The Jets (5-8) beat the Texans (7-6), 30-6, at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Here are three takeaways from Week 14.
Success on Third Down
The Jets offense played its best football of the season in the second half after a scoreless first half, the Jets' first since Week 4 of the 2007 season against Buffalo. Led by QB Zach Wilson, back in the starting lineup after two games as the No. 3 emergency QB, the offense converted 5-of-8 third downs in the final two quarters after starting 1 of 7.
Wilson, who threw for a season-high 301 yards and 2 touchdowns, passed for 15 first downs, which tied his career high (Week 13 in 2021, Week 8 in 2022).
"I think Hack [OC Nathaniel Hackett] called a great game," he said. "I thought he was aggressive. I thought he trusted me to make good decisions down the stretch. And then how many of those throws did I just put up and let guys make plays? I think those guys did an unbelievable job of yards after catch or even just going up and making 50-50 plays, especially in the conditions. It was dumping on us out there, but they did a great job of making some of those plays."
Continued O-Line Shuffle
The Green & White trotted out a different offensive line combination for the ninth straight game and all eight active players took snaps. The team started, from left to right, Mekhi Becton, Laken Tomlinson, Joe Tippmann, Jake Hanson and Max Mitchell.
Duane Brown took 5 snaps as an eligible offensive lineman, veteran T Billy Turner (24 snaps) finished the game at RT for Mitchell (44) and Tippmann missed 6 snaps. He was replaced by Chris Glaser before re-entering the game.
"That's a kid that has some true grit about him, man," Tomlinson said of the rookie center. "Amazing young man, super smart, super talented and he's doing a fine job stabilizing this line."
He added: "I love his energy. I love how fired up he gets about first downs. He's always one of the first ones running down there, signaling first down. We love that. That's contagious. That kid is developing into a fine professional."
Rookie Carter Warren, who started at LT in Week 12 and RT in Week 13, popped up on Friday's injury report with a hip injury and did not play. Hanson, who was signed to the active roster Dec. 9 after he spent the last month and a half on the practice squad, made his Jets debut at RG in his first start since Week 1 of last season with the Packers.
"Jake Hanson, Max Mitchell coming in, I really truly appreciate those guys because they bust their tails every week," said Tomlinson, who has been the only Jets O-lineman to start every game this season. "Obviously with all the stuff going on in our room, those guys are giving us a chance to win."
Franchise and Personal Bests
The Green & White had a handful of franchise and personal bests set in Sunday's win, starting with second-year WR Garrett Wilson. Wilson's first catch of the game was No. 151 of his NFL career, surpassing Wayne Chrebet for the most receptions through a Jets player's first two seasons. He then set the Jets receiving yards record through his first two seasons with 1,926 – a 25-yard catch in the third quarter.
P Thomas Morstead tied a career-high with six punts this season that have been downed inside the 5-yard line. Morstead's 41-yard boot in the second quarter was downed by Pro Bowl gunner Justin Hardee on the Texans 2-yard line.
Solomon Thomas' sack of C.J. Stroud (1 of 4 team sacks) was his fourth of the season, a career high, while Quincy Williams now has a career-high 13 tackles for loss, tied for the seventh-most in the league this season.
