The New York Jets won a football game for the first time in 358 days on Sunday, but could have suffered a loss that will be felt much more than that.
With a 23-20 upset of the Los Angeles Rams, the Jets (1-13) gave up the top spot for the No. 1 pick. 1 in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars have the same record, but the Jaguars have the edge of the tiebreaker because they played the weaker program. The Jets may have fired Clemson’s defender Trevor Lawrence, the best choice.
In any other season, a victory over a quality team like the Rams (9-5) would have started a celebration among Jets fans. Not this time. The fan base was buzzing about the prospect of choosing Lawrence, but the landscape project has changed.
The Jets may have to look back at another draft defenseman or stay with Sam Darnold, who ran for 207 yards and a touchdown in the most effective performance of the campaign. He did it against the NFL’s top defense.
With the win, the Jets suffered a series of losses from 13 games recorded in the franchise.
The visiting jets closed as 17-point subordinates to Los Angeles. This is the third consecutive season that a winner of 17 points or more has won directly. From 1978 to 2017, there were only three such upsets, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Following Sunday’s decision, the Jets will not join the 2017 Cleveland Browns and the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only 0-16 teams in NFL history.
Unlike two weeks ago, when they gave a late advantage to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Jets did not crash in raw time against the Rams. New York jumped 20-3 and did not lose its balance when the scoreboard read 23-20 in the fourth quarter. It was a gutty performance by the Jets defense, who played in the fourth quarter without star defensive striker Quinnen Williams (head injury).