New York Jets 38, Kansas City Chiefs 31 (Highlights)
(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

The New York Jets finally solved their fourth-quarter woes and took out the Kansas City Chiefs at MetLife Stadium to improve to 5-7. 

  • New York Jets 38 (5-7)
  • Kansas City Chiefs 31 (6-6)
  • NFL Week 13, Final, Box Score
  • MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

It was an inauspicious start for this New York Jets team. They’ve been plagued by opposing tight ends in the past and that was again the case in the first five minutes of the game.

Discount double check from Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce and the Jets defense was nowhere to be found.

It seemed like this one was bound to be a blowout, but suddenly the Jets came to life.

Someone we haven’t seen consistently this season is Jets running back Bilal Powell who squeaked his way into the end zone to cut the deficit to seven.

The secret sauce for this team was to go to the wide receiver position early and often. Fortunately, this team has some reliable targets in Robby Anderson and Jermaine Kearse who provided big plays and clutch third-down conversions. In this game, they combined for 17 receptions for 264 yards.

Which led to Josh McCown‘s fourth rushing touchdown of the season and before you knew it, everything was knotted up at 14.

Josh McCown may not have had a 70-yard run like Alex Smith did but his mobility is severely underrated. In this game when there was nothing there in the passing game McCown didn’t hesitate to run and chase that first down and more times than not he got it.

But speaking of that 70 yard run by Smith, this is an excellent example of WHAT NOT TO DO. Poor tackling and when the Jets were in position, Jamal Adams went for the ball instead of the tackle, giving up another extra 20 yards. The only positive from this is that the Jets defense had a ‘bend but don’t break’ mentality and held the Chiefs offense after that initial implosion at the start of the game.

Let’s fast forward to the second half and boy was Jets’ Offensive Coordinator John Morton on fire. Coming out of the gates the Jets went on a historic 18-play drive that took up nine minutes and thirty seconds off the clock.

Of course, though, the Chiefs would then show the Jets how it’s done: one play for 79 yards and it took all of 16 seconds.

Then the fourth quarter happened. There may not be a playoff mandate or a prerequisite amount of wins head coach Todd Bowles has to reach to keep his job. But I guarantee you that if his team’s struggles in the final quarter of games continue he’ll be out of a job when the clock hits zeroes on the 2017 season.

But this time around the Jets finally showed some signs of life. There was energy, passion, and to put it simply, they finally looked like they knew what they were doing out there. There’s often a battle of identities late in games for teams: they’re either playing to win or playing not to lose. The breakdown is some teams fear the comeback and other teams turn that off and pin their ears back and just go out and play ball.

The Jets faced adversity and overcame it. This team may not be heading to the playoffs this season but with a ton of money to come in free agency, young talent, and premium draft picks this team is revving with a bright future. Ultimately the x-factor in this game was the time of possession battle: 42 minutes to 17 minutes. The Chiefs ability to score quickly ended up coming back to bite them in the patootie. While the Jets opted for the more methodical approach and with that, the team is 5-7 and on the outside looking in.

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Paul A. Esden, Jr.
People call me Boy Green for my unwavering dedication to all things New York Jets. I work at The Score 1260 in Syracuse and I'm extremely passionate about sports. I aspire to continue my rise through the business and hopefully I'll end up working for the New York Jets in some capacity.

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