Greg Zuerlein kicked a 54-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the New York Jets a 30-28 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.
The Jets blew a 20-point lead in the second half before staging a game-saving, 31-yard drive directed by Trevor Siemian, who won as a starter for the first time since 2017.
Siemian completed 27 of 49 passes for 217 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Breece Hall had 191 scrimmage yards (95 rushing, 96 receiving) and scored twice as the Jets (6-9) won for the second time in the past three weeks.
In a game matching teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs, quarterback Jacoby Brissett came off the bench in the third quarter and rallied Washington (4-11), which lost its sixth straight to match its longest single-season skid since 2014.
Brissett completed 10 of 13 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown and rookie Chris Rodriguez Jr. scored the first two touchdowns of his NFL career.
Brissett entered for ineffective Sam Howell, who completed 6 of 22 passes for 56 yards and a pair of interceptions.
A week after gaining just 103 yards in a shutout loss at Miami, New York totaled 381 yards to 245 for Washington.
After Cody Barton triggered the Washington comeback with a third-quarter nterception, Brissett threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Logan Thomas to slice New York’s lead to 27-14.
A 1-yard plunge by Rodriguez narrowed New York’s lead to 27-21 with 9:33 left.
Then, on the Commanders’ next possession, Brissett directed an 83-yard drive, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Antonio Gibson that put Washington up 28-27 with 4:52 left.
Washington got off to a horrendous start. With fewer than six minutes gone in the game, the Jets had a 17-0 lead.
New York’s fast start was fueled by an interception by Tony Adams on Howell’s first pass of the game and a blocked punt by Jermaine Johnson.
Jets’ rookie Jason Brownlee caught the first touchdown pass of his career and Hall had a 36-yard scoring burst as New York took its quick lead.
–Field Level Media
