, forcing the Giants to attempt a punt from their own 8-yard line.
It would have given the Jets the ball with good field position.
Instead, Micheal Clemons jumped into the neutral zone on the punt attempt, giving the Giants a first down and another chance to run time off the clock.
The Giants continually handed the ball off to Barkley with DeVito at quarterback. The Jets’ defense got stops but the offense could do nothing with the opportunities the defense gave them.
Offense was hard to find for both teams all day.
They went a combined 0-for-18 on first down in the first half and the stars of the game were punters Thomas Morstead for the Jets and Jamie Gillan for the Giants, who combined for 15 punts in the first half.
The Jets’ first drive of the game ended in a turnover when Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, who finished with three sacks, beat left tackle Mekhi Becton and strip-sacked Zach Wilson with defensive end Jihad Ward recovering for the Giants at the Jets’ 19.
The Giants were only able to turn that takeaway into three points, though, as the Jets’ defense held them to a three-and-out inside the 20.
After both teams struggled to do anything offensively in the first quarter, the Jets broke through when Wilson dumped the ball to Breece Hall and he raced 50 yards through Giants defenders for a touchdown and a 7-3 Jets lead with 1:06 left in the first quarter.
It was the first Jets touchdown in the first quarter this season.
The Jets’ defense came up with stop after stop in the first half as their offense sputtered.
Sauce Gardner made a huge tackle on Waller on third down, stopping the Giants’ tight end 1 yard short of the first down. Giants coach Brian Daboll opted to try the 47-yard field goal instead of going for it on the Jets’ 29. Gano hooked the kick wide left and the Giants came away with no points.
