Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson made a catch of the year candidate on Thursday night as New York beat the Houston Texans 21-13 to end their five-game losing streak.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Wilson reached back with one arm in the endzone and contorted his body to snatch the ball out of the air while Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter could only watch on.
Perhaps even more remarkably, the second-year receiver was able to get his left shin and right foot down in the endzone, all while retaining possession of the ball. Although initially ruled an incomplete pass, a challenge from Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich led to a review and the officials overturned the decision to rule it a successful catch and touchdown.
The play bore striking similarity to another all-time great catch at MetLife Stadium. The one-handed, diving nature of Wilson’s effort was compared to Odell Beckham Jr.’s grab for the New York Giants against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.
Afterwards, Wilson said the two moments of brilliance had their differences.
“(Beckham) got two feet down, the ball was gonna land out of bounds, and it was Odell, man,” Wilson told reporters. “Odell against the Cowboys, that was the one. So for it to even come up in that convo, I’m blessed. I’m honored.”
Ulbrich said the Wilson and Beckham catches were two of the same.
“Oh my goodness,” Ulbrich said. “I mean I was talking to the ref when they were reviewing it, I was like: ‘Just for the sake of posterity, you have to say that’s in just so it goes down in history.’ I mean it would rival the Odell catch. It was amazing.”
Wilson explained what was going on in his head while the ball was traveling through the air during the extraordinary catch.
“Honestly, you’re not thinking about much, ‘How can I make a play?’” Wilson told Prime Video’s Kaylee Hartung after the game. “Give myself a chance to make a play. (Jets QB) Aaron (Rodgers) believed in me. Once the ball was going up, it’s like you’ve got no other choice but to go and try to do what you can do. I’m glad they switched the call, I wasn’t sure so they was. It was a cool play. We needed it. At the end of the day, I pride myself on coming through when we need it.”
It was the second one-handed grab Wilson made during Thursday’s game, having already snagged a Rodgers pass midway through the third quarter with one hand and running for a 21-yard touchdown.
Wilson’s second-half explosion was a big factor in the Jets ending their five-game losing streak after a slow start from both teams at MetLife Stadium.
The first points of the game came with 3:21 remaining in the first half thanks to a three-yard touchdown run from Texans running back Joe Mixon, after both defenses smothered their rival offenses to force punts.
The Jets thought they had taken the lead on the first play of the second quarter when Malachi Corley ran 19 yards into the endzone, but after a review from officials, it was deemed the rookie had dropped the ball before crossing the goal line with it subsequently rolling out of bounds, resulting in a turnover and gifting Houston the ball.
Jets QB Rodgers had historically low numbers during that first half, going 7-of-14 on his passes for 32 yards which were the fewest passing yards Rodgers has ever had in a first half and tied for the fewest passing yards in any half (minimum 10 passes), per the NFL.
But Wilson’s first touchdown of the game in the first drive of the third quarter tied the game and his extraordinary one-handed grab at the start of the fourth quarter gave the Jets the lead.
New York’s advantage was stretched further near the end of the game when Davante Adams got his first touchdown for the Jets after hauling in a 37-yard throw from Rodgers.
Although they got a late field goal, the Texans were unable to mount a comeback as they fell to 6-3 with the Jets improving to 3-6.
“It feels good,” Wilson told reporters. “We definitely just wanted to get back in the win column. Losing five straight feels how you would expect. It doesn’t feel good. We’re better than that, most importantly, and it was time to go prove it.”