There Goes the No. 1 Pick: Jets Beat Giants Behind Big Plays

Jets beat the Giants as Sam Darnold, Jamal Adams shine.

A big game from quarterback Sam Darnold, running back Le’Veon Bell’s first touchdown since September and a dominant showing from safety Jamal Adams paced the New York Jets to a 34-27 win over the New York Giants on Sunday. 

The win comes against the backdrop of fan protests this week where an airplane flew over Manhattan with a banner that read “Fire Adam Gase!” Beating the Giants now improves the Jets to 2-7 and stops a three-game losing streak. 

Also with the win, the Jets chances to land the No. 1 pick in next spring’s NFL Draft took a tumble. 

They very nearly lost this game, much in a similar fashion to another game earlier this year. In Week 1, the Jets blew a 16-0 lead to the Buffalo Bills, losing 17-16. The Jets followed a similar script this go-around, racing out to a 14-0 lead only to see their offense go cold. The offense wouldn’t heat up again until the fourth quarter. In-between, the Giants offense would score four touchdowns to take a 27-21 lead into the fourth quarter. 

When the offense struggled to move the ball, the defense stepped up big. The Jets were lifted early in the third quarter when Adams, on a safety blitz, ripped the ball out of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones’ hands, running the ball back 25 yards for a 21-13 lead. 

The Giants took their first lead of the game at 5:21 left in the third quarter, Jones connecting with Golden Tate for a 15-yard touchdown and what would become a 27-21 lead. Unlike Week 1 when they folded, however, the Jets would bounce back and re-take the lead this time. 

With 14:52 left in the fourth quarter, Bell went one-yard for the Jets to go up 31-27, capping a three-play, 70-yard drive. Then on their next possession, Sam Ficken’s 35-yard field goal extended the Jets to a 34-27 lead. 

Before the Jets initially gave away the lead, it all started so promising.  A first quarter 2-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening drive by Darnold was followed up by a 23-yard touchdown pass the next time the Jets had the ball, the first time all year that the Jets had scored touchdown on their opening two possessions of a game. 

Darnold finished the game 19-for-30 for 230 yards and a touchdown.

The Jets defense had struggles and a number of bad penalties but they did a good job controlling running back Saquon Barkley, who had just a single rushing yard on 13 carries. His longest rush of the game was just three yards.