Jets thrilling win over Falcons is also reminder of past QB gamble that could have turned out way worse

Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins stood in the pocket as if his feet were bolted into the turf at MetLife Stadium late Sunday afternoon before he unleashed a pass that landed closer to the stands in the south end zone than it did to any of his receivers.

This was one of several unimpressive throws made by the veteran quarterback on this cold, rainy fall day. It wasn’t the most memorable line drive of the day: Kicker Nick Folk’s 56-yard field goal that cut through the rain as time expired to give the Jets a 27-24 win took that honor.

But each one of Cousins’ off-target throws should have served as a reminder for Jets fans: While the Jets are 3-9, their situation could actually be much worse.

How? It all goes back to the Jets’ quarterback decision in the offseason of 2023. Ultimately, they ended up paying a heavy cost to trade for Aaron Rodgers. And there’s no way to write that off as anything but a complete and utter failure.

The Jets caught a bad break when Rodgers tore his Achilles on just his fourth snap with his new team. They also did a poor job of managing everything that came with Rodgers, with then-coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas sacrificing the positive culture they had started to build by essentially turning over the keys of the operation to Rodgers and going out of their way to keep him happy at every turn.

But the Jets were able to move on from Rodgers after just two years. And after 2026, when the last of Rodgers’ dead salary cap money comes off the books, the whole mistake will just be a bad, ugly memory, and they’ll head into the 2026 offseason among the NFL’s leaders in cap space.

But the Falcons are a living reminder that as poorly as the Jets handled their veteran quarterback situation, it could have been handled far, far worse.

Atlanta signed Cousins to a four-year $180 million deal last year – less than a year after he tore his Achilles in 2023. But less than two months later, they drafted quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. That move caught Cousins by surprise and threw their quarterback situation into disarray.

Cousins, who hadn’t fully recovered from his Achilles injury, suddenly had a top draft pick playing right behind him. Penix quickly ended up taking the starting job and the Falcons followed through on their promise to not trade Cousins, saying that having a backup quarterback with a $40 million cap hit was always part of the plan.

On Sunday, with the Falcons still on the fringe of the playoff hunt and Cousins (21 of 33 for 234 yards and a touchdown) struggling in relief of the injured Penix, their mismanagement looked like a costly mistake. And the Jets’ (relatively) clean slate looked like a blessing.

Tyrod Taylor leads comeback

Tyrod Taylor, who replaced Justin Fields as the starting quarterback last week, appeared to suffer an injury in the third quarter when he took a big hit. But on the very next play, he unleashed a 52-yard touchdown bomb to Adonai Mitchell for the longest play of the season.

That tied the game at 14 and got the Jets’ offense going after a miserable first half. Taylor scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard scramble to tie the game at 24 with 1:50 remaining. And then in the final minute, he helped set up the game-winning field goal with a 14-yard scramble to get the Jets into Atlanta territory.

Taylor finished 19 of 33 for 179 yards and a touchdown. He ran eight times for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Special teams excels

From the first quarter on Sunday, the Jets’ special teams were on point and the biggest reason they were able to stay in this game until the end, even on a day when Folk missed his first field goal of the season. (He more than made up for it with the 56-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.)

It started with Qwan’tez Stiggers’ recovery of a muffed punt on the Falcons’ 2-yard line, which set up the Jets’ first touchdown of the day from running back Breece Hall. But the big plays continued all day, including a fourth-quarter 83-yard punt return by Isaiah Davis that set up the game-tying touchdown. And Austin McNamara’s huge punt (one of many on the day) with 1:06 remaining set the Jets up to get the ball back with 35 seconds left to drive for the game-winning field goal.

The Jets have had a lot of problems in 2025, but new special teams coordinator Chris Banjo has hit the ground running, and that bodes well for the future.