Thursday Night Football saw the Cleveland Browns reach rare success, with the franchise advancing to the postseason for just the third time this century. For the New York Jets (6-10), however, it is more of the same. They were dominated by Joe Flacco in the first half and lost 37-20 on the road. They have now dropped 10 or more games in a season in seven of the last eight years.
While it was a group effort, Flacco was the biggest culprit in this trouncing. He completed 19-of-29 pass attempts for 309 passing yards and three touchdowns (one interception that was brought back for a score by Jermaine Johnson). 2022 All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner expressed his dismay over the 38-year-old's superb game.
“If I had to pick anybody, he wouldn’t be the guy I’d think would do that,” he said, according to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic. “But he did a great job today.” Gardner attributed his surprise to the fact that Flacco was not even on an NFL team until days before Thanksgiving.
Jets are a magnet for unexpected pain
Browns fans might take some offense to the comments, regardless of the 23-year-old's intent, but this comeback tale was not supposed to be written. Despite an iffy touchdown-interception ratio, Flacco is breathing new life into this offense.
He flashed his mobility when trying to avoid pressure from the Jets defense and completed a beautiful pass on the run to Jerome Ford, who displayed excellent elusiveness on a 50-yard TD reception in the second quarter. Flacco also showed incredible precision when finding Elijah Moore for a score (the wide receiver later suffered a scary concussion).
A secondary led by Sauce Gardner is expected to shut down an aging QB, but instead New York was pummeled for the first 30 minutes of the game. The 2022 Defensive Rookie of the Year is still keeping receivers in check for the most part (78.7 passer rating allowed going into Week 17, per Pro Football Focus), but this is a year everyone in the Jets community desperately wants to forget.
The squad will be intent on ending its regular season with a win over the New England Patriots. Otherwise, another troubling streak of futility will continue for this beleaguered franchise.
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