Jets RG John Simpson nearly missed the bus ... to the airport as the team was preparing to travel to Cincinnati.
But you can't fault the six-year veteran of trench warfare. He and his wife had just welcomed their second child and second son, Mateo Elijah Simpson, into the world. And that world for all of the Simpsons got much brighter a little past 4 p.m. on Sunday when the Green & White erased a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit, 31-16, en route to their first win of the season and first win under first-year HC Aaron Glenn.
"Crazy weekend, to say the least, for sure," Simpson said after the Jets' heart-stopping 39-38 victory over the Bengals. "I made it just in time for the busses to the airport."
Since joining the Jets last season after three seasons with Las Vegas and one with Baltimore, Simpson has been one of the rocks on the offensive line. He's played in all 17 games the past two seasons, and is well on the way to making it a trifecta this season.
And on Sunday, Simpson had a unique perspective on one of the many of the Jets' pivotal plays in the game -- Breece Hall's TD pass to rookie TE Mason Taylor that tied the game before Nick Folk's PAT gave the Green & White their first and only lead of the game.
"So I knew it was either going to be a hit or a miss," Simpson said. "But my thing was, when we ran, I looked at the tight end [Taylor]. I was like, oh [expletive]. Then I see the DB [DJ Turner II] get closer. I was like, throw it ... throw it ... throw it ... throw it. And he threw it and I was like, oh [expletive]. So I was kind of a mixed emotion, but it was cool as hell."
TE Mason Taylor: 'We Play That Way Every Week, We Beat a Lot of Teams'
Rookie TE Mason Taylor could not have written a better screenplay for the day he caught his first NFL TD pass that led directly to the Jets' first win of the season.
"I mean, that was wild," he said about the game in general. "I mean, crazy, emotional game, a lot of back and forth, but we stuck together as a team, and we got the win."
In addition to catching 5 passes (on 8 targets) for 34 yards as one of 9 Jets who caught passes from a sharp Justin Fields (21 of 32, 244 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT and 0 sacks), Taylor's blocking and catching chops helped the offense amass 502 total yards and 254 yards rushing.
"Justin played a hell of a game," Taylor said. "I mean and our offensive line. I mean jeez, they made it easy for me. I didn't really do much. But we play that way every week and we beat a lot of teams."
On the TD pass from Breece Hall (since 2000, Hall is only the third non-quarterback in the NFL with a TD pass in the last 2 minutes), Taylor said he was getting antsy.
"I thought I broke open early," Taylor said. "I gave him [Hall] a hard time about it. He could have thrown it a little earlier, made it easy on himself. But, I mean, we've had that in our arsenal for about four weeks now. We've been repping it. He jokes around, runs it in and throws it, just jokes around with it. But I mean, again, just a great dialog by Coach Tanner [Engstrand], and, you know, we executed it, and that's what it takes."
Edge Jermaine Johnson: 'We Had to Step Up'
Jermaine Johnson said he wasn't happy, overall, with the performance of the defense on Sunday as the Bengals gained nearly 400 total yards and scored 38 points.
"The offense bailed us out," he said, adding, "It wasn't a great performance."
Bear in mind, however, that three starters – LB Kiko Mauigoa, S Malachi Moore and CB Azareye'h Thomas -- are rookies. Thomas played for the injured Sauce Gardner and was tasked with defending Ja'Marr Chase (12 catches for 91 yards) and Tee Higgins (1 catch, beating Thomas for a first-half TD). And slot corner Jarvis Brownlee Jr. was playing in only fourth game since being acquired from Tennessee.
But when the defense was required to step up, after Breece Hall's TD pass to TE Mason Taylor and Nick Folk's PAT put the Jets in the lead, it thwarted the desperate Bengals on four plays.
"We knew when it came down that final drive we had to step up," Johnson said. "You know, got to make a stand sometime."
