3 Takeaways from Jets' Week 8 Win vs. Giants
The New York Jets were one minute away from suffering one of the most humiliating defeats of the 2023 NFL season.
The Jets somehow found a way to tie and then win their contest with the New York Giants on Sunday to avoid some disastrous headlines out of Week 8.
Robert Saleh's team did not play a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination, but it found a way to win, which is important in the middle of a playoff race with an injured starting quarterback.
The Jets used a four-play, 58-yard drive to get into Greg Zuerlein's field-goal range in 20 seconds to send the game to overtime.
Zuerlein finished off the mild comeback with a 33-yard field goal after the Giants failed to pick up a first down to start overtime.
No one will look back on how awesome the Jets' win over the Giants was, and that matters is a number was added to the win column instead of the alternative.
Jets Dug Deep to Earn Win
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The Jets were doomed for an embarrassing loss with 30 seconds left on the clock.
But then fortune flipped in their favor after a missed Graham Gano field goal.
That allowed the Jets to take over from their own 25-yard-line with an opportunity to tie the game.
Zach Wilson completed a pair of 29-yard passes to Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard to set up Zuerlein's game-tying 35-yard field goal.
Wilson completed one pass on the overtime drive to Wilson and then one of his deep balls forced pass interference penalty to set up Zuerlein again.
The late-game execution made up for some of the brutal drives the Jets put together in the first 59 minutes.
New York managed only a 50-yard Breece Hall receiving touchdown in the first quarter before it got on the board again at the expiration of regulation.
The win was the important thing to pick up on Sunday, but the Jets must be exponentially better if they want to make a playoff push.
Zach Wilson Needs to Be Better
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Wilson had an average-at-best day in the pocket.
The Jets quarterback threw for 240 yards, but he completed less than 50 percent of his passes and his team went 2-for-15 on third down.
Sure, Wilson made some key throws to put the Jets in position to tie and win the game, but that should not have been the situation in the first place.
Wilson had to be better on third down against a tough defense to put away a team that was down to its third-string quarterback in the second half and overtime.
Wilson completed under 60 percent of his passes in each of the last two games. His season percentage sits at just 58.3.
He needs to be more accurate and consistent if the Jets want to contend for a wild-card spot in the AFC.
Comeback Win Helped Playoff Standing
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The Jets could look back on Week 8 as a pivotal moment in their playoff push.
Sunday's come-from-behind win moved the Jets up to 4-3 and level with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals.
Pittsburgh and Cleveland both lost on Sunday, so a defeat to the Giants would have been viewed as a missed opportunity.
New York still has a long way to go to secure a playoff berth, but the road ahead now looks decent with a three-game winning streak in hand.
The Jets can beat the Los Angeles Chargers at home in Week 9, a contest that could be important for tiebreakers in the AFC wild-card hunt.
Next Monday's game starts a run of four home games in the next six. The two road games come against the Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo.
New York has the potential to pick up three or four wins during that stretch, and if you add that to the last three wins, it increases the team's playoff potential.
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