A strong day on defense gave the Jets a late chance against the Vikings in London

Despite a 23-17 loss to the Vikings on Sunday in London, the Jets’ defense limited the league’s No. 4 offense to 6 points and 98 total yards in the second half to help the green and white’s close comeback fell short.

“They just gave a few points to this offense that was tearing everyone apart,” QB Aaron Rodgers said. “And they did that without Sauce (Gardner) and without MC (Michael Carter II) for a good portion of the game. So kudos to (DC Jeff) Ulbrich and the guys over there. They kept us in the game.”

The Vikings took a 17-0 lead on a pick-6 by LB Andrew Van-Ginkel and a 2-yard rushing TD by FB CJ Ham, set up by two pass interference penalties and defensive holding in the secondary . The Jets’ defense had to mess things up early and ended the first half with four penalties for 37 yards.

However, as the game progressed, the secondary cleaned up its earlier mistakes and controlled the tempo in the final two and a half quarters. From the 4:48 mark of the second quarter to the final whistle, the defense allowed a total of 92 yards and 79 yards through the air.

“I thought we did well,” CB Sauce Gardner said. “Obviously we got a lot of pass interference penalties. It’s our job to play and the referees make decisions. Nobody’s perfect, but I think we did pretty well.”