Bill “Santa” Belichick and the Steelers both handed the Jets belated Christmas gifts Sunday, and now Gang Green is one win away from the playoffs.
Belichick made the curious decision to kick off in overtime after winning the coin toss. The Jets capitalized on the mistake by scoring in five plays on their first possession of the extra period to win 26-20 and improve to 10-5 this season. Around the same time, the Ravens upset the Steelers 20-17, which slid the Jets into the No. 6 spot in the AFC playoffs, ahead of Pittsburgh.
So now it is simple for the Jets, who won their fifth straight for the first time since 2010: Win next week against Rex Ryan and the Bills and they are in the playoffs for the first time since 2010. They can still get in if they lose, but it would require some help. They would need either the Steelers to lose to the Browns or the Broncos to lose Monday to the Bengals and Sunday to the Chargers.
“It’s great, but we have to get the job done,” said quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has never been to the playoffs in his 11-year career. “We have to work hard this week and go to Buffalo with a million different story lines there. We have to win the game. [I’m] excited that that’s kind of figured out at this point and that we do control our own destiny, but we do have to take care of business.”
The Jets controlled the game for most of the day, taking a 17-3 lead early in the third quarter on Brandon Marshall’s second touchdown. But the Patriots (12-3) rallied, scoring a defensive touchdown and then tying the game 20-20 with 1:55 left to play on a 9-yard touchdown from Tom Brady to James White that came after the Patriots converted a fourth-and-9.
“I felt like this is what it comes down to,” said Marshall, who had eight catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns. “This is big-boy football right here. I wanted to beat them pretty good, but that’s pretty hard to do in this league.”
The game went into overtime and it felt like a typical Jets-Patriots game that New England would pull out in the end. Then, Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater won the overtime coin toss by calling “Heads” but elected to kick the ball. It appeared there was some confusion, but Belichick said the Patriots did want to put their defense on the field first even though a Jets touchdown could end the game.
“I thought that was the best thing to do,” Belichick said.
The Jets got the ball at their own 20. After a short run, Fitzpatrick found Quincy Enunwa, who had a ball go off his fingertips in the fourth quarter, for a short pass that Enunwa turned into a 48-yard gain to the Patriots’ 30. After another short run, Fitzpatrick threw a 20-yard pass to Marshall and then found Eric Decker for the 6-yard, game-winning touchdown. Decker’s score sent MetLife Stadium into a frenzy and gave the Jets their first win over the Patriots since 2013 and only their second win in 10 tries against their hated rivals.
The Jets now sit one game away from the playoffs, just a year after going 4-12. Coach Todd Bowles steadied the ship after the team lost four of five in a midseason stretch. The Jets have played good football over the last month to win five straight games and set themselves up for this showdown with the Bills.
“We’re still growing,” Bowles said. “We still have a ways to go. I’m not saying we’ve arrived. We won a game. We haven’t arrived yet. We still haven’t gotten into the playoffs yet. There are things we have to do next week. We have to clean things up, but they fight. They’re gritty. They have character and they have learned to play together.”
The Jets now have to beat Ryan, who coached this team for six years, to finish the job. The Bills are 7-8 with nothing to play for except spoiling the Jets’ season, and you can bet there is nothing Ryan would rather do.
“In the words of the great Steve Smith: ‘Man, it’s going to be a bloodbath,’ ” Jets linebacker Calvin Pace said.
The Jets look ready for anything. They outgained the Patriots 428-284 and the defense held the Patriots to 1-for-10 on third down. Brady completed 22-of-31 passes for 231 yards with the late touchdown and was picked off by Darrelle Revis.
Fitzpatrick had another strong performance. His three touchdowns gives him 29 this season, tying the franchise single-season record set by Vinny Testaverde in 1998. He went 26-for-41 for 296 yards and the three scores. His only major mistake was a third-quarter fumble on a sack by Jabaal Sheard that Jamie Collins returned for a touchdown.
The Jets are a confident bunch needing one more win.
“We were kind of left for dead at one point when we lost those games in the middle of the season,” Pace said. “I think guys looked in the mirror and said we’re either going to get better or we’re going to be home in January. I just think collectively players and the coaching staff reeled it in and got tighter as a group and just went for it, man. It’s been a wonderful thing to be a part of actually playing meaningful football in December. We’ve just got to handle our business one more time.”