Blame the Texans for Keeping the Jets Relevant for At Least Another Week

Houston failed to shut the door on New York’s season Thursday night, opening up the possibility for Aaron Rodgers and Co. to rattle off a win streak.

The Jets overcame a series of self-inflicted mistakes in the first half to beat the Texans and keep their season alive. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Those that have Aaron Rodgers fatigue should be furious with the Houston Texans. Perhaps not to the point of stuffing C.J. Stroud’s trick-or-treat bag with candy corn because that’s just plain evil. 

Instead, just call the Texans postseason pretenders for wasting our time. Only an imposter would miss hammering the final nail in the New York Jets’ coffin on Halloween night. 

Rodgers rolled his eyes after several incompletions, the Jets defense committed a handful of killer penalties that kept Houston drives alive and rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley dropped the football before crossing the end zone. Even then the Texans couldn’t hand the Jets a sixth consecutive loss and essentially end New York’s season before November. 

Rodgers is no longer what he once was, but that won’t stop the football public from talking about the Jets as a playoff contender for the next two months just because the Texans didn’t have a killer instinct. Jason Voorhees's mother would have been annoyed by the effort.

New York is alive and well after beating Houston, 21–13, on Thursday night. Get ready for a lengthy Jets’ winning streak because they will be facing more playoff pretenders, with upcoming games against the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks. After that, Rodgers & Co. will get a pair of two-win teams in the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jets went from staring at a 2–7 start in the face to possibly being 8–6 before Christmas.

Thanks a lot, Texans. Now we have to hear Rodgers share more of his drink recipes that will keep us young forever. (Maybe that’s why my girlfriend’s dad keeps telling me to take a bite from the spiciest peppers every time I visit. I thought he was just messing with me to see if I’d ever say no, but he’s actually trying to keep me young.) Out of the darkness and into the light the Jets (3–6) go, even though most of us know they are just as phony as the Texans (6–3) and many of the other teams Rodgers and Co. will play for the next five weeks.    

Sure, the Jets could definitely win four straight games and then find a way to lose back-to-back games to the Dolphins and Jags. That’s what bad teams do. But for one half Thursday the Jets were very good and now they have an easy schedule to make up for the messy first two months of the season. 

Wilson hauled in a pair of one-handed touchdown catches to lift the Jets' offense to new heights in the second half against the Texans. / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

Maybe the Jets will find a way to at least be entertaining, because that Michael Jordan-like touchdown from Garrett Wilson was pretty damn impressive. They also finally got Davante Adams involved as he recorded seven catches for 91 yards and one touchdown against the Texans. It would be less annoying if the Jets actually turn out to be good and handle business during the cupcake schedule. Maybe the looming discussions of them possibly being better than the Buffalo Bills won’t be as forced. 

But then again, the Jets beat a team that was lucky to have six wins heading into this Thursday night matchup and didn’t have its two best wide receivers. Stroud struggled without Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs, throwing for only 191 yards and no touchdowns. We probably shouldn’t be impressed about New York beating a Houston squad that lost to the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers and piled wins against bad and mediocre teams. Yes, the Texans did beat the Bills, but that took Sean McDermott having a total meltdown in the final seconds.

The Texans might be a playoff team playing in the subpar AFC South, but they’re not in the class of the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. They are one of many middling teams in the AFC, and because they couldn’t beat the Jets, now TV talking heads will debate whether a seventh-seeded New York team can beat Baltimore in the wild-card round. 

These annoying conversations will happen over the course of the next six weeks, you know, before New York loses to Jacksonville in Week 15 to begin a four-game losing streak to miss the postseason. 

The Jets will likely waste our time rather than prove the doubters wrong and we have the Texans to thank for that.