THE New York Jets finally won a football game on Thursday night, beating the Houston Texans 21-13. Even though this may have been one of the ugliest games played in the NFL all season, that doesn’t matter to the Jets.

This team just needed to get back on track deep down, and kudos to them for getting the job done.

That doesn’t change the fact that their campaign is likely over, as New York still sits at 3-6. Unless they do this for the next eight-plus games, it seems unlikely they’ll make the playoffs.

There were good times and bad times in their win over the Texans. The bad included Malachi Corley do something no football player ever dreamed of doing.

Corley was walking into the end zone for an easy touchdown when he dropped the ball before crossing the goal line, causing a fumble. Houston got the ball back and the Jets had six points taken off the board.

There was a good chance that Corley doing this would have been the reason New York lost the football game. If this had happened, fans would have been rightly disgusted.

Even though he won, the rookie must understand that he cannot do this in the future. Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich told him about the situation.

“Really frustrated to be honest – and angry at the same time,” Ulbrich said journalists. “But what an incredible opportunity for this child to grow and learn. I promise you, in 10 years, when he’s still playing in this league, this will never happen again.

Ulbrich is right.

Although it’s a frustrating game and one that everyone wishes they could recover from, it’s a learning experience. Sometimes players have to go through something before they change their ways, so I hope that was the case for the wide receiver.

In fact, the Jets scored 28 points in this game. It’s almost unfair to say that because things happen throughout competitions. However, it was a walk-off touchdown, so let’s say they scored 28 points.

Even Aaron Rodgers counts it as a touchdown.

“Tonight I have 28. We scored 21 and we had another… uh miss on the goal line, but I’m proud of the way we responded in the second half.”

28 points is a big improvement over what their offense has shown all year long, which is a promising sign.

It will take a lot, but I hope this football team doesn’t give up.

Thursday was a step in the right direction.