Jets' late FG turns back Commanders rally

Field Level Media|published: Sun 24th December, 17:05 2023

Dec 24, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets place kicker Greg Zuerlein (9) kicks the game winning field goal during the fourth quarter against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. credits: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Greg Zuerlein kicked a 54-yard field goal to give the New York Jets a 30-28 victory over the rallying Washington Commanders Sunday in East Rutherford, N.Y.

The Jets blew a 20-point lead in the second half before staging a game-saving, 31-yard drive directed by Trevor Siemian, who won as a starter for the first time since 2017.

Siemian completed 27 of 49 passes for 217 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Breece Hall had 191 yards rushing and receiving and scored twice as the Jets (6-9) won for the second time in the past three weeks.

In a game matching teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs, quarterback Jacoby Brissett came off the bench in the third quarter and rallied Washington (4-11), which lost its sixth straight to match its longest single-season skid since 2014.

Brissett completed 10 of 13 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown and rookie Chris Rodriguez Jr. scored the first two touchdowns of his NFL career.

Brissett entered for ineffective Sam Howell who completed 6 of 22 passes for 56 yards and a pair of interceptions.

A week after gaining just 103 yards in a shutout loss at Miami, New York totaled 381 yards to 245 for Washington.

After Cody Barton triggered the Washington comeback with an interception, Brissett threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Logan Thomas to slice New York's lead to 27-14.

A 1-yard plunge by Rodriguez narrowed New York's lead to 27-21 with 9:33 left.

Then, on the Commanders' next possession, Brissett directed an 83-yard drive, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Antonio Gibson that put Washington up 28-27 with 4:52 left.

Washington got off to a horrendous start. With fewer than six minutes gone in the game, the Jets had a 17-0 lead.

New York's fast start was fueled by an interception by Tony Adams on Howell's first pass of the game and a punt block by Jermaine Johnson.

Jets' rookie Jason Brownlee caught the first touchdown pass of his career and Hall had a 36-yard scoring burst as New York took its quick lead.

- Field Level Media

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