Jets hold on for dramatic win over Broncos to keep season's hope alive

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DENVER — Don’t cancel the Jets season just yet.

Gang Green pulled out a dramatic 31-21 victory over the Broncos at Empower Field on Sunday, but it was not easy. The Jets needed a 39-yard fumble return for a touchdown by cornerback Bryce Hall after linebacker Quincy Williams knocked the ball out of Russell Wilson’s hands to secure the victory.

“It was gritty,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “It wasn’t pretty.”

There were no style points for the Jets in this one, but the win moves them to 2-3, ending a three-game losing streak and keeping hope alive that they can make something of this season even without Aaron Rodgers.

Running back Breece Hall provided most of the offense, rushing for 177 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown, on the same field where his season ended a year ago with a torn ACL.

“He’s pretty good, isn’t he?” Saleh said with a smile.

Hall carried a Jets offense that went 0-for-5 in red-zone trips, settling for five Greg Zuerlein field goals.

For Hall, it was the first game in which the Jets leaned on him, giving him 22 carries after limiting his snaps early in the season.

Hall said he walked past the table in the locker room where they told him his ACL was torn 12 months ago, but he did not dwell on it. He instead joked to teammates about it.

“I’m new and improved now,” Hall said. “I’ve got my robot knee, so I’m good.”

The victory was particularly sweet for offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who was fired last year after just 15 games as Broncos head coach.

Then, current Broncos coach Sean Payton ripped into Hackett in July, telling USA Today Hackett’s year in Denver, “might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”

The Jets downplayed the Hackett angle all week, but the players wanted to win one for him.

After the game, Saleh presented Hackett with the game ball and Hackett spoke to the team.

“He’s a Jet. He’s one of us,” Williams said. “The biggest thing is if you’ve got a comment about him, you’ve got a comment about all of us. That was the biggest thing. At the end of this game, getting this win for him was very huge. All I’ve got to say is put some respect on my dog’s name.”

Williams secured the victory with his strip-sack of Russell Wilson.

Jets quarterback Zach Wilson gave the 1-4 Broncos the ball back with 2:14 remaining in the game and the Jets leading 24-21. Zach Wilson threw his only interception of the game at the worst time.

Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain made a remarkable catch, securing the ball between his legs at the Denver 3-yard line.

The Broncos had momentum after scoring a touchdown on their previous drive to cut the Jets’ lead to three points.

The Jets did not sit back in a prevent defense, though. Williams blitzed on the second play of the drive and sacked Wilson.

The Broncos converted a third-and-14 to keep the drive going and then Williams blitzed again on second-and-10.

Saleh said the Jets noticed a flaw in the Broncos’ pass protection during their hurry-up drill. Williams came screaming around the Broncos’ right side and chased down Wilson, who began running to the left.

As Williams hit him from behind, the ball popped free and Bryce Hall picked it up and ran down the Jets sideline for the touchdown to put the Jets up 31-21 with just 29 seconds left.

“As soon as that play got called, I already knew it was a sack,” Williams said.

Williams said the Jets had not called that particular blitz in a while, but Williams knew he could chase down Wilson.

“I don’t worry about nobody outrunning me,” Williams said. “I’m going to be honest with you. I’m the fastest linebacker in the league. I say that very confidently and humbly.”

The Jets now return home to face a 5-0 Eagles team before their bye week.

A loss on Sunday would have been catastrophic for their season.

The win keeps them in line to make some noise when their schedule softens after the bye week.

But even with the win, the Jets know they have plenty of things to clean up from this game.

They committed nine penalties, some of them dumb ones like having too many men on the field on defense. Early in the game, their pass protection struggled to block the Broncos and several penalties stunted drives.

The Jets made five trips to the red zone and did not score a touchdown. Before halftime, the Jets let the clock run out with the ball at the Denver 8-yard line.

“Just offensively as a whole, we’ve got to be better in the red zone,” Saleh said. “Probably could have blown that team out of the water.”

Defensively, the Jets gave up eight plays of 20 or more yards.

Despite all the first-half mistakes, the Jets were only down 13-8 at halftime.

Hall then broke a 72-yard touchdown on the Jets’ first play of the second half to take a 15-13 lead.

Three field goals from Zuerlein made it 24-13 and the Jets were playing smothering defense. The Broncos only had 4 yards in the third quarter.

But then the defense buckled and Russell Wilson put together a 75-yard drive, aided by a roughing the passer penalty on Bryce Huff.

Wilson hit tight end Adam Trautman for a 3-yard touchdown and then the Broncos converted their two-point try on their second attempt after another Jets penalty wiped out Denver’s first failed attempt.

Michael Burton’s conversion cut the score to 24-21.

The Jets advanced all the way to the Broncos 27 on their next drive but Surtain had blanket coverage on Garrett Wilson and intercepted Zach Wilson to give the Broncos a shot at tying or taking the lead.

Williams ended that shot and the Jets were able to have a happy flight home, knowing their season is far from over.

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