There was a lot of talk about Tim Tebow in New York this week, but the Jets haven’t used him much on offense.
They did try another fake punt with Tebow in his role as personal punt protector, however, and, for the first time this year, it didn’t work. Tebow made a flip pass to Lex Hilliard, who got swallowed up by the Rams defense immediately.
And it was the Rams defense, not their punt team. In response to the Jets converting three fake punts already this season, the Rams kept the defense on the field with the Jets needing five yards to convert for a first down. The Jets didn’t audible out of the play, which is something that is sure to come up during postgame media briefings, and wound up handing the ball to the Rams.
The Rams would hand it right back when Muhammad Wilkerson stripped Sam Bradford on a sack. Bart Scott recovered and took the ball into Rams territory, where Mark Sanchez hit Chaz Schilens for a 25-yard touchdown that made the score 10-7 in the second quarter. Sanchez has hit on 7-of-10 passes for 79 yards, but three sacks have kept the Jets offense from generating much momentum.
It was the second Rams turnover of the game, but the Jets couldn’t convert a Bradford interception into points when Nick Folk’s field goal was blocked by cornerback Janoris Jenkins.