Take flight with the Jets

Text with Brian Costello all season as he brings Sports+ subscribers the latest Jets intel from on the field and off.

CINCINNATI — The noise heard from the other side of the visitors locker room walls was joyous. The euphoria was palpable.

It was a foreign emotion for the Jets, whose somber locker room vibe the previous seven weeks had represented something closer to a somber occasion.

The Jets won a football game on Sunday at Paycor Stadium, 39-38 over the Bengals, and now the 0-17 watch for the Jets has ceased.

You can’t go 10-7 and sneak into the playoffs before you go 1-7.

Too soon? Sorry.

But this day was filled with so much good on the field for a Jets team that has endured so much bad this season, it’s difficult not to be at least a little bit intoxicated and dole out credit where credit is due.

The Jets offense, which had gone the past two games without scoring a touchdown, scored three of them in the fourth quarter to erase deficits of 15 points (late in the third quarter) and 14 points (midway through the fourth quarter).

The game-winning touchdown came in the form of a creative offensive call from Tanner Engstrand, the rookie coordinator who’d been coaching a lot like he’s in over his head.

It was a frenetic 4-yard halfback option pass from Breece Hall, who’d rushed for 133 yards and two TDs in the game. He threw his first career TD pass to rookie tight end Mason Taylor with 1:54 remaining in the game.

When it was over, the noise from inside the Jets locker room came as vice chairman Christopher Johnson was handing Glenn the game ball and massive defensive tackle Harrison Phillips was lifting the rookie head coach into the air.

“It was beautiful,’’ Jets receiver Allen Lazard said of the scene. “It was such a wholesome moment for everyone in this organization. We’ve been waiting a long time for this.’’

The Jets amassed 502 yards of total offense, including 254 on the ground, their largest rushing output since 2021.

Quarterback Justin Fields, maligned earlier in the week by team owner Woody Johnson (who wasn’t at the game Sunday), was 21-of-32 passing for 244 yards and one TD. Nick Folk, the most reliable player on the team, kicked three field goals.

Hall’s fourth quarter was one for the ages. He rushed for 53 yards and two TDs on four carries and threw that game-winning TD — the first pass completed by a Jets running back since Bilal Powell in 2013.

“That’s a call we’ve been practicing all week,’’ Glenn said. “When we came to the sideline and talked about the play, I asked Justin how he was feeling about it and he was like, ‘S–t, it better work. We’ve been practicing it quite a bit.’ ’’

It worked. Finally something worked for the Jets, who’d lost three games by two points, one by six and one by seven.

“We just knew we were better than 0-7,’’ edge rusher Jermaine Johnson said.

Lost in the victory was how poorly the Jets defense played for much of the game, constantly allowing the Bengals to score right after the Jets scored.

The defense, which had seemingly settled down the past two games, allowing only 13 points in each of them, allowed 24 first-half points to the Bengals, taking a 24-13 lead into the intermission.

When the Jets cut it to 24-16 on a 24-yard field goal by Folk, the defense gave up a 32-yard Samaje Perine run for a 31-16 lead late in the third quarter.

When Hall scored on a 5-yard run to cut the lead to 31-24, the defense gave up a 1-yard Chase Brown scoring run to give Cincinnati a 38-24 lead.

Then Hall scored his second TD on a 27-yard run to cut it to 38-32 with 7:52 remaining.

And finally, Hall threw the game-winning TD pass to Taylor for the improbable 39-38 lead the Jets defense would finally hold onto.

“Excuse my language, it was a s–t defensive performance,’’ Johnson said. “The offense bailed us out today. This meant a lot for everybody.’’

You heard that inside those locker room walls afterward.

“Definitely, Coach Glenn deserved this,’’ Johnson said. “He’s been consistent with his message and has faith in us and the coaching staff. It was amazing to get him that first win and it was amazing to get 0-7 off our back.

“The first one is the hardest one.’’