HOUSTON (Ticker) -- The New York Jets woke up in time to possibly save their season.
LaMont Jordan scored on an eight-yard touchdown run with 1:21 remaining as the Jets rallied from an early 14-point deficit to post a 19-14 victory over the Houston Texans.
New York had to sweat out the final minute as J.J. Moses returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the Jets 27. The Texans reached the 8 but their hopes ended when an open Andre Johnson dropped a pass on 4th-and-3.
Jordan's score capped an eight-play, 86-yard drive that took just 1:27 and propelled the Jets (2-4) to their second straight victory. The two-point conversion pass failed.
"Our guys are really experienced," New York quarterback Vinny Testaverde said of the winning drive. "We've been in this situation before. You don't have to say much. You go out and call the plays with confidence and you know they will respond."
With Chad Pennington possibly set to return next week against Philadelphia, the Jets could get back in the playoff race. They made the postseason after an 0-4 start last season.
"I have never been 1-5 as a head coach," New York coach Herman Edwards said. "I've been 2-5 but never 1-5. You you just have to deal with the situation that confronts you and we never really panicked."
But New York appeared to miss a wakeup call against the Texans, going three-and-out and gaining minus-10 yards on its first three possessions.
The Texans (2-4) took advantage of the Jets' slow start to grab a 14-0 lead on two touchdown runs by Stacey Mack in the first half.
"They did some things and showed us some packages we didn't expect," said Testaverde, who completed 15-of-29 passes for 182 yards. "They did some different things than what we had seen on film, so it took awhile for us to figure that out and get things going."
New York has had trouble against the run all year and that trend continued as Domanick Davis recorded the first 100-yard game in Texans' history, rushing for 127 yards on 29 carries. Houston ran for a franchise-record 169 yards.
"We were moving the ball pretty much how we wanted," Davis said. "In the second half, they seemed to have more energy than us. We really need to work on putting teams away."
The Jets came alive in the second quarter and got a major boost when Testaverde tossed an 18-yard TD pass to Santana Moss with 1:22 left in the half. It was Testaverde's 250th career TD.
Doug Brien kicked field goals of 39 and 30 yards in the second half to pull the Jets within 14-13.
"I think it's part of realizing that you have to have that killer instinct when you get up on a team," Houston coach Dom Capers said of the Texans' letdown in the second half. "We can't continue to give teams like the Jets opportunities in the second half."
Houston had a chance to increase its lead midway through the third quarter but Shaun Ellis sacked David Carr to take the Texans out of field goal range. Ellis is the only player in the NFL that has at least one sack in every game this season.
The Jets closes to 14-10 on Brien's 39-yarder with 1:36 left in the third quarter, then quickly got back the ball when the Texans could not convert a 3rd-and-1. Moss gave New York excellent field position by returning the ensuing punt to the Texans' 40-yard line.
After two first downs, Curtis Conway appeared to be open in the end zone on 3rd-and-6 from the 13, but cornerback Jason Bell made a huge defensive play, knocking the ball out of Conway's hands. The Jets settled for Brien's 30-yard field goal with 9:05 left.
New York started the winning drive at its 14 with just 2:48 left, but Testaverde hit Moss for 25 yards and scrambled for 13 to give the Jets a first down at the Texans 48. He then handed off to Curtis Martin, who ripped off gains of 14 and 20 yards, moving the ball to 14. Martin finished with 88 yards on 17 carries.
"Curtis came up big for us on that play," Testaverde said of Martin's 20-yard run. "There were some great blocks being made and a great run by Curtis. After that, guys were really pumped up and we put it in the end zone."
Jordan carried for six yards on first down, then plowed into the end zone on the next play.
The Jets were hardly out of the woods and after Moses' return, it appeared they might have scored two soon.
"I was just thankful that my man Quincy (Stewart) made the play (on Moses)," Jets cornerback Aaron Beasley said. "I was just thinking, give us a chance. He saved the day for us."
Carr hit Jajuan Dawson for a 12-yard gain and following an incompletion, found Corey Bradford for seven yards. But Davis was stopped for a one-yard loss on third down before Johnson dropped a swing pass over the middle.
Carr completed 15-of-23 passes for 170 yards, but was just 6-of-12 for 61 yards in the second half.
