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When Aaron Rodgers exited his New York Jets debut against the Buffalo Bills with an ankle injury, it was perceived as a sign of impending doom. His predecessor and backup Zach Wilson struggled to get first downs, while the Bills were seemingly dominating.
But the Jets never gave up despite Rodgers' disappearance, and in the fourth quarter they tied the game with this monstrous one-handed touchdown catch by reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson:
An exchange of field goals sent the game to overtime. The Bills won the coin toss, but failed to advance the ball deep, forcing them to punt. That proved to be a terrible mistake, as rookie wideout Xavier Gipson returned it 65 yards for the walkoff touchdown:
The stunning victory elicited joyous responses across the world. More particularly, Brittany Mahomes, wife of Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes, went to X to react to the ending. She was clearly shocked at the outcome:
How the New York Jets defeated the Buffalo Bills: A postmortem of Monday Night Football game
Most of the post-game attention so far has been on Aaron Rodgers' injury, which New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh expects to be confirmed as a season- (and potentially career-) ending ruptured Achilles:
“MRI is probably gonna confirm what we think is already gonna happen, so prayers tonight, but it’s not good.
"I hurt for Aaron and how much he has invested in all of this, I’m still going to say a prayer, I’m still going to hold out hope, my heart’s with Aaron now and nowhere else.”
But as stated before, the Jets refused to falter in the face of losing their star acquisition to such a painful fate.
While reinstated starter Zach Wilson did struggle early on, he eventually found his footing and made some good passes. But his biggest play of the game, besides the touchdown throw to Garrett Wilson, was this sneak on a 4th-and-1 with just under 3 minutes left in regulation:
The Jets were also aided very excellently by their defense. While Sauce Gardner was largely not a factor, Jordan Whitehead broke out, picking off Josh Allen thrice:
They also sacked Allen five times and forced a fumble from him off a botched snap and subsequent rushing attempt:
Overall, not a bad performance from a team whose Super Bowl aspirations may be over before they have even begun.
