Two different Jets teams showed up on Thursday night. The team in the first half looked a lot like the version that had lost five in a row. The team in the second half looked like the version that the Jets were supposed to be.
Receiver Garrett Wilson propelled the surge, thanks to a one-handed touchdown catch that initially was ruled to be out of bounds. The Jets challenged, and the call was overturned. It gave New York their first lead of the game, 14-10.
Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich decided to challenge the play, due in part to the special nature of the reception.
“I was talking to the ref when they were reviewing it,” Ulbrich told reporters. “I’m like, ‘Just for the sake of posterity, you have to say that’s in. Just so it goes down in history.’ I mean it would rival the Odell [Beckham] catch. It was amazing. . . .
“It was close enough to definitely challenge. Thankfully they got it right.”
The change for the Jets came after an ugly first half, one that included fans chanting, “Sell the team.”
So what happened at halftime?
“It was a collective deal,” Ulbrich said. “It was players and coaches. All of us spoke. . . . We came out and played Jets football in the second half.”
Wilson’s efforts helped, as did quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw a pair of touchdowns to Wilson and the clincher to Davante Adams.
The win moves the Jets to 3-6. They still have a deep hole to dig out of, but the hole isn’t as deep as it would have been if they’d kept playing in the second half the way they had in the first.
