Three stats to know, and more, from the Jets' 21-13 triumph over the Texans at MetLife Stadium on Thursday night:
Garrett Good and Red-dy
One more element to Garrett Wilson's one-handed wonderama against the Texans last Thursday night was that both his 21- and 26-yard receptions get marked down as red zone conversions for the Jets.
How's that again? Team red zone stats include all plays on a drive after a team penetrates the opponents' 20, even if it then gets pushed back out of the RZ. That happened on both Aaron Rodgers-to-Wilson scoring gems. On the first, the Jets had first-and-10 at the Texans 19 before Breece Hall's 2-yard loss led to Wilson's crossing snare. On the second, they got as close as the Houston 13 before Rodgers' scramble was turned into third-and-19 from the 26 on rookie G/T Olu Fashanu's holding penalty, and then into Wilson's one-handed end zone go-ahead snare.
Many NFL stat search engines distinguish between individual and team red zone numbers. Wilson still has three TD catches from inside the opponents' 19 and the two on TNF from outside the 20.
One more distinction for A-Rod and G, this one in third-down completions: Rodgers and Wilson became the Jets' first QB and receiver to convert third-and-19 or longer with a TD pass since Neil O'Donnell cashed in a fourth-and-goal from 29 yards out with a TD strike to rookie WR Keyshawn Johnson at the Dolphins in 1996. And it's the longest in a home game since Ken O'Brien and Al Toon converted third-and-23 for a 58-yard TD, in 1987 vs. the Patriots.
Braelon Be Walin''
The Jets through half the season have found the player who can turn third-and-short into third-and sure. Rookie RB Braelon Allen, in fact, has yet to be stopped when he totes the rock on third-and-1 or -2. BA has converted all 7 of those situations when he's gotten the call, and while it's the stuff of trivia, Allen's third-and-short perfection is significant in recent NFL history.
With Allen's seventh conversion, from the Jets 39 on their first TD drive of the game against the Texans, he became the first RB in the last 20 seasons to convert more than 6-of-6 in his career on third-and-short without being stopped. Extending farther back, to 2000, only former Ram Trung Canidate (9-for-9) and former Charger Terrell Fletcher (8-for-8) had more conversions than Allen has today without coming up short.
60-Minute Men ... the Hard Way
The Jets played 60 minutes of great football against the Texans, in a manner of speaking. If we recombine the teams' MetLife Stadium meetings these last two seasons a little differently, the results are the very definition of two vastly different halves of football.
If the first halves of the games in 2023-24 were one game, the Jets would have lost to Houston, 7-0, been outgained, 264 yards to 169, and been outpossessed, 35:26 to 24:24.
If the second halves were one game, those Jets would have demolished the Texans, 51-12, outgained them 471 yards to 193, and outpossessed them 38:49-21:11. First downs also would have been in the Jets' favor, 27-14.
