For the second straight game, the Jets' offense took the opening kickoff and embarked on a long drive (13 plays covering 66 yards and burning 7:17 of clock time) that resulted in an unsatisfactory ending.
This time, the drive stalled, and the Jets jumped out in front of the Dallas Cowboys on a Nick Folk's 25-yard field goal. It was the last time the Jets led in the 37-22 loss, dropping their fifth-straight game to open Aaron Glenn's tenure as head coach.
"I thought we had a really good opportunity," Glenn said after the game.
The Jets were trailing, 10-3, late in the second quarter and were driving in an attempt to tie the game. On a first-down play at the Dallas 23-yard line, RB Breece Hall (who had 113 rush yards on 14 carries) picked up 10 yards, but had the ball punched out of his grasp by Marist Liufau. It was the Jets' eighth turnover of the season against zero takeaways.
"We were going in to score, we get the fumble, and it seemed like things went downhill after that," Glenn said. "And that's something that we can't let happen. And I look at myself when it comes to that, because it seemed like the wind was let out of us in that situation, and I got to figure out a way to get our guys going.
"This is an imperfect game that we try to make perfect and we have to try to do a better job."
Instead, the Cowboys (2-2-1) took over and drove 91 yards in 7 plays, scoring on a 5-yard run by Javonte Williams for a 17-3 lead with :57 seconds remaining. Forty-two seconds later, Dak Prescott threw a 1-yard TD to TE Jake Ferguson to make it a 23-3 contest.