EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — First there was the ‘Butt Fumble.”
Now, there’s the “Hell Mary.”
Add it to the New York Jets’ downtrodden lore.
Those two plays will be forever linked because they had the misfortune of both taking place on Thanksgiving weekend, 11 years apart. The Jets have made the postseason zero times between those two plays. The most recent, a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the first half returned 99 yards the other way for a Jevon Holland pick-six in a 34-13 rout by the Miami Dolphins on Friday, effectively extinguished any 2023 postseason hopes for the Jets. Barring a miracle turnaround, the Jets are careening towards 13 straight seasons without reaching the playoffs, the longest drought in the NFL.
“Everything about this season thus far, it’s been tough,” wide receiver Garrett Wilson said following the game. “No one said it’s going to be easy. Nothing’s been easy.”
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Prior to Holland’s dash — 99 yards on the stat sheet, 124.4 yards traveled according to NFL’s NextGenStats — the Jets had pronounced themselves as competitive in the first-ever Black Friday NFL contest. Trailing 10-0 at halftime and the offense showing little signs of life with Tim Boyle under center, the Jets’ defense attempted to save them. Cornerback Brandin Echols took a Tua Tagovailoa pass to the sideline 30 yards the other way for New York’s first points (kicker Greg Zuerlein missed the extra point).
“Felt good about the momentum we’d gathered,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said after the game. “Took our shot off the interception, try to get one more. Just a very unfortunate play at the end of the half when it felt like we’d captured momentum.”
Fve plays after Echols’ score, Tagovailoa threw another interception, this time to cornerback D.J. Reed, leaving two seconds for the Jets’s offense before halftime. Boyle dropped back, avoided the Dolphins’ rush, and fired toward the goal line, but the ball never made it there. Instead, it dropped into Holland’s waiting arms. Boyle said he knew he didn’t put enough zip on it as he tried to leave the pocket, while Holland added it looked like a missed field goal landing in front of him. That was only the start of the problems for New York.
“I’ve never really seen or been a part of anything about that,” Boyle said. “It’s a good learning experience. You have to have a cover plan in case interceptions happen like that.”
Holland had plenty of open turf in front of him, and his defensive linemen reversed roles and started throwing blocks against the Jets’ linemen. The Jets’ receivers were caught sprinting the wrong way. Jets tight end Tyler Conklin and Wilson were two who made the trek to the other side of the field, while running back Breece Hall and Boyle tried to take away Holland’s angle.
“I felt I was pretty helpless,” Conklin said.
But Holland, who had returned 16 punts between the 2021 and 2022 seasons for Miami, was in his true element.
‘I had to get busy. I had to, you know what I’m saying, show a little sugar, or whatever, like that,” he told Prime Video’s Kaylee Hartung in his post-game interview on the field. “And I just got into the zone, man. I could smell it, and then once I made that cut, I knew I was there, and then I had to make it happen.’
Miami running back Raheem Mostert (20 carries, 94 yards, two touchdowns) called it the best play he’d ever seen. Tagovailoa had never seen a play like that to end a half before, he said. More than one play cost the Jets the game — a third-stringer starting at quarterback was the first indication it may not be their day, or season, since Aaron Rodgers was supposed to be the one throwing that pass in a perfect world — but any chance of an upset was erased by the runback and the emotional swing it carried.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was amped to the point he started running toward the visitor’s locker room prior to the extra point try. Asked about the play after the game, the 40-year-old coach let out a satisfactory grunt.
“It was absolutely a huge momentum swing that I think there’s very few players that could have pulled off what Jevon did,” said McDaniel.
McDaniel said Holland has watched “a ton” of tape on former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, famous for exhilarating interceptions returned for touchdowns, and that the play “was very reminiscent of Ed Reed, for sure.”
“Nobody on this team that was on the field will forget that particular play,” McDaniel said. “It’s pretty special, when you’re talking about the first play people think of when they think back to this game.”
The Jets having an improbable, memorable touchdown return on the national stage against them in late November? For ‘Gang Green,’ some things don’t change. Except that whole ‘not making the playoffs’ thing.