Ryan Fitzpatrick lacked the efficiency he showed in propelling the New York Jets to three straight wins. Randy Bullock missed an extra point and a field goal. The offense botched a few short-yardage situations.
Regardless, the Jets made it four straight victories for the first time since 2010, beating the Dallas Cowboys 19-16 on Bullock's 40-yard field goal with 36 seconds left Saturday night to get a leg up in the AFC wild-card race.
"Whether it's playoffs or not, we've got to string some games together," coach Todd Bowles said. "It's a good time to start playing good football. Wasn't pretty today. All of them are not going to be pretty, but the good teams win the ugly games."
Fitzpatrick's 43-yard pass to Kenbrell Thompkins set the Jets (9-5) up for a win that moved them a half-game ahead of Pittsburgh and Kansas City in the race for two playoff spots.
"Kind of had tough sledding for a while," said Fitzpatrick, who faces AFC East-leading New England and Tom Brady next week. "There's going to be adversity throughout the game and I thought that was a great sign for us to show that the belief is always there. This is a winning football team."
