Jets stun Philadelphia Eagles behind stout defense
It looked like the Philadelphia Eagles came into MetLife stadium believing the Jets, missing several players, would simply roll over and allow them an easy victory. But Robert Saleh and the Jets defense had other ideas. The Jets pulled off a stunning upset of the unbeaten Eagles 20-14. The win brings the Jets to 3-3 […]
It looked like the Philadelphia Eagles came into MetLife stadium believing the Jets, missing several players, would simply roll over and allow them an easy victory.
But Robert Saleh and the Jets defense had other ideas.
The Jets pulled off a stunning upset of the unbeaten Eagles 20-14. The win brings the Jets to 3-3 heading into their bye week. The Eagles drop to 5-1 before facing the Miami Dolphins next week.
The Jets victory can be attributed to a smothering defense that held one of the best offenses in football to a shocking 14 points and only 380 yards of offense. The Jets also got 4 takeaways including three interceptions of last year's MVP runner up, Jalen Hurts.
What's even more impressive is the Jets did so without their top two corners, Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed who missed the game with concussions. Bryce Hall and Craig James, signed from the practice squad before the game, played like they were starters all year.
The Jets spent a lot of time after the game pointing out that nobody gave them much of a chance In the game (count me as one of them).
This is one of the best victories the New York Jets have had in years. They were large underdogs against a team that had never lost to them, and they were down several key players. You had only to watch a few minutes of this game to see that Robert Saleh had internalized that into his players and they came out on fire.
After the game, Saleh walked away from his post game press conference on a high and shouted "they ain't 12-0 no more!"
Things did not look good early as the Eagles methodically marched down the field on their opening drive and scored a touchdown. They later went up 14-3, but the Jets held them scoreless in the second half and eked out points to get the win.
This is their seventh win under Robert Saleh since 2021 after trailing by 10+ points. They are tied with the Vikings for the most such wins in the NFL during that span. There is no quit under Robert Saleh.
Saleh was boastful after the game about how good his defense has played through six weeks. "These first six weeks we’ve played a gauntlet of quarterbacks and I know we haven’t gotten all wins but we embarrassed all of them," Saleh said.
I don't know that I would call Russell Wilson, Mac Jones or even Dak Prescott a "gauntlet" but the defense has played extraordinary. The defense is only giving up 5.2 points per game in the second half.
The win did come at a cost. Once again, the Jets saw one of their top young offensive linemen go down in the game with an injury and be unable to return. Rookie Joe Tippmann, who was playing fantastic, went down in the first half with a thigh injury. After the game Saleh said the injury could keep him out "a while".
The Jets can now enjoy their bye week and hopefully get healthy. Following the bye, the schedule gets a little bit lighter and if the Jets can find a way to get a little more out of the offense, it isn't out of the realm of possibility to end the 12 year playoff drought.
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Featured Image via Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
