Score one for the young guy.
In a matchup between 22-year-old Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson and 40-year-old Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Richardson and the Colts prevailed.
Richardson scored a four-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the game, with 46 seconds left in the game to give the Colts the 28-27 victory.
The loss drops the Jets to 3-8 and crushes what was left of their slim playoff hopes.
The Colts improved to 5-6.
This is the Jets’ seventh loss in eight games.
Richardson’s touchdown came after a six-play, 70-yard drive that followed a Jets field goal that gave the Jets a five-point lead and what looked like a victory.
Rodgers threw two touchdown passes after not getting a first down in the Jets first five possessions. Breece Hall had a rushing and a receiving touchdown and new kicker Anders Carlson booted two field goals, but the Jets defense collapsed in the final two minutes.
Carlson’s second field goal came with 2:41 left in the game from 35 yards and gave the Jets the five-point lead.
It came after Richardson led an eight-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Josh Downs.
Richardson misfired on the two-point conversion attempt and the Colts were down 24-22 with 10:11 to go in the game.
The Jets defense had to come up with one more stop after Carlson’s field goal.
Richardson hit a wide open Alec Pierce for a 39-yard pass down the sideline that set the Colts up on the Jets’ 27.
He then hit Downs for a 17-yard gain to the 10.
Richardson then scored from the 4-yard line, running over D.J. Reed for the go-ahead score.
The Jets got off to an awful start.
They did not manage a first down in their first five possessions, the first time they have done that since 2005.
The offense looked totally out of sync until the final possession of the first half.
Hall picked up the first first down of the day for the Jets just after the two-minute warning on a six-yard run.
That sparked the first decent drive of the day for the Jets.
Rodgers connected with Davante Adams for a 24-yard gain and the Jets were moving the ball.
The Jets got on the scoreboard when Rodgers extended a third-down play from the Colts’ 29 and then dumped the ball off to Hall on a short pass that Hall turned into a touchdown and the Jets cut the Colts’ lead to 13-7 going into halftime.
Rodgers passed Dan Marino into eighth place on the NFL all-time passing yards list on the play.
The Colts opened the second half with the ball and Richardson turned the ball over on the second play.
Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood sacked Richardson and knocked the ball loose.
Jets defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw recovered the ball at the Colts’ 25.
Hall scored his second touchdown of the day moments later, racing through the Colts defense for an 18-yard touchdown and a 14-13 Jets lead.
The teams then traded long field goals with Colts kicker Matt Gay drilling a 56-yard field goal to put Indianapolis up 16-14.
Carlson, kicking in his first game for the Jets, made a 58-yard field goal with 2:55 left in the third quarter for a 17-16 Jets lead.
Carlson became the fourth different kicker for the Jets in four weeks after the Chiefs plucked Spencer Shrader off their practice squad on Thursday.
The Jets extended the lead to 24-16 with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to tight end Kenny Yeboah with 13:03 left in the game.
The Colts jumped out to a 13-0 lead early in the game as the Jets stumbled on offense.
The Jets could not get a first down on their first five possessions as Rodgers looked like he was struggling to complete a pass.
The Jets managed just nine yards on nine plays in the first quarter.
The Colts were not explosive but they hit a 31-yard pass from Richardson to Josh Downs on their first possession and Jonathan Taylor picked up yards on the ground.
Richardson scored a two-yard touchdown early in the second quarter when he ran around Jets defensive end Micheal Clemons and through Jets safety Jalen Mills at the goal line.
That touchdown was sandwiched between two Gay field goals and the Colts had a two-score lead at 13-0.
