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LONDON – The Jets started slowly and could not come up with one final stop and are taking the long flight home from here with a loss.
The Jets made things interesting in the second half after falling behind by 17 points early, but the Falcons came away with a 27-20 win in front of 60,057 fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Jets fell to 1-4 and now have a bye week.
Falcons running back Mike Davis scored a 3-yard touchdown with 2:19 left in the game to ice the win for Atlanta. It was the team’s only points of the second half after putting up 20 in the first half.
It looked like it might be another collapse from the Falcons, a team famous for them from the 28-3 blown lead in the Super Bowl to blowing a 21-point lead here in 2014.
But they went on a nine-play, 75-yard drive to put the game away after the Jets had cut the score to 20-17. The drive featured a 39-yard pass to Kyle Pitts between Jets defensive backs Brandin Echols and Jarrod Wilson. They also converted a third-and-13 when Matt Ryan found Olamide Zaccheaus for a 16-yard gain and a third-and-2 when Ryan connected with Cordarrelle Patterson for a 7-yard pass.
The Falcons (2-3) were playing without top receivers Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage, but they did not need them in this one. Pitts, the No. 4 overall pick, had nine catches for 119 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Patterson had 114 total yards, killing the Jets early with both runs and receptions.
A week after sacking Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill seven times, the Jets did not sack Ryan once. Ryan finished 33-of-45 for 342 yards and two touchdowns. The Falcons converted 9-of-14 on third down, including two huge ones late in the game.
Rookie quarterback Zack Wilson had another rough game. He missed on some short, easy throws and threw his NFL-worst ninth interception in the game. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur did not have any answers to help Wilson out early. The running game was a rumor for most of the day, and the first touchdown came after a 65-yard kickoff return by Tevin Coleman at the start of the second half.
The Jets had some late success offensively but again struggled to find a rhythm. The Jets had 230 total yards in the game to the Falcons’ 451.
It looked like the Falcons would blow the Jets out early on. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead as veteran quarterback Matt Ryan picked apart the Jets’ defense. He threw touchdowns to tight ends Kyle Pitts and Hayden Hurst, each time finding a Jets defensive end in coverage.
Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley swung the momentum the Jets way by punching the ball out of Hurst’s hands with 7:43 left in the second quarter after the Falcons got the ball on a Jaylinn Hawkins interception of Wilson. The Jets put together a 16-play drive and it looked like they might be able to make it a game. But Wilson missed Crowder on a swing pass in the red zone and then hit tackle Morgan Moses in the helmet with a throw intended for Coleman. The Jets ended up taking the field goal and trailed 17-3.
A pass interference penalty on Jarrod Wilson extended the Falcons’ ensuing drive and Younghoe Koo kicked a 52-yard field goal to give Atlanta a 20-3 halftime lead.
The Jets have now been outscored 75-13 in the first half this season and have yet to score a touchdown in the first quarter.
Coleman returned the opening kickoff of the second half 65 yards, setting the Jets up at the Falcons’ 29. Seven plays later Ty Johnson scored from the 1 to cut it to 20-9.
After a slow start, the Jets defense played much better in the second half. The Atlanta offense stalled and the Jets were able to get back in the game.
The Jets offense had its most productive drive of the day midway through the fourth quarter. They went 90 yards in four plays and Michael Carter capped it with a 2-yard touchdown. The drive featured throws of 23 yards to Keelan Cole, 27 yards to Denzel Mims and a deep pass to Elijah Moore that resulted in a 41-yard pass interference penalty that put the ball at the 2.
After Carter’s touchdown, Wilson hit Jamison Crowder for the 2-point conversion to make it a 20-17 game with 6:55 left.
But the defense did not have one more stop in them and the Jets are coming home losers. The Jets have a bye this week to regroup before going to New England in two weeks to face the Patriots.
The Jets tacked on a field goal with 17 seconds left to make it a one-score game, but it was just cosmetic and the Falcons ran out the clock after that.
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