Monday was the night all Jets fans waited for, Aaron Rodgers playing his first game with the Green and White.
While all that air quickly went out of the balloon after the Jets’ newest star went down early in the first quarter, Gang Green and Bills fans were treated to an exciting game.
The Jets (1-0) snuck by the Bills (0-1), 22-16, in overtime in front of a sellout crowd on Monday Night Football at MetLife Stadium.
Buffalo got the ball to begin overtime, but they went three and out after two pass plays and a run. Then, rookie wide receiver Xavier Gipson returned a punt 65 yards for a game-winning walk-off touchdown.
Gipson made the Jets roster as an undrafted free agent out of Stephen F. Austin. Corey Davis’ sudden retirement gave Gipson an opportunity to make the Jets 53-man roster after showcasing his speed during training camp.
“I’m going to speak for our entire locker room that we knew he was going to score one,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We just knew that kid is electric with the ball in his hands. If I’m a team, I’m not kicking to him, but let him keep proving it.”
Jets fans were quiet for most of the night after Aaron Rodgers went down with what is believed to be an Achilles injury, per head coach Robert Saleh. But Zach Wilson helped energize the crowd with his play down the stretch.
Wilson looked like a much different quarterback in the fourth after the Jets couldn’t generate any offense during the first three quarters. Wilson completed a 24-yard pass to Allen Lazard before a defender brought him down. Wilson also completed a 14-yard pass to Garrett Wilson. That set up Zach Wilson’s touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson, which tied the game.
“Zach believed in me,” Garrett Wilson said about the touchdown catch. “We talked about that at halftime, he believed in me and I told him that I got him.
“I gotta be a man of my word. I can’t say that I practiced that, it is just a will to make a play for your dog.”
Then just as the Bills got the ball back, Micheal Clemons forced a Josh Allen fumble. Quinnen Williams recovered it on the Bills 27.
Down three with less than two minutes to go, Allen and the Bills had one final chance to tie the game. With six seconds left, Tyler Bass converted a 50-yard field goal that bounced off the right upright. The Jets got the ball back with two seconds left but decided to knee it to force overtime.
Buffalo got the ball to begin overtime, but it went three and out after two pass plays and a run.
Wilson finished the night completing 14-of-21 passes for 140 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Early in the night, Jets fans were in a somber mode. Four plays into his Jets career, Rodgers left the game after being sacked for a 10-yard loss by Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd. Rodgers initially got up following the sack, but he quickly went back down to the ground and he had to be helped to the sideline by trainers.
Rodgers later went into the blue medical tent on the sideline and into the locker room with a boot on his left leg. He was then ruled out for the remainder of the game, but the Jets said Rodgers’ X-rays were negative.
With Rodgers possibly out for the season due to an Achilles injury, Wilson will once again be the Jets starting quarterback. Last year, Wilson was benched multiple times due to his erratic play, but Monday was a good step forward in his development against a Bills defense that’s one of the best in the league.
“I just gotta keep getting better,” Wilson said. Trust my feet, trust my coaches, trust the guys around me, rely on this defense that we have. Progressively rely on everything that I’ve done throughout training camp and the preseason as well.
“Just do my best to keep improving as a player.”
Rodgers was among the Jets players during pregame ceremonies commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
After Wilson replaced Rodgers, the Jets offense couldn’t generate much offense outside of a few runs. With 3:08 left in the second quarter and the score 10-3, Wilson threw an interception to Matt Milano. Milano was then penalized for taunting Wilson after the play was over.
Breece Hall was one of the early bright spots for the Jets. He rushed for a 26-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. He finished with 109 yards in the first half after he recorded an 83-yard play in the second quarter.
Monday marked Hall’s first action since tearing his ACL last October. He finished with 127 yards on 10 carries.
Dalvin Cook, in his first game with the Jets, rushed for 33 yards on 13 carries.
Finally, in the second quarter, tied 3-3, the Bills scored the night’s first touchdown. Allen completed a five-yard pass to Stefon Diggs. That touchdown, which made the score 10-3, along with Rodgers’ injury, dejected all of the energy out of MetLife Stadium.
Gang Green recorded 143 yards in the first half. Fans booed their home team as they headed into the locker room down 13-3.
The Jets got the ball to begin the second half as Greg Zuerlein made his second field goal of the game, this time from 43 yards. Gang Green’s defense, much like a season ago, kept them in the game. Jordan Whitehead intercepted Allen three times. In total, Allen committed four turnovers, which ultimately doomed the Bills.
“It felt good,” Whitehead said about bringing down three interceptions. “If we didn’t win, I wouldn’t cared. But we got the win, so I feel better.”
Even before Rodgers’ injury, it was an eventful night even before kickoff as fans began entering the stadium. There was a shelter in place order for MetLife Stadium lifted about 7 p.m. as lighting and storms were in the area.
Fans tailgating and driving near the stadium were subject to a public safety alert at 5:15 p.m. The New Jersey State Police warned fans to “seek shelter inside your vehicles or walk over to the bridge to American Dream.” Fans were finally allowed into the stadium after the bad weather stopped. There were even a couple of rainbows in the sky.
The Jets will travel to Arlington, Texas, next weekend to take on the Cowboys. Dallas blanked the Giants on Sunday Night Football, 40-0.
