They won a game in spite of themselves.
For that, the Jets should be praised, ending a five-game losing streak with a frightful, 21-13 win over the Texans on Halloween night at a half-empty MetLife Stadium.
The winning points came from an acrobatic one-handed catch of an Aaron Rodgers jump-ball pass by receiver Garrett Wilson in the end zone.
It was a true Odell Beckham Jr. moment.
The 26-yard scoring catch by Wilson came on a third-and-19 from the Houston 26-yard line with 12:54 remaining in the game and gave the Jets a 14-10 lead.
It was the second consecutive impactful week for Wilson.
So, salute Wilson for breaking out of a slump, in which he chastised himself after having a Rodgers pass bounce off his chest and into the arms of a Steelers defensive back for a damaging interception in Week 7.
But celebrate the Jets at your own risk, because they did everything they possibly could to hand this game to the Texans, like that generous neighborhood family who gives away the most candy to trick or treaters.
As for the Jets dumbest trick of the game — allow us to introduce you to Malachi Corley.
If you’d forgotten about Corley, a third-round draft pick out of Western Kentucky, you’d be easily forgiven since he entered Thursday night with exactly one touch on offense this season — a 4-yard reception on Sept. 15 in Tennessee.
Corley’s second NFL touch came on the first play of the second quarter, and it was a memorable one — a perfectly executed toss right as he rambled into the end zone from 19 yards out untouched by a Houston defender. It was a rare glorious moment in what has been an utterly inglorious Jets season to date.
Corley celebrated with his teammates, hugging offensive linemen and high-fiving receivers. Everyone in Jets colors was happy (even Fireman Ed, who’s apparently been phased back in based on his overexposure on the stadium Jumbotron all night) … until the officials called for a review of the touchdown.
As it turned out, Corley, performing a too-cool-for-school trick — pretending as if he’d been the end zone before even though he hadn’t. He dropped the ball before he crossed the plane of the goal line.
The ball bounced out of the end zone as he celebrated, meaning not only was Corley’s touchdown nullified, but the Texans got the ball on a touchback.
For a team that entered the game having averaged 16.4 points per game relatively starved for offensive touchdowns, this was a big deal.
And for much of the night, in what was a tight game before Rodgers connected with Davante Adams on a game-sealing, 37-yard touchdown strike, the Corley play looked like it was destined to go down in infamy alongside the long list of boners.
Because in the Jet’s world, these are the way things usually pan out.
“It’s unacceptable,” interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said at halftime of the Corley gaffe. “He knows that. He’ll learn from that and grow from that, and I’ve got a feeling he’s going to make up for that.”
That “make-up” day will have to wait for later, because Corley never got any closer to getting his hands on the ball the rest of the game than did the handful of spectators sitting up in Section 315.
Fortunately for the Jets, though, they have Wilson, who finished with nine receptions for 90 yards and that remarkable TD catch, and Adams, who caught seven passes for 91 yards and the 37-yard TD in his best game since being brought him in.
The Jets, of course, hadn’t waited until Halloween night to try scaring their fans away for the rest of this season. They’d already spent the better part of the past month treating their fans to some terrifying tricks.
You may remember kicker Greg Zuerlein missing a 50-yard field goal in the final seconds of a 10-9 loss to Denver, the loss that began the five-game skid that ended Thursday night.
Then there was the 23-17 loss to Minnesota in London, where the Rodgers spent crunch time overthrowing and underthrowing his receivers.
That was followed by the 23-20 loss to Buffalo in which Zuerlein missed field goals of 43 and 32 yards in the second half.
Then came the 37-15 loss in Pittsburgh, when the Jets had a 15-6 lead and were driving for another potential score late in the first half before the floor fell out and the Steelers scored the game’s final 31 points.
And finally, before Thursday, was the 25-22 loss to the Patriots on Sunday in a game that was perhaps the most calamity filled of all.
Trick or treat?
The Jets finally delivered their home fans a treat to keep the pulse to their season beating for another week — next Sunday at Arizona.
