The Jets beat Atlanta on Nick Folk’s 56-yard field goal as time expired. Here are three takeaways from the Jets’ 27-24 win:
1. Special teams starred — again!
It was fitting that the game ended with a special teams score because coordinator Chris Banjo’s group has been the Jets’ best unit all season.
“They keep us in the game,” Breece Hall said. “They deserve the most grace.”
The Jets’ offense sputtered early. Their first touchdown was set up when Qwan’tez Stiggers recovered Jamal Agnew’s muff of a punt at the Falcons’ 2-yard line. Hall ran it in on the next play.
After the Falcons went ahead 24-17 in the second half, Isaiah Williams returned the kickoff 83 yards, which led to a field goal by Folk.
“We know we can make plays every time we touch the field,” said Williams, who returned a punt for a touchdown earlier this season. “The guys blocked it up perfectly. All I had to do was just run straight. I didn’t really have to do much. I should have scored that.”
Rookie punter Austin McNamara had another strong game, averaging 49.5 net yards. Aaron Glenn called him “a weapon.”
McNamara said, “We try to preach it every week that we can be difference-makers and we try to do our part.”
2. Tyrod Taylor’s scrambling was huge
The Jets envisioned Justin Fields in this role, especially with his athleticism, but Taylor is a mobile quarterback too. He has always possessed the ability to make plays with his legs, and he’s still doing it at 36 years old.
“Being a dual threat is definitely something I take pride in,” he said. “I think it just adds another dynamic to the quarterback, being able to use your legs to extend plays and also being able to use your legs and create explosives as well.”
Taylor had eight rushes for 44 yards, including scrambling for a 10-yard touchdown as the Jets tied the score with 1:53 left. He said he saw the first and second read weren’t open, so he took off.
“Down there sometimes, the defense doesn’t account for the quarterback,” he said.
On that same drive, Taylor ran to convert a third-and-3 and kept it for a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1. Glenn said Taylor “bailed us out” with some of his scrambles.
3. Defense held tight late
The Jets gave up 389 yards of offense and had trouble containing back Bijan Robinson (193 total yards) and tight end Kyle Pitts. But when the defense absolutely needed a stop — or two — they got it.
The Jets forced their only two three-and-outs in the final 1:48.
After Taylor tied it, the Jets gave up one yard on Atlanta’s next series. Will McDonald pressured and hit Kirk Cousins on second down, but he got rid of it before it could be a sack and Robinson couldn’t catch the third-down pass.
Atlanta got the ball back with 57 seconds left and all three passes by Cousins were incomplete. The Jets made some mistakes on offense on their last series — two penalties for false starts — but not enough to move them out of Folk’s range.
“As a team, we’ve had some tough end-of-game losses and stuff,” Hall said. “But it was cool to see our defense get a stop, get two stops, and then see our offense get [us] in position to kick it.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.