JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On a rainy and cold late December night at the MetLife Stadium, the Jags were able to take down the New York Jets 19-3 in a game with major AFC playoff implications.
It was a battle of second-year quarterbacks in Zach Wilson and Trevor Lawrence, but in the end Lawrence won this one.
A great performance was turned in by the Jags defense on the night as they made it tough on the Jets offense all night long, even forcing two turnovers.
The Jags got the ball first but on their opening drive Trevor Lawrence fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Jets.
The Jets would only come away with a field goal as Greg Zuerlein knocked it through the uprights from 37 yards out to put the Jets up 3-0.
Trevor and Co. responded with a long drive which was capped off by a 32 yard Riley Patterson field goal to tie the game at 3.
Neither team could get much going for the rest of the first quarter and after the first 15 minutes the Jags and Jets were tied at 3.
Then at the start of the second quarter, the Jags put together a 16-play, 96-yard touchdown drive capped off by Trevor Lawrence's stretch over the top for the touchdown. The Jags led 10-3 after Riley Patterson's extra point.
After stopping the Jets on defense, the Jags put together another nice drive and Riley Patterson knocked another field goal through to make it 13-3 Jags with 2:55 left before halftime.
The Jags defense played well in the first half and gave the Jags another chance to add to their lead before halftime. But Riley Patterson missed on a 44 yard field goal attempt.
It was a solid first half for the Jags as they took a 13-3 lead into halftime. The Jags racked up 251 total yards in the first half and 13 first downs. On defense, the team held the Jets to just 66 yards of total offense and even picked off Jets QB Zach Wilson at the end of the first half.
The Jets got the ball to start the second half but couldn't get anything going.
After getting the ball back, Trevor led the Jags down the field once again. They were unable to convert on third down but Riley Patterson's third field goal of the game made it 16-3 Jags with 7:06 left in the third quarter.
With quarterback Zach Wilson struggling the Jets turned to backup QB Chris Streveler during the third quarter. Streveler had the Jets driving as the third quarter came to a close with the Jags leading 16-3. The Jags defense came up big yet again, stopping the Jets as they were threatening in the red zone.
The Jets, starting from their own 1 yard line, attempted to put together a late drive, but receiver Garrett Wilson had the ball knocked out of his hands and Tre Herndon came up with it for the Jags first forced turnover of the game.
The Jags capitalized on the turnover as Riley Patterson knocked his fourth field goal of the night through from 37 yards out to make it 19-3 Jags late in the fourth quarter.
And that was all the Jags would need as they took down the Jets 19-3 to keep their hopes of an AFC South division title and even an AFC wild card berth alive.