Getty Several New York Jets players putting pressure on Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
Sports can be a pretty cool thing.
One week you can be the reason your team lost and the next week you can be the reason your team won. Life sometimes works in very mysterious ways.
That was the case for the New York Jets on Sunday when they battled the Houston Texans.
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The Reason They Lost
Last week the Jets had a chance to win the game versus the Miami Dolphins and then that opportunity evaporated.
Gang Green defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers smacked Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after he chucked a pass and the yellow flag came out. It resulted in a terrible roughing the passer penalty that extended a Miami drive and ended up sealing the win.
To make matters worse after the game, JFM threw shade and came off incredibly salty after the loss saying Tua beat the Jets by “throwing up some prayers” that ended up getting answered.
After the game, #Jets DL John Franklin-Myers (@J_FranklinMyers) threw some massive shade at #Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (@Tua) saying he beat them by ‘throwing up some prayers & sometimes prayers are answered’ as he cracked a smile: #MIAvsNYJ #FinsUp #TakeFlight 👀 😳
After that game Jets head coach Robert Saleh called his penalty unacceptable and said it was probably the reason they lost.
Suddenly the feel-good story about a player earning a big-money deal was starting to feel like a dud.
The Narrative Was Flipped
Fast forward just a week later and JFM turned in arguably his best performance of the season:
- Two sacks
- One interception
- Two tackles for loss
“He is worth his weight in gold”, coach Saleh on Franklin-Myers’ performance. “JFM has a very high standard for himself and I know he was beating himself up all week for that play, but at the same time he comes out to practice every day and works his butt off. It was really cool to see him get the production he did.”
John Franklin-Myers breaks down what happened on his interception:
“I was just like, f—, I’m gonna just go get it. So I ran it, got it. I tried to score, I really did!” 😂
After a red hot start to the season (three sacks in the first four games), JFM was handsomely rewarded with a four-year $55 million extension.
Sadly he then fell off the face of the earth with only one sack over the next five games. Fans started to wonder openly if they had another Muhammad Wilkerson situation. A player that plays well enough to earn a pay raise, gets their money, then flounders.
JFM shut all that nonsense up with a terrific performance where he went from a zero to a hero and led the Jets to a victory over the Texans.
The defense was fantastic holding the Texans to 202 yards, sacked Tyrod Taylor five times, and kept the Jets in the game long enough for their offense to wake up and handle their side of things.
If the defensive line can show up like this on a weekly basis they’re going to win a lot more games than they lose. This level of effort and production was unguardable at moments during the contest.
They were an absolute blast to watch and both coach Saleh and his defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich deserve major kudos for summoning this performance which led to their first road win of the season.
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