Even in the darkest of NFL contests, sometimes there’s a shimmering light that pokes through the clouds. Garrett Wilson provided that moment with one of the greatest catches in New York Jets history – if not all time.
Nearly ten years after New York Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr made a spectacular one-handed catch at MetLife Stadium, Wilson did the same with a miraculous effort that punctuated his team’s first win in over 40 days as they beat the Houston Texans 21-13 on Thursday Night Football.
Down 10-7, Wilson turned around in mid-air, reached back with his right hand to snag the ball from Aaron Rodgers, corralled it, and landed in the end zone.
Officials reviewed the play for a while and ruled that it was a touchdown as Wilson tapped his foot down, then his shin hit the turf in bounds before his knee tapped out of bounds.
Fans on social media immediately began comparing Wilson’s snag to the Beckham catch from 2014 – which is arguably one of the most famous catches in NFL history.
Garrett Wilson’s miracle catch turned the game around for the New York Jets, leading to a win
Wilson’s catch drew immediate comparison’s with Odell Beckham Jr’s touchdown in 2014
Other comparisons were made to the ‘Air Jordan’ logo as social media ran wild.
‘I have not gasped as loudly at a player’s catch since *the* Odell Beckham Jr catch in 2014,’ wrote PFF’s Mike Kennedy. ‘My lord, Garrett Wilson is not human. Rule of cool and all that, yes, but he may have actually gotten his shin down! “Catch of the year” would be an understatement.’
‘Garrett Wilson is UNREAL!,’ wrote ESPN’s Sarah Spain.
Danny Heifetz of The Ringer wrote, ‘Never in my life saw a receiver tap the same foot twice without getting the other, and now between Garrett Wilson and George Pickens we’ve seen it twice in 4 days.’
The Athletic’s Ralph Russo posted, ‘There are about 5-6 players on this Jets team that deserve better than this horrid franchise can provide. Garrett Wilson is one of them.’
Another fan wrote, ‘Garrett Wilson literally did the jumpman logo lmao’.
The first half of this game was truly ugly. With a halftime score of 7-0, the Texans were able to hold on to a slim lead but neither side was particularly productive.
That included Rodgers – who only completed seven passes for 32 yards in the first half, which led to jeers from the home crowd who would be right in believing that Gang Green was headed for a sixth loss in a row. Chants of ‘Sell the Team’ rang out around MetLife Stadium as team owner Woody Johnson watched on.
But the Jets came out strong in the second half when Rodgers connected with Wilson for New York’s first touchdown of the night to tie the game.
Garrett Wilson found the end zone early in the second half to put the Jets on the board
For as rough as Rodgers had been up to that point, his counterpart – Texans quarterback CJ Stroud – wasn’t faring much better.
The Texans were able to march down the field, but had to settle for a field goal from kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn to take the lead at 10-7.
That’s where Wilson stepped up again with the miracle catch to put the Jets up. It was a sublime effort of control and finesse that the former Ohio State wideout put on display.
For a while, it almost seemed too good to be true. Wilson wasn’t able to get a second foot down and just days ago, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens had a touchdown overturned after he tapped the same foot down twice before falling out of bounds.
But the officials ruled in Wilson’s favor, saying that his left foot touching down, followed by his left shin hitting the turf before his knee went out of bounds constituted a completed catch.
Even with that massive swing in momentum, the Texans were still within striking distance. They ate up the clock with six minutes taken off in a 12-play, 65 yard drive that should have ended with a Fairbairn field goal – were it not for Eric Watts, a rookie out of UConn, kneeing the Texans long snapper in the face to give Houston a fresh set of downs.
Wilson’s second touchdown catch will down as one of the greatest this league has ever seen
After sputtering in the first half, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers put up a strong second half
Houston accepted the penalty. It backfired spectacularly.
Not only did running back Joe Mixon fail to pick up a first down, but Stroud couldn’t complete a pass to the end zone on 3rd down – leaving Fairbairn a 27-yard chip shot field goal to contend with and try to put the Texans within one point.
He missed. Fairbairn’s kick from the left hashmark smacked straight into the left upright for his second missed field goal of the night and kept it at a 14-10 game.
Now it was Rodgers’ turn to put the game to bed – which is exactly what he did. In an eight-play, 80 yard drive, the former Green Bay Packers quarterback finally connected with his old friend and new target Davante Adams.
The pair that had been so productive in Green Bay finally linked up for the first time since Week 17 of the 2021 season on a 37-yard strike that put the contest out of reach for the struggling Texans.
With the ball in his hands, Stroud couldn’t do anything. Granted, it didn’t help that the Texans offensive line had the structural integrity of tissue paper. The Houston quarterback was sacked eight times on the night for a total loss of 56 yards.
Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a chip shot field goal that would’ve made it a one point game
Davante Adams caught his first touchdown pass from Rodgers since they were both Packers
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans made a mindboggling choice to kick a field goal down 11 points
Then came a truly bizarre decision from Houston’s second-year head coach DeMeco Ryans. With 39 seconds left in the game, down eleven points, on 3rd and Goal, Ryans sent Fairbairn out to kick a 29-yard field goal rather than take two more shots at a touchdown.
Fairbairn converted this time, but necessitated an onside kick recovery to give the struggling Texans offense the hope of scoring a touchdown and then completing a two-point conversion to tie the game and force overtime.
The Jets recovered the onside kick. After an abysmal first half, Rodgers finished the night completing 22-of-32 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns. Stroud, by comparison went 11-for-30 with 191 yards passing.
The victory ended a five game losing streak for the Jets – moving them up to 3-6 on the season and injecting some life into a team that’s looked like dead men walking for almost all of October.
But on Halloween night, there were certainly no tricks being played on the Jets – and their fans were treated to one of the greatest moments in their franchise’s history.
