EAST RUTHERFORD — It had not happened in the history of the New York Jets. Gang Green had yet to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the history of their franchise.
That dubious mark ended in stunning fashion on Sunday.
New York’s defense, outgunned and outmanned forced three turnovers while Breece Hall’s late touchdown run gave the Jets a monumental 20-14 win over the defending NFC Champions.
Much like their first two wins of the 2023 season, the Jets’ play in the first half was not up to their usual standard. New York’s defense, without Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed, struggled to contain A.J. Brown and found themselves down 14-9 at the half. A sloppy first half saw New York struggle in the red zone yet again, while the defense struggled to simply solidify tackles.
But once the second half began, Saleh’s coaching adjustments shot the Jets out of a cannon and tilted the score almost instantly.
New York would force a punt on Philadelphia’s opening drive while Zach Wilson started targeting Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall to move into scoring range. Even though the drive was negated due to a controversial blindside block that erased a 20-yard completion to the Jets top receiver, momentum was solely on Gang Green’s side.
They would take advantage of that later in the third quarter.
Gang Green’s defense would force a quick three-and-out that would send the offense back on the field already in Eagles territory. From there, Wilson and the offense would have to settle for a field to cut the deficit to 14-12 heading into the game’s final quarter.
Philadelphia’s miscues would continue to haunt them. The undefeated Birds turned the ball over a third time in the final quarter and missed a 37-yard field goal attempt to bring the score back to within five points. With those mental mistakes, Philadelphia gave plenty of momentum and advantages to the home crowd for New York.
With under two minutes to play, Hurts threw his third interception of the ball game to Tony Adams and Hall would run in for the team’s first and only lead of the game. It’s all the Jets defense would need as they forced a turnover on downs to end the streak against Philly, and win the game.
The loss was Philadelphia’s first of the season and sent the Jets (3-3) into their bye week with plenty of momentum. Their next contest will be against the hometown rival New York Giants (1-4) at MetLife Stadium on October 29th.
Game Notes:
- The Jets may have been banged up going into Sunday’s contest, but they weren’t the only ones dealing with in-game injuries. Philadelphia lost All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson to an ankle injury and safety Reed Blankenship to a concussion due to the blindside block that ended the Jets’ third-quarter drive. New York did lose Joe Tippmann for the game to a thigh injury as well.
- New York did an exemplary job on the Eagles offense in general, but specifically on the league’s top rushing unit. Philadelphia running backs averaged less than a single yard a carry while key players on the offense fumbled several times which kept the Jets’ defense in the game – especially early in the contest.
- For another week, the Jets won the turnover battle – this time in odd fashion. On Hurts’ first interception, the quarterback completed a pass to Dallas Goedert, but he was hit and the ball promptly fell into the hands of Quinnen Williams for the turnover. Quincy Williams would force the second turnover on DeAndre Swift’s fumble. On the three turnovers forced, the Jets were only able to record six points off them.
