PS2 WITH THE PICK-SIX 🎮

📺: CBS | @PatSurtainll pic.twitter.com/80kYFj9Eth

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 28, 2021

Have a day, Pat Surtain II.

First career TD for Eric Saubert!

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/GZ6UDE9UXj

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 28, 2021

HOUSTON — It was the definition of a team win for Gang Green. The offense was balanced, and the defense played lights out and the end result was a 21-14 win over the lousy Houston Texans.

Zach Wilson had a pedestrian day in his return to action as he went 14-for-24 for 145 yards with a rushing touchdown and an interception. Wilson wasn’t happy with his performance but elated for the victory.

“Feels really good,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t happy with how I performed. Just the ups and downs of it all. I gotta just keep going, it’s all part of the process. it feels really good to go home having a win. That’s the goal, to win the game.”

It was Wilson’s first game in a month, but the former BYU quarterback refused to blame his lackluster play on rust.

“I don’t blame anything on that,” Wilson said. “There’s no excuses. You got to really come out and play well.”

Late in the fourth quarter, Wilson appeared to tweak his knee on a scramble that caused him to limp to the sideline. But he claimed there was no legitimate issue and didn’t leave the game.

What helped propel the Jets offense to a win was the dominant run game that gashed the Texans for 157 yards.

Robert Saleh credited Jets offensive line coach and run game coordinator John Benton for creating a game plan to destroy the Texans run defense.

“JB put together a really cool plan and credit to the O-Line there,” Saleh said. “One of the challenges that we had this week for the offense was urgency and physicality at the line of scrimmage. And I felt like we were able to do that.”

The Jets answered the call. Against a loaded box, they ran for 105 yards with two touchdowns according to Next Gen Stats. That’s imposing your will.

Gang Green’s leading rusher, Michael Carter was out, but Tevin Coleman stepped up and ran for 67 yards. Austin Walter, who added 38 yards on nine carries, scored a key touchdown in the closing minutes of the first half.

The maligned defense, who had allowed over 380 yards of offense in five out of their last six games, held the Texans (2-9) to 202 yards and 14 points. Bryce Hall sealed the victory with a pass breakup on 4th-and-2 with two minutes remaining.

The impressive part was the resolve. They allowed 14 points and 157 yards by the end of the first half. But in the second half, they held the Texans offense to a scant 45 yards and zero points.

“I thought they were fantastic. I thought [Jeff] Ulbrich and the staff did great,” Saleh said. I thought the players, again, they’re getting better. And I thought this was a good one.”

One of the stars that contributed to the stalwart defensive effort was John Franklin-Myers, who had two sacks and an interception.

“Our coaches just preach we have to play our brand of football,” Franklin-Myers said. “l sometimes think things happen fast, just the momentum switches and stuff like that. But I think we did a good job of just staying locked in.”

It was a needed effort by the defense as the rookie quarterback took most of the first half to shake off the rust from missing four games with a sprained knee.

It was a tale of two halves for Wilson.

In the first half Wilson struggled. He was 6-for-12 for 44 yards with an interception. He looked jittery in the pocket and was inaccurate on a few of his throws that resulted in the ball skipping at his receivers’ feet.

On his second drive, he inexplicably threw an interception when he appeared to be scrambling. But right before he crossed the line of scrimmage, he flicked a pass to Ty Johnson, who wasn’t looking. It bounced off Johnson’s back and Tavierre Thomas intercepted the pass.

At that point Wilson was 1-for-6 for 11 yards with the pick. And the lone completed pass was a push pass behind the line of scrimmage to Elijah Moore on a jet sweep.

Even though Wilson didn’t blame rust for his struggle, it was clear as day: the No. 2 overall pick was rusty.

Five plays later, Texans QB Tyrod Taylor threw a touchdown pass to tight end Brevin Jordan to give Houston a 7-3 lead.

But right before the end of the half, trailing 14-3, Wilson finally settled down.

He went 5-for-6 for 33 yards to lead a touchdown drive to get Gang Green back in the game. Not an eye-popping stat line. But he converted a 3rd-and-9 to Ryan Griffin that kept the drive alive, and Walter scored a two-yard touchdown. The Jets successfully went for two to pull within 14-11.

In the second half, Wilson was much better. In the third quarter, his first pass was a rifle to Moore for a 22-yard gain on a curl route and that helped get Wilson comfortable.

That drive ended with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Wilson to give the Jets the lead, 18-14. Not exactly setting the world on fire, but he doubled the first half yardage and got into a rhythm.

Overall, Wilson threw for 101 yards and went 8-for-12 in the second half.

The Jets offense sputtered in the fourth, but they were able to secure a 37-yard Matt Ammendola field goal with three and a half minutes to play and their defense finished the Texans off.

With the hype surrounding Wilson’s return it was the run game and the defense that played lights out and carried the rookie to a win.