The last thing the Jets wanted was to go to halftime down by double-digits against the Bills on Monday night.
New York shook up the whole operation in the week leading up to the AFC East showdown, firing coach Robert Saleh and stripping OC Nathaniel Hackett of his play-calling duties. The early results were strong: the Jets scored on each of their first two drives and had the momentum through a quarter.
Defense lapses sunk the Jets in the second quarter, but a team that showed it wouldn't go down easily when it made sweeping changes a week earlier again displayed fight by running a play with eight seconds left in the half. New play-caller Todd Downing didn't regret it.
Here's a look at Rodgers' latest Hail Mary touchdown and how it happened.
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Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary video
Rodgers heaved up a Hail Mary pass with eight seconds on the clock at the end of the first half against the Bills, and his former Packers teammate Allen Lazard came down with it in the end zone.
There was some confusion between the officials, as one ruled it incomplete while another signaled for a touchdown, but replay quickly confirmed that Lazard had full control and the ball only popped out of his grasp well after he was down.
It was the fourth Hail Mary touchdown of Rodgers' career. He famously hit Richard Rodgers for a game-winning touchdown in prime-time against the Lions in 2015 and followed it up in the playoffs vs. Arizona with a Hail Mary to Jeff Janis to force overtime.
Rodgers found Randall Cobb in the end zone for a Hail Mary touchdown before halftime against the Giants in the playoffs a season later. Now, the four-time MVP has another first-half Hail Mary to his name with another former Packers pass-catcher on the receiving end.
While the Jets are still just 2-3, the moment highlights how much has changed since for the offense since last season. It was Black Friday in 2023 when Tim Boyle, replacing a benched Zach Wilson, threw a Hail Mary at the end of the first half and had it returned 99 yards by Dolphins safety Jevon Holland for a pick-six.
Rodgers inspired hope that he could turn the Jets around, and while the process has been rockier than most in the building hoped, the Hail Mary was one touch of magic as New York tries to put the past two weeks in the rear-view mirror.
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How many Hail Marys does Aaron Rodgers have?
Rodgers has four career touchdowns that fit the definition of a Hail Mary. Since the start of the 2008 season, there have been 21 touchdown passes of at least 40 yards in the final 10 seconds of a half — 19 percent of them belong to Rodgers, somehow.
The first came at the end of a "Thursday Night Football" game in Detroit:
Rodgers hit Jeff Janis for not one, but two miraculous completions to force overtime in a divisional round against the Cardinals later in the same season. The latter was a Hail Mary by every definition of the term, though Green Bay would go on to lose.
Rodgers again unleashed some playoff magic with a Hail Mary touchdown to Cobb in a wild-card round matchup against the Giants in 2016.
The Jets would be thrilled to give Rodgers the chance to pull off a miracle in the playoffs, but for now, his fourth career Hail Mary put the team in much better position to win against the AFC East-leading Bills in a critical Monday night battle.
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