Those with Aaron Rodgers fatigue should be furious with the Houston Texans. Maybe not about to fill CJ Stroud’s trick-or-treat bag with candy corn, because that’s just plain bad.
Instead, just call the Texans after the season like they’re wasting our time. Only a cheater would miss putting 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 deadly 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 straight loss and essentially end New York’s season before November.
Rodgers isn’t 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 lacked a killer instinct. Jason Vorhees’ mother is said to be annoyed by the effort.
New York is alive and kicking after beating Houston 21-13 Thursday night. Prepare for an extended Jets winning streak as they will face more playoff pretenders with upcoming games against the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks. After that, Rodgers & Co. a pair of teams with two wins in the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jets went from staring a 2-7 start in the face to potentially 8-6 before Christmas.
Thank you, Texans. Now we need to hear Rodgers share more of him drink recipes that will keep us young forever. (Maybe that’s why my girlfriend’s dad keeps telling me to take a bite of the spiciest peppers every time I visit. I thought he was just fooling me to see if I would ever say no, but he’s actually trying to keep me young. ) Out of the darkness and into the light go the Jets (3-6), even though most of us know they’re just as fake as the Texans ( 6–3) and many of the other teams where Rodgers and Co. will play for the next five weeks.
Of course, the Jets could certainly win four games in a row and then find a way to lose consecutive games to the Dolphins and Jags. That’s what bad teams do. But the Jets were very good for one half of Thursday 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 take 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-esque touchdown from Garrett Wilson was quite impressive. They also eventually 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 take care of business during the cupcake schedule. Maybe the looming discussions about them possibly being better than the Buffalo Bills won’t be so forced.
But once again, the Jets beat a team that was fortunate to have six wins heading into this Thursday night game and didn’t have its top two wide receivers. Stroud struggled without Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs, throwing for just 191 yards and no touchdowns. We probably shouldn’t be impressed if New York beats a Houston team that lost to the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers and had wins against bad and mediocre teams. Yes, the Texans beat the Bills, but that caused Sean McDermott to have a total meltdown in the final seconds.
The Texans may be a playoff team playing in the underpowered AFC South, but they are not in the league of the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. They are one of many mediocre teams in the AFC, and because they couldn’t beat the Jets, talking heads on TV will now debate whether a seventh-seeded New York team can beat Baltimore in the wild-card round.
These nasty conversations will happen over the course of the next six weeks, you know, before New York loses to Jacksonville in Week 15 and begins a four-game losing streak to miss the postseason.
The Jets will likely waste our time instead of proving the doubters wrong, and we have the Texans to thank for that.