Clutch defense powers Jets’ upset win over Eagles

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — The New York Jets lost star quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the fourth game of the season, and now they’re going after the elite quarterbacks they face on their schedule.

The Jets intercepted Jalen Hurts three times – twice in the fourth quarter – to spark a 20-14 victory over the previously undefeated Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. It was the Jets’ first victory over the Eagles after 12 losses, dating back to 1973.

“These first six weeks we’ve played a ton of quarterbacks and I know we haven’t had every win, but we’ve embarrassed them all,” coach Robert Saleh said after perhaps the biggest win of his 40 matches.

Maybe Saleh forgot about Dak Prescott, who tore them up for 255 yards and two touchdowns. But against Patrick Mahomes, Hurts and Josh Allen, who finished 1-2-3 respectively in 2022 NFL MVP voting, the Jets recorded eight interceptions with just three touchdown passes. They lost a 3-point game to Mahomes, but they delivered big play after big play in beating Allen and Hurts.

“Our mindset is to scare – I mean, not scare people. Our mindset is to overpower people with our speed and our violence,” said linebacker Quincy Williams, who one of the team’s four takeaways – a fumble recovery. “So that’s the most important thing. So that’s our identity: violence.”

And the clutch plays.

After the two-minute warning, safety Tony Adams set up the game-winning touchdown by intercepting Hurts on a third-and-9 pass from the Eagles’ 46 – his first career interception. The injuries turned into double coverage. Tight end Dallas Goedert was covered by Williams and Adams read him perfectly, returning it 45 yards to the Eagles 8-yard line. Breece Hall scored on the next play to give the Jets a 20-14 lead after a successful two-point pass.

Adams, cornerback Bryce Hall and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams were each intercepted on a day when the Jets played without three of their top four cornerbacks – Sauce Gardner (concussion), DJ Reed (concussion) and Brandin Echols (hamstrings). By the end of the game, they were also without nickel back Michael Carter II (hamstring).

“I once had a game-winning interception in college, but it was nothing like this,” said Adams, who made the team in 2022 as an undrafted free agent. To do it with these guys and this locker room – after everything we’ve been through, after the late news this week – it’s an honor. It’s an honor to [handle] business with these guys.

Playing with substitutes and call-ups to the practice squad, the Jets shut out the Eagles in the second half. In fact, the Eagles have been held scoreless in their last seven practices, tied for the most consecutive scoreless drives under coach Nick Sirianni.

That’s what the Jets do. They are solid farmers; they have only allowed 31 points in the second half this season. This was their seventh win under Saleh (since 2021) after trailing by 10 or more points, tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the most such wins over that span.

“It’s a big win. They’re NFC champions,” Saleh said. “We won the world championships [Kansas City] over the wire. We beat Buffalo. He probably let one slip away with the Patriots (15-10 loss). It’s like that. The Dallas game (31-10 loss) is what it is. I think we will always be in these games. I think we can face anyone. »

The Jets were stunned after Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1, losing to Dallas and New England. At 1-2, with tension building in the locker room and pressure mounting on quarterback Zach Wilson, the Jets played well in a loss to Kansas City, then responded with back-to-back wins over Denver and Philadelphia.

“We wanted to be the best in the world and to be the best you have to play against the best and beat them,” linebacker CJ Mosley said.

Defensive end John Franklin-Myers said: “You’ve seen what we can do week in and week out. How can you count us out?”

The Jets fell behind, 14-3, sputtering in the red zone – going 0 for 3 to start the game, extending their red zone drought to eight straight touchdown-less drives until Hall’s score. They bounced back with Greg Zuerlein’s second, third and fourth baskets and a defense that increased the pressure on Hurts. He was pressured on a season-high 40 percent of his losses despite only blitzing a handful, according to research from ESPN Stats & Information.

In doing so, the Jets ended a most unusual streak – the longest winless drought against a single opponent. Receiver Garrett Wilson said he didn’t realize it until after the game.

“It’s crazy, I didn’t know that,” he said. “Jets Nation, you all deserve this.”