In the New York Jets’ third and final preseason game of 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the Jets were defeated by the New York Giants, 23 – 6.
The Jets opened on defense and on third down they intercepted Jameis Winston. That set them up with first and ten at the Giants 36. The Jets proceeded to run a 10 play drive that ended with a short Chip Trayanum touchdown run. No passes were thrown in the drive. Jason Sanders missed the extra point to make the score Jets 6, Giants 0.
The Giants proceeded
to put together a long drive that ended when the Jets forced a fumble by old friend Braxton Berrios into their own end zone for a touchback. The turnovers are flowing for the Jets this preseason.
Late in the first quarter the Giants took advantage of a short field to go on a drive culminating in a Tyrone Tracy touchdown run and a 7 – 6 Giants lead. The first quarter ended a few seconds later with the score still 7 – 6.
A few plays into the second quarter Cade Klubnick threw a terrible pass into tight coverage that was picked off by the Giants. The Giants then put together a long drive that bogged down inside the Jets five yard line. They converted on a chip shot field goal to take a 10 – 6 lead with less than three minutes left in the half. Neither team got much going on offense the last few minutes and the half ended with the score still Giants 10, Jets 6.
The Jets opened the third quarter on offense. Bailey Zappe took over for Cade Klubnik at quarterback and promptly led the team on a scintillating three and out. The Giants offensive scrubs took over and put together a short drive ending in a 53 yard field goal and a 13 – 6 Giants lead midway through the third quarter.
Zappe took over on offense and engineered a thrilling three and out as he made his case to be cut on Sunday.
Legendary quarterback Jake Haener took over for the Giants and led them on a long drive. The third quarter ended with the score still Giants 13, Jets 6, but the Giants were lining up for a field goal attempt. On the first play of the fourth quarter the Giants hit on a 46 yard field goal as the Giants took a 16 -6 lead to open the fourth quarter.
Bailey Zappe proceeded to lead the Jets on a stirring three and out as he continued to impress.
Jake The Legend Haener then led the Giants on a swift drive resulting in a touchdown on a 37 yard pass to old friend Xavier Gipson as the Giants piled on with 23 unanswered points. The score was Giants 23, Jets 6 with 10:30 left in the game.
Midway through the fourth quarter the Jets turned to Brady Cook at quarterback. Cook led the Jets on a short drive ending in a missed 54 yard field goal by Jason Sanders, who had a rough night and may have played himself off the team.
Jake The Goat Haener and the Giants then closed out the game with a long drive to the Jets one yard line before taking a knee on the last three plays of the game.
Final score: Giants 23, Jets 6. The loss brought the Jets’ preseason record to 1-2. The score doesn’t really matter. The record doesn’t really matter. The most important development in the game were injuries to Anez Cooper, Chip Trayanum, Dominic Richardson and Joseph Ossai. We’ll see if these end up being injuries that threaten to keep these players out for an extended period of time. Now the Jets move on to getting their roster down to 53 players by 6:00 P.M. EDT on Sunday. They then begin preparations for their opening day game against the Tennessee Titans on September 13.
