EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Atlanta Falcons already had their playoff hopes dashed and were getting manhandled by the New York Jets’ top-ranked defense.
No contest, right? Not quite.
Tony Gonzalez caught a 6-yard TD pass from Matt Ryan on a fourth-down play with 1:38 remaining to lift the Falcons to a 10-7 victory Sunday that seriously damaged the Jets’ postseason chances.
“As a man taking pride in what you do for a living and loving what you do,” Gonzalez said, “you owe it to yourself and the fans and the organization to go out there and play your butt off. That’s what we did.”
A day after the Falcons (7-7) were eliminated from playoff contention by Dallas’ win over New Orleans, they were able to play spoiler against the stunned Jets (7-7).
Ryan, starting after missing two games with a toe injury, couldn’t do much against the Jets’ defense for most of the game — but New York’s offense also sputtered at the cold and windy Meadowlands and failed to put it away. Mark Sanchez threw three interceptions, and Jay Feely missed a field goal, had another blocked and Kellen Clemens mishandled a snap on another attempt.
There were also a few costly penalties.
“They didn’t have anything to play for other than to ruin our season,” Jets safety Jim Leonhard said. “They came out and outexecuted and outplayed us.”
The Jets had one final shot at a comeback, but an unneccessary roughness penalty on Alan Faneca hampered the chances. Facing a third-and-13 from the Jets 21, Sanchez was picked off for the second time by Brent Grimes to seal it.
Sanchez, starting after missing a game with a sprained right knee and playing with braces on both knees, was 18-for-32 for 226 yards.
