Hail Morgan! Jets rally to tie Eagles 31-31 as time expires
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Jets’ Kenny Yeboah (48) catches a pass for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL preseason football game against the Philadelphia Eagles today in East Rutherford, N.J.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. >> The ball left James Morgan’s right hand, zipped through the thick MetLife Stadium air and somehow landed in Kenny Yeboah’s hands for a touchdown as time expired.
The New York Jets went wild, celebrating the 49-yard Hail Mary toss. And then Josh Adams ran in the 2-point conversion to secure the 31-31 tie with the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason finale that was played without most of the teams’ starters tonight.
But that didn’t diminish what was a stirring — and entertaining — comeback by the jubilant Jets.
“Oh, it was crazy,” running back Ty Johnson said. “Yeboah? Come on, now. That was just crazy.”
The start was delayed 30 minutes because of strong storms that moved through the New York and New Jersey area. Air bubbles formed in spots on the rain-drenched turf a few hours before kickoff, but there appeared to be no issues during the game.
Most of the projected starters for both teams sat out — including quarterbacks Jalen Hurts for Philadelphia and Zach Wilson for New York — after the squads held joint practices at the Jets’ facility on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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New York was trailing 24-10 when Johnson had a 3-yard run up the middle for a score as time expired in the third quarter.
Morgan, who replaced starter Josh Johnson after halftime, connected with Yeboah for a 21-yard touchdown with 6:59 left to bring New York within a point.
With no overtime in the preseason, coach Robert Saleh opted to go for a go-ahead 2-point conversion. But Zech McPhearson intercepted Morgan’s toss in the end zone to keep it a one-point game.
The Jets got the ball back with 1:38 to go and a chance to win. On third-and-7, Morgan completed a pass to Daniel Brown for a first down. But the tight end had the ball ripped out of his hands by Michael Jacquet, who ran it in for what appeared to be a win-sealing 32-yard touchdown.
“It’s a turnover and you are supposed to stay down,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of Jacquet scoring instead of taking a knee. “We didn’t do a good job communicating that to him.”
New York got the ball back with 59 seconds remaining and Morgan, Yeboah and Adams sent the Jets and their fans home happy — with a tie.
“I’m very happy for James and Kenny,” Josh Johnson said. “Those two young guys just to have them have that moment, a lot of guys don’t get to experience that.”
