Aaron Glenn called a timeout with 1:56 remaining in the first half and dreams of the Jets tying the score and getting a fresh start.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong over the next 116 seconds, and the Jets were buried on their way back to the locker room.
The Jets committed two penalties, went three-and-out with a sack on offense, and were hit for five gains of at least 10 yards to feed into two touchdowns allowed during a disastrous post-two-minute-warning stretch that turned a close game into a 37-22 blowout loss to the Cowboys.
Just like that, the Jets are 0-5 for the first time since 2020, when they dropped their first 13 games. And with a trip to London to face the Broncos on deck, the path only gets more difficult before a possible reprieve against the Panthers.
With 11 minutes remaining and the scoreboard reading 30-6, MetLife Stadium sounded like Jerry’s World East as a “Let’s Go Cowboys!” chant rained down.
It was impossible to think the Jets would be down 23-3 at the half when Breece Hall was cutting through the red zone with a chance to cut into a 10-3 deficit. But Hall — whose first half included runs of 22, 21, 16 and 10 yards — lost a fumble at the 13-yard line.
An undeterred Glenn thought he might be able to give his listless offense a shot to make amends, so he called his first timeout to freeze the Cowboys before second-and-10 from the 9-yard line.
Then came the chunk yardage: 10, 14, 46, 11 and a 5-yard touchdown.
The second touchdown — after the Jets possessed the ball for an entire 28 seconds — was simpler: A 66-yard run by Javonte Williams and a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ferguson.
Game over, in the blink of an eye.
The kings of garbage-time fantasy stats made the final score closer than it really was with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes. One included a spectacular individual effort by Garrett Wilson (six catches for 71 yards) to avoid a tackle and stretch the ball over the goal line.
Justin Fields threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns while running for 26, and Breece Hall rushed for 113.
Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes to continue his MVP-like pace, and the Cowboys ran for 180 yards.
You never would have guessed by the Jets’ offensive game plan that the Cowboys entered the game allowing an NFL-worst 420.5 yards per game, including 297.3 through the air. Even the since-benched Giants’ Russell Wilson threw for a near-career-high 450 yards against this sieve of a secondary in Week 2.
Garrett Wilson went more than 35 minutes between his first and second catches.
Fields had 74 yards passing at the half. Most were during a game-opening 13-play, 66-yard drive that resulted in a field goal and which turned out to be indicative of nothing.
Three points felt like a disappointment out of second-and-goal at the 3, but it somehow also felt like the norm: The Jets have not scored a first-drive touchdown in five games this season, after going 13 straight to start last season under a different coaching staff.
When it was still a 3-3 game, Glenn chose to punt on fourth-and-5 from the Cowboys’ 43-yard line after seeing Fields overthrow an open Wilson on second down. The decision backfired because the Cowboys drove 90 yards on 13 plays for a touchdown.
Ferguson caught a tight end screen and his blocking convoy allowed him to scoot untouched 26 yards to the end zone for the go-ahead score.
Two weeks after the Jets erased a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to take a short-lived lead against the Buccaneers, there was no late comeback to be had.
Not once Fields came up short on two fourth-and-1s — an incomplete pass to Andrew Beck and a stuffed quarterback sneak — and Sauce Gardner allowed a 43-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens in one-on-one coverage.
Fields and Beck later connected on a 1-yard touchdown pass.
The Jets committed 11 penalties for 91 yards, including four by rookie right tackle Armand Membou.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
