Pass the cayenne pepper.
The Jets snapped their five-game losing skid with a 21-13 victory over the Texans on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium.
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said this week that he was drinking a water with cayenne pepper in it that he called a “fountain of youth.”
Rodgers did not look like his 25-year-old self Thursday night but he threw three touchdowns and made enough plays for the Jets to win their first game in more than a month.
The win moves the Jets to 3-6 and keeps alive the faint heartbeat of their season. The Texans fell to 6-3.
The Jets cashed in on an amazing catch by Garrett Wilson. On third-and-19 from the 26-yard line, Rodgers floated one up into the back of the end zone and Wilson grabbed it with one hand as he went out of the back of the end zone.
It was initially ruled incomplete on the field but replay showed that Wilson’s left shin hit inbounds before his knee hit out of bounds to give him his second touchdown of the game.
The touchdown gave the Jets the lead for good at 14-10 lead with 12:54 to play.
It was the Texans and not the Jets this week with the fourth-quarter mistakes that cost them the game. Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a 27-yard field goal after making a kick that was wiped out by a penalty earlier in the drive. Fairbairn had two missed field goals in the game.
The Jets are used to being the team with the kicking woes.
The Texans defense could not come up with a stop late in the game.
The Jets put the game away with an eight-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Davante Adams that made the lead 21-10.
Adams earlier exited the game briefly to be checked for a concussion and returned to score his first touchdown as a Jet.
Rodgers was 22 of 32 for 211 yards and the three touchdowns.
The Jets defense had Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud on his heels all night.
They sacked Stroud eight times and Houston only mounted one touchdown drive.
The Texans tacked on a late field goal to make it 21-13.
The first half was an absolutely putrid performance by the Jets that had the Halloween crowd booing them off the field.
The Jets had 69 yards of total offense in the half, just 14 passing.
Rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley had a bone-headed play that cost the Jets a touchdown. There were killer drops from Breece Hall and Davante Adams. The defense could not tackle.
It was an ugly, ugly display of football in this forgettable Jets season.
Rodgers was sacked twice on third down by Texans defensive end Denico Autry. After talking about the “fountain of youth” this week, Rodgers looked old again.
As bad as the Jets were, the Texans were not much better. They had three punts, a fumble and a missed field goal in the first half.
Their only success came on a 14-play, 98-yard drive that ended with a Joe Mixon touchdown and a 7-0 lead for Houston.
It should have been a 7-7 tie if not for the massive mistake by Corley. The rookie, who has barely played this season, appeared to score an 18-yard touchdown on a run, but replay showed that he flipped the ball behind him before crossing the goal line. The ball then rolled out of bounds in the end zone, giving the Texans the ball at the 20-yard line and taking the points off the board.
The Jets’ first half possessions were five punts and the Corley fumble.
The Jets received the ball to start the second half and finally showed life. Rodgers engineered an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Wilson. Rodgers seemed to find a rhythm on the drive and completed four passes.
New kicker Riley Patterson made the extra point … barely, with it clanging in off the upright to tie the game at 7-7.
The 70 yards on the drive were more than the Jets had in the entire first half (69).
The tie game did not last long. On the next possession, the Texans moved the ball to the Jets’ 24 before losing 12 yards and settling for a 54-yard field goal by Fairbairn with 4:11 left in the third quarter that gave Houston a 10-7 lead.
The Jets mounted another drive that spanned the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth. It looked like they missed a fourth-and-1 play when Rodgers’ pass sailed incomplete but Texans cornerback Derek Stingley was called for illegal contact against Mike Williams and the Jets got another set of downs.
Rodgers showed some mobility on a 13-yard run on third down that was wiped out by a holding penalty on rookie Olu Fashanu, who was playing guard.
Following Wilson’s stunning catch, the Texans came out and hit a 50-yard pass play on their first play, a shot from Stroud to Tank Dell at the Jets’ 24.
It looked like the Jets would limit the damage to a field goal when Micheal Clemons sacked Stroud on third down.
Fairbairn came on and hit a 43-yard field goal but Jets defensive lineman Eric Watts was penalized for hitting the long snapper on the field goal, giving the Texans a first down.
But the Jets defense came up with another stop and this time Fairbairn missed a 27-yard field goal attempt, hitting the left upright.
