Jets kicker redeems himself just as teammate predicted
Chandler Catanzaro’s eyes filled with tears and his voice broke for a moment.
The Jets kicker was in the back of the team’s locker room after their 23-20 overtime victory over the Jaguars on Sunday. Moments earlier, he had kicked the game-winning 41-yard field goal. Now, he was reflecting on what it meant.
Catanzaro missed seven kicks for the Cardinals last season. The team moved on from him. The Jets picked him up, but he had to fight for the starting job against Ross Martin all offseason. Now, he had kicked the Jets to a win.
“That was a huge one for me, to be honest,” Catanzaro said. “Kicking wasn’t very fun for me there for a little bit. I just had fun doing that. That was a cool moment. I’m just thankful for the opportunity, proud of my guys in the locker room and just thankful to come through.
“It was tough last season. I’m not going to lie. It was a tough offseason.”
Catanzaro made three field goals Sunday, but a miss just before halftime bothered him until he got a chance at redemption. He missed a 45-yard attempt after the Jets had gained 31 yards on a fake punt. The miss felt even bigger after the successful fake punt.
“It was killing me, sitting on the sideline,” Catanzaro said. “I hated it because these guys were working their tails off and they deserved that one to go through the posts. I was just thankful for another opportunity.”
Tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins approached Catanzaro at halftime and told him he was going to win the game for the Jets.
“I knew when he had the opportunity to win the game for us, I knew he’d hit it,” Seferian-Jenkins said. “You always want to give your teammate confidence that no matter what I’ve got your back. That was just my thing. I knew he was going to hit it.”
Brent Qvale got the start at right tackle with Brandon Shell out with a shoulder injury. … David Bass replaced Josh Martin (ankle) at outside linebacker. He picked up his team-leading second sack. … DEs Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson still do not have a sack this season. … OLB Dylan Donahue (elbow) and CB Darryl Roberts (hamstring) exited the game with injuries and did not return. … The 256 rushing yards were the Jets’ most since Dec. 1, 2014 when they had 277 in a loss to the Dolphins.
Kevin Mawae became the 18th member inducted into the Jets ring of honor during a halftime ceremony. The longtime center punctuated his speech by leading the crowd in a chant of “J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!”