Baby Jets keep finding ways to win games – New York Daily News

GREEN BAY – It’s a well-worn sports cliché that great teams find different ways to win games.

No one knows how the 2022 season will end for the New York Jets, but they’re becoming something of a cliché themselves: The team keeps finding different ways each week to win games.

It was no different in the 27-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field Sunday as the game wasn’t pretty at times, but the young Jets team played their best when it mattered the most.

After a 3-3 tie after halftime, the Jets scored 27 points after halftime. Cardiac Jets has been a theme of the season for the team.

First, the Jets scored 14 points in 1:55 seconds to stun the Browns in Week 2. Then two weeks, they also had a comeback fourth quarter 24-20 victory over the Steelers two weeks where the Jets scored 14 points in the final 12 minutes of the game. Last week, Gang Green scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to cruise past the Dolphins 40-17.

Now not only did the Jets come into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers, but they also defeated them by three scores.

“Playing against a great offense, a great team, a great quarterback like Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay – those guys have been to Super Bowls, those guys have been to the playoffs year in and year out,” Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams said.

“We gotta keep that mindset, good play, ok next play. Bad play, next play. Going against great players like Aaron Rodgers and the great offense that they have and the great team that they have, you gotta be on your toes. You gotta play the next play and don’t worry about the pads.”

When quarterback Zach Wilson was off his game as he completed 10 of 18 passes for 110 yards, it was the running game, the defense and the special teams unit of the Jets that carried the way. Breece Hall recorded 116 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

The Jets special teams unit also played a huge role as they blocked a Mason Crosby field goal and Micheal Clemons blocked Pat O’Donnell’s punt as Will Parks returned the kick for a touchdown. Lastly, Gang Green’s defense made the reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers look like just another quarterback in the league.

Rodgers completed 26 of 41 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown. However, Rodgers struggled with decision-making as the Jets pass rush and Williams registered two sacks and seven quarterback hurries.

Green Bay came into Sunday’s game with the 11th-best rushing attack in the NFL, averaging 134.8 yards per game on the ground. But the Jets held the duo of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillion to 60 yards rushing.

Cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner also was a key contributor to the win as he blanketed Packers receivers for a large part of the afternoon.

“I thought our defense has been playing well the whole season with the exception of maybe the Cleveland game,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We’ve been pretty good and we’ve been getting better every week.”

“I thought our D-line was outstanding today. I thought our back end did a good job of communication and all the things that they did, especially on third down.

“We made a commitment to stop the run today.”

The Jets’ four-game stretch games before their bye week are key to figuring out if they’re truly a playoff contender or a pretender. Gang Green is 3-0 in road games this season and it has another road test against another future Hall of Fame quarterback in Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos. Then the Jets have home games against their division rivals the Patriots and the Bills before their bye week.

New York has already matched its win total from a season ago. Last week, the Jets ended their 12-game AFC East divisional losing streak with a win over the Dolphins. Now Gang Green ended the Packers’ 15-game home regular season winning streak.

This isn’t the same old Jets by any means as the foundation of young players mixed with players like Williams, Corey Davis and Duane Brown has the team not only wanting more but believing bigger goals are still yet to come for the team.

“It just shows how hungry we are,” Breece Hall said. “It just shows that we are trending upwards. We played good football today, but we are not satisfied.

“I felt like a lot of people thought it would be a surprise if we won this game. We expected to come in and win this game. For us, we are just trying to get better every week and I feel like that’s what we are trying to do right now.

“It’s a good win, but we want way more than that. I feel like especially with the older guys that we have, they do a good job of installing that in us. They’re on those rookies day in and day out and just trying to get better and they never really let us slack off.”