Nick Folk booted a 43-yard field goal as time expired to lift the New York Jets to a surprise 30-28 road win over the struggling Atlanta Falcons on Monday.
The win pushed the Jets (3-2) into a tie for second place in the AFC East, while Atlanta, top seeds last year in the NFC after posting a 13-3 record, dropped to a dismal 1-4 for the season.
“It took every one of us,” Jets head coach Rex Ryan said. “The biggest thing I’m proud of is that we didn’t turn the football over. We were not reckless, we were just the opposite, we were fearless. And that’s how we have to play.”
Photo: AFP
The Falcons took full advantage of a Jets penalty after a failed fourth down attempt near the end zone, quarterback Matt Ryan’s three-yard pass to receiver Levine Toilolo giving the hosts a 28-27 lead with just under two minutes remaining.
However, Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith drove New York from their own 20-yard line to the Atlanta 25 to set up the game-winning field goal.
Smith, who has led the Jets to an NFL-leading three game-winning drives for New York’s three wins, completed four successive passes and scrambled for an eight-yard gain that set up Folk’s game-winning kick.
Photo: AFP
The young signal caller had committed 11 turnovers in New York’s first four games, including two interceptions and a pair of lost fumbles in last week’s lopsided loss to Tennessee.
“Everybody has complete confidence in me,” Smith said about taking the field for the last drive.
“They told me to go out there and let it rip,” he said.
Photo: EPA
Eliminating turnovers was a key focus on offense, Smith added.
“I made it my duty not to put the ball on the ground,” Smith said. “It came down to a last-second drive against a tough Atlanta team on the road, but we stood up tonight and that speaks volumes about the team’s character.”
Smith completed 16-of-20 passes for 199 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in an error-free performance.
He hit tight end Jeff Cumberland on a 20-yard touchdown strike, connected with Jeremy Kerley for a 10-yard score and threw a one-yard touchdown to Kellen Winslow.
“I’m proud of Geno, proud of everybody,” Rex Ryan said.
Matt Ryan hit 36-of-45 throws for 319 yards and a pair of touchdowns, connecting with Jason Snelling for a four-yard score before his short scoring pass to Toilolo.
Running back Jacquizz Rodgers scampered 19 yards for a touchdown in Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback.
The Jets defense made a big contribution with a rousing goal line stand at the end of the first half, snuffing the Falcons’ rushing attempt from the one yard on their fifth try from the shadow of the goal line after a penalty gave Atlanta an additional crack at it.
New York went into intermission with a 17-7 lead.
“Felt like we could score those points, but we didn’t get it done,” Atlanta coach Mike Smith said. “In hindsight it wasn’t probably the [right] decision the way the game ended up.”
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
RSS