You won’t often see a Hail Mary at the end of a half returned for a touchdown.
Then again, you won’t find many offenses more inept than this year’s New York Jets.
The Jets pulled off the impossible at the end of the first half on Friday in a game they lost, 34-13. Jets cornerback D.J. Reed picked off Tua Tagovailoa with two seconds left near midfield. That gave New York, which had just 47 yards at that point, a shot to throw it into the end zone.
A Hail Mary is a pretty safe play. The ball is going to the end zone, and it’s not like the other team will pick it off and run it all the way back, right?
Oh, Jets.
Dolphins safety Jevon Holland picked it off at the 1-yard line and instead of taking a knee he started returning it. Might as well. Then it became clear that he had a shot at a long return, considering all the Jets’ skill-position players were behind him. He had to beat some offensive linemen and quarterback Tim Boyle to get a crazy score.
Thanks to some hustling blockers and a determined Holland, he weaved his way through the remaining Jets, made Boyle miss and got in the end zone before receiver Garrett Wilson could reach him. The Dolphins had a 17-6 lead and the Jets fans who weren’t stunned into silence booed loudly.
We’ve seen Hail Marys go for touchdowns before. But it’s the offense that’s scoring, not the defense.
This has been a miserable season for the Jets’ offense. If you didn’t think it could get any worse, it did right before halftime on Friday.