LONDON — The Jets got Aaron Rodgers for moments like Sunday.
Down by six points with three minutes left, the Jets had the Vikings right where they wanted them. Rodgers had the ball and two timeouts, but Rodgers did not deliver.
Instead, Rodgers threw an interception to Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore with 44 seconds left in the game, ending the hope of a comeback at Tottenham Stadium. Instead, the Jets lost 23-17 to Minnesota and fell to 2-3 this season.
The Jets dug themselves a huge 17-0 hole early, partly because of two interceptions from Rodgers in the first quarter, one that was returned for a touchdown.
Despite the sloppy start, the Jets fought their way back and had a chance to win in the final minutes.
Rodgers and the Jets got the ball with 3:07 left at their own 30. Rodgers hit Garrett Wilson for 16 yards and then Allen Lazard for two quick completions.
A slant to Wilson and a 7-yard run by Breece Hall moved the ball to the 26. After two incompletions, Rodgers tried to throw to Mike Williams down the sideline, but Williams did not seem to expect the pass and Gilmore picked it off instead.
It was an anticlimactic end for the Jets, who controlled the game for most of the second half.
The Vikings had a 10-point lead and the ball with just over 10 minutes left in the game but they could not move the ball and former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold turned back into the quarterback Jets fans remember all too well. Darnold threw high to Jordan Addison and Jets backup cornerback Brandin Echols made a diving interception to give the Jets the ball at the Minnesota 42 with 9:47 left in the game.
Rodgers, who was moving slowly after injuring his knee in the third quarter, then marched the Jets to the end zone. He completed a third-and-10 throw to Williams for 18 yards to get the Jets inside the 10.
The Vikings then had a costly penalty when Gilmore was called for pass interference against Wilson on a third-and-goal incompletion from the 2 to give the Jets a new set of downs. On first down, Rodgers hit a wide open Wilson for a 1-yard touchdown. The Jets now trailed only 20-17 with 6:04 left in the game.
The Vikings got the ball back at their 30 and were able to drive to the Jets’ 23 before stumbling. Will Reichard made a 41-yard field goal, his third of the day, to make it 23-17 Vikings with 3:07 left in the game.
The Jets got off to an awful start, continuing the poor play that plagued them in last week’s loss to the Broncos.
Rodgers threw two interceptions in the first quarter, something he had never done before in his career. One of them was a pick-six that gave the Vikings an early lead. The offense struggled to get anything going and it looked like the Vikings could blow them out, but the Jets stabilized things at the end of the first half. On defense, the biggest problem for the Jets was penalties. Their secondary was penalized five times as they struggled to contain Vikings star Justin Jefferson. But after some early success, the Vikings offense and Darnold sputtered.
Jets defensive end Will McDonald sacked Darnold on third down to end the Vikings’ first drive. It was McDonald’s sixth sack of the season. The Vikings had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
The Jets defense got a takeaway on the Vikings’ second possession when Darnold’s pitch to running back Ty Chandler was not caught. Jets linebacker Quincy Williams scooped up the ball but was tripped up by Darnold, preventing a probable touchdown.
The Jets could not take advantage of the turnover, though. Instead, Rodgers gave the Vikings points. The Vikings blitzed on third down and Rodgers tried to throw quickly to Wilson. He did not see outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel dropping and threw it into Van Ginkel’s arms. Van Ginkel then ran 63 yards for the touchdown and a 10-0 Minnesota lead.
On their next series, Rodgers sailed a third down pass intended for Allen Lazard and Vikings safety Camryn Bynum picked it off.
The Jets ended the first quarter with two turnovers and zero first downs.
The Vikings had some success running the ball early but lost star back Aaron Jones to a hip injury.
The Jets finally moved the ball in the second quarter but Braelon Allen got stuffed on fourth-and-2 for no gain at the Minnesota 26.
The Vikings then drove the field with some help from the Jets defensive backs and the officials. There were three penalties called on the Jets secondary in one drive. Sauce Gardner was called for pass interference and holding and D.J. Reed was called for pass interference. That helped the Vikings put together an eight-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Vikings fullback C.J. Ham scoring from the 2-yard line to put the Vikings up 17-0 with 3:58 left in the first half.
Xavier Gipson provided a spark for the Jets just before halftime with a 35-yard punt return that gave the Jets the ball at the Minnesota 31. Rodgers cashed it in with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Lazard and the Jets went into halftime only down by 10 points despite playing terribly.
The Jets had a scary moment in the third quarter when Rodgers was hit by Jihad Ward on third down and twisted his left knee on some other players on the ground as he went down. Rodgers got up slow and limped off. Rodgers had already been dealing with knee soreness from the beating he took from the Broncos last week. He was heading to the blue medical tent when a roughing the kicker penalty on the Vikings gave the Jets a new set of downs.
Rodgers jogged back onto the field instead of going into the tent and the Jets put together a nice 17-play drive. They stalled in the red zone and Greg Zuerlein cut the Minnesota lead to 17-10 with a 32-yard field goal in the final minute of the third quarter.
The Vikings pushed the lead back to 20-10 with 12:07 left in the fourth quarter on a Reichard 53-yard field goal.
