New York Jets put tanking on pause, defeat Jaguars 23-20
The New York Jets defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars at home 23-20 in OT. After starting the season 0-2, the Jets are now on a two-game winning streak.
It appeared as though the New York Jets front office was employing the tanking strategy made famous by so may NBA teams. However, head coach Todd Bowles has his team playing to win, because the Jets are sitting at .500 after winning two games in a row.
Their opponents, the Jacksonville Jaguars had the edge in turnovers, forcing 2 and committing just one themselves. But the Jets piled up 471 yards of total offense on the Jaguars defense, with a whopping 256 of those yards coming on the ground.
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Running backs Bilal Powell and Elijah McGuire had big days. Powell rushed for 163 yards, 1 TD and McGuire rushed for 93 yards, 1 TD. The Jets averaged 8 yards per carry and the touchdowns came on long runs of 75 and 69 yards.
After passing for 4 TD’s in week 3, Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles came back down to earth against the Jets. Completing just 15 of 35 passes for 140 yards passing, 1 TD and 1 interception.
However, even with those numbers, the Jaguars still had a chance to win. They got an 81 yard fumble return for a touchdown by Myles Jack in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 20-17. They tied the game with a field goal in sent it into over-time, but the Jags came up short.
The complexion of the New York Jets season looks a lot different now. Instead of tanking to draft one of the top quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL draft, they have a shot to improve on their 2-2 record in week 5.
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There the Jets go on the road to face the 0-4 Cleveland Browns. So the Jets could go to 3-2. After a big win over the Baltimore Ravens in week 3, this loss has to be a huge let down for the Jaguars. They also go on the road next week and will take on the 3-1 Pittsburgh Steelers.