Gang Green Nation
NFL games can take surprising turns. At halftime of the Week 13 clash between the New York Jets and the Atlanta Falcons, the contests had the feel of a preseason game. The Jets were giving reps to a lot of inexperienced guys, many of whom actually did see extensive playing time during the exhibition season. The stadium appeared to be as empty as it is in August with Jets fans opting to watch from home rather than trek to the Meadowlands in bad weather on a holiday weekend. Mainly, though, it resembled preseason because the game just wasn’t very entertaining. The two teams barely eclipsed 100 passing yards combined in the opening half. They had 8 punts between them and two touchdowns, one of which was set up by a muffed punt.
Little did any of us know, an entertaining second half full of scoring was about to emerge. The Jets came from behind three different times to tie the game up and only took their first lead as the clock expired as Nick Folk connected from 56 yards to secure the win. It was a bit of redemption from Folk who missed his first kick of the year earlier in the game from 55 yards.
At this point of the year, how the Jets arrive at a win or loss seems at least as important as whether the team actually wins or loses. The 2025 season is long lost, and all of the focus is on the future. We want to know how repeatable the good and the bad are.
I think it is fair to say that this game was won primarily by Jets special teams. The Jets were not particularly impressive on either side of the ball. Atlanta outgained New York in yardage 389-269. The average yardage per play had the Falcons with a 5.8 to 4.3 advantage. Atlanta had 25 first downs to New York’s 16. The Falcons only committed one penalty to the Jets’ nine.
Yet the Jets won. How is that? The game has a third phase, special teams. And for a second time in four weeks, this phase of the game was enough to drive the Jets to a win. The Jets incredibly had two scoring drives where they moved the ball 2 yards or less. Another, the drive that won the game no less, required only 19 yards. That is due to phenomenal special teams play.
New York’s only score of the first half came when they started a drive at the 2 after recovering a muffed punt. An 83 yard kickoff return by Isaiah Williams to start the fourth quarter left the Jets in range of a field goal to erase a brief Atlanta lead. And the winning score came after a sequence where the Jets and Falcons traded punts. New York’s punt netted 54 yards. Atlanta’s netted only 24. The 30 yards of field position gained ended up being decisive. Then came Folk’s heroics.
So what long term takeaways could...
