Sam Darnold shines in best overall performance, nearly delivers Jets a victory over Texans.
Sam Darnold nearly pulled off another one.
Six days after leading the New York Jets to the first fourth-quarter comeback victory of his young career, the rookie quarterback almost did it again — falling just shy in a 29-22 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday night.
“To go out there against a good Texans team, it would’ve been awesome to be able to get that win,” Darnold said, “but we just came up short.”
Things looked promising after Darnold and the Jets (4-10) took their first lead of the game on Elijah McGuire’s 2-yard touchdown run with just 5 minutes left.
The No. 3 overall pick made plays with his arm and legs during the impressive 15-play, 73-yard go-ahead drive as he converted three third-down plays and a fourth-down opportunity.
“He played a gritty ballgame,” coach Todd Bowles said. “He played tough and made some throws.”
On third-and-10 from the 19, Darnold took off for 14 yards — and a holding call on Aaron Colvin put the ball on the 2. After Darnold was stopped for no gain on a quarterback draw, he handed the ball to McGuire who pushed up the middle — surrounded by a surging mass of blockers who helped shove him all the way into the end zone for the score.
It set off a wild celebration by the Jets.
But Deshaun Watson and the Texans — whose nine-game winning streak was snapped by Indianapolis last Sunday — weren’t going down for the second straight game. Watson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins with 2:15 left, lifting Houston to the victory.
“We’ve just got to finish the game,” Darnold said.
A holding call on cornerback Morris Claiborne on third down prolonged the Texans’ winning drive, and Watson completed passes of 20 and 3 yards to Demaryius Thomas and 7 yards to Hopkins to get to New York’s 14.
