The New York Jets lit up the scoreboard today in a wild, back and forth shootout against the Kansas City Chiefs 38-31 to move their record to 5-7. This was the offenses’s best performance of the year, as they went up and down the field at will which helped compensate for a less than stellar day for the defense. The Jets remain on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff race (they are currently two games out of the sixth seed and behind at least four other teams) but today showed good resiliency as they bounced back from an early 14-0 hole to secure the victory.

Josh McCown’s has had some games where his box score made it look like he played better than he actually did. Today was not one of those days. McCown was flat out terrific, finishing 26/36 for 331 yards with one passing TD and two rushing TDs. He repeatedly made big plays on third down to multiple different receivers. This was the second big game in a row for Jermaine Kearse who racked up 9 catches for 157 yards. Robby Anderson also continued his strong season with 8 catches for 107 yards. Matt Forte caught a touchdown pass and led the Jets with 58 rushing yards on 15 carries. This was a great day for the offensive line as their pass protection held up all game long and kept McCown clean.

Defensively, this was an ugly one. The secondary was lit up by both Travis Kelce (4 catches, 94 yards, 2 TDs) and Tyreek Hill (6 catches, 185 yards, 2 TDs) and allowed a 70 yard run by Alex Smith. The corners were left on an island too frequently and couldn’t handle Kansas City’s weapons on the outside. Newcomer Rashard Robinson was beat by Hill for a long touchdown and allowed 4 catches on 4 targets en route to being benched mid game. This was also probably Marcus Maye’s worst game in a very good rookie year, as he struggled in coverage and to make plays on the football in the air. Yet, the defense was able to hold on the final drive when it counted to help the Jets hang on for a win.

Another highlight of this game was Darrelle Revis working with the New York Daily News to sell a comeback story about his new healthy lifestyle (ALL VEGAN BABY!) so he wouldn’t be the pudgy slacker he was for the Jets after stealing 70 million dollars from them in his last contract. It turns out that story was #FakeNews as Revis was the same player he was in 2016, whiffing on multiple tackles and appearing completely disinfested before being benched at halftime. It would be funny, except the Jets are still paying him more than the Chiefs to “play football.”

Overall, this was a game the Jets would have got blown out in last season when they fell behind 14-0. Instead of laying down and dying, they fought back against a team with superior talent across the board and won. Todd Bowles and his coaching staff rightfully take a ton of heat in this market but this team competes every single week and is punching above their weight. The Jets aren’t going to make the 2017 playoffs and aren’t going to have a top five pick. Hopefully, they can still be efficient with their offseason resources and add to some of the building blocks and culture they have built this season.

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