NEW YORK _ When you have nothing to shoot for that actually matters, you can take solace in ruining somebody else's day by playing spoiler.
The Jets sent home all the Terrible-Towel waving crazies that packed MetLife Stadium in a miserable mood by beating the Steelers, 16-10, Sunday.
Gang Green (6-9) put a severe dent in Pittsburgh's playoff chances (8-7) by leaning on a defense that stymied two pretty bad quarterbacks. Gregg Williams' bunch gave Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph fits for the better part of the afternoon to help the Jets finish with a winning home record (5-3) in this otherwise forgettable season.
The Jets defense stopped Hodges, who was benched for being ineffective before returning after Rudolph got hurt, in the final minute to seal the deal.
Adam Gase's offense was hardly impressive, but they did just enough to get their first victory against a team that currently has a winning record.
The Jets will technically finish the season next week in Buffalo, but that will have more a preseason feel with the Bills resting their key players now that they are locked into the No. 5 playoff seed.
Trevon Wesco's 32-yard catch and run on the Jets' first drive of the second half set up Sam Ficken's 37-yard field goal to give the Jets 13-10 edge with 6:30 left in the third quarter. Gregg Williams' defense tightened up by allowing just 34 yards in the third quarter to help Gang Green take a three-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Devlin Hodges, who was yanked after throwing two interceptions on the first three drives, replaced the injured Mason Rudolph (left shoulder) early in the fourth quarter. The Steelers squandered a golden opportunity to tie the game on Hodges' first drive back. Mike Tomlin's team got to the Jets 29-yard line before losing 17 yards on Quinnen Williams' sack and botched shotgun snap that took then out of field goal range with nine minutes left in regulation.
The Jets extended their lead to 16-10 on Ficken's 42-yard field with 3:11 left in regulation.
The Jets came out on fire before a series of blunders late in the first half allowed the Steelers to tie it up at 10-10 by halftime. Gase's offense scored on the opening possession and added a 54-yard field goal before falling asleep for the rest of the half. Sam Darnold & Co. gained 75 yards on an impressive first drive before managing just 53 yards for the remainder of the half.
Gang Green's defense stymied rookie quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges after picking him off twice in Pittsburgh's first three drives. But they had their fair share of problems with Mason Rudolph, who rallied the Steelers late in the second quarter. Pittsburgh racked up 152 yards in the second half after their ice-cold start with Hodges, who went 7 for 9 for 53 yards with two interceptions and a 51.6 passer rating before getting benched for about 1 { quarters.
Rudolph rallied the Steelers without Pro Bowl running back, who was knocked out early in the second quarter with a thigh injury.
The Jets helped out with a string of mistakes in the final minutes of the first half. A strip-sack and pair of lapses in the secondary in the final 30 seconds of the second quarter proved costly.
The Jets, hoping to bounce back from their blowout loss in Baltimore last week, jumped out to a quick lead. Adam Gase got Le'Veon Bell involved early against his former team. Bell, who's having the worst year of his career, had five touches on the opening drive before Darnold fired a pinpoint pass to Robby Anderson for a 23-yard touchdown to put Gang Green up 7-0 four-and-a-half minutes into game.
Darnold, who had 13 total touchdowns and just four turnovers in his previous six games, dropped a perfect throw between the safety Terrell Edmunds and cornerback Joe Haden. Anderson, whose come alive in the past month, made a terrific catch in tight quarters for his third score in the past five games.
Anderson, who's set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season, also drew a key third-down defensive pass interference penalty on Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to keep first drive alive.
The Jets will likely have to pony up some serious cash to keep Anderson, who will be one of the more attractive options in a relatively weak wide receiver free-agent class.
Meanwhile, Gregg Williams gave Steelers undrafted rookie quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges fits early. Pittsburgh got into Jets territory on its first drive before Tarell Basham picked off a poor pass by Hodges. Then, Williams' bunch sacked Hodges to force a three-and-out.
Gang Green controlled the first quarter before Sam Ficken's 54-yard field gave Gase's team a 10-0 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter.
Hodges & Co. got into a rhythm on the ensuing drive before the rookie made another critical mistake to cost his team. The Steelers got into the red zone before Hodge's pass intended for Jaylen Samuels was picked off by Marcus Maye in the corner of the end zone to prevent the Steelers from at least attempting a makeable field goal.
It was Hodges' sixth interception in a little more than five quarters.
It was also his last pass of the day.
Mason Rudolph replaced the ineffective Hodges to start the Steelers fourth drive that didn't include James Conner, either. The Pro Bowl running back, who had success on the ground (5 carries for 33 yards), was knocked out with a thigh injury.
Rudolph engineered a 10-play drive late in the first half to get the Steelers on the board. Jaylen Samuel's 27-yard catch-and-run help set up Chris Boswell's 49-yard field goal to cut the Jets lead to 10-3 with 1:18 left in the first half.
Then, Gang Green made a critical blunder that cost them the lead. T.J. Watt beat right tackle Brandon Shell before his strip-sack on Darnold, who committed just his fifth turnover in the past seven games. The Steelers took over at the Jets 41 with 28 seconds.
(More Jets) Mike Tomlin thrived in the same situation that Adam Gase failed �
And they made Darnold & Co. pay.
Williams' defense, which had been solid early, crumbled just before intermission. Cornerback Arthur Maulet was flagged for illegal contact on third down to keep the drive alive with nine seconds left in the first half.
The Steelers were out of timeouts before Rudolph threw a pinpoint pass to Dionate Johnson, who beat rookie corner Bless Austin for a 29-yard touchdown to tie it up with four seconds to go before halftime.
