Jets’ Xavier Gipson scored 1st NFL overtime punt return touchdown since Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson
Sep 12, 2023, 8:52 AM | Updated: 12:12 pm
New York Jets wide receiver Xavier Gipson (82) celebrates after running a punt return back for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in overtime of an NFL football game, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Xavier Gipson’s walk-off punt return touchdown in overtime to help his New York Jets pull off a stunning defeat of the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football acted as a brief salve for a team that hours earlier lost quarterback Aaron Rodgers to an Achilles injury.
The implications of Rodgers missing the rest of the season are obviously huge.
But Gipson’s play deserves its credit for the rarity.
UNDRAFTED ROOKIE XAVIER GIPSON WINS IT FOR THE JETS
pic.twitter.com/nRSrY9ZCK4— PFF (@PFF) September 12, 2023
How many overtime punt return touchdowns have there been in NFL history?
Gipson’s play is only the NFL’s third punt return touchdown in overtime.
All of them were scores for the win — granted the rules of overtime scoring have changed.
The Monday Night Football walk-off by Gipson was the first since 2011.
Arizona Cardinals then-rookie Patrick Peterson closed a 19-13 win over the St. Louis Rams with a 99-yard return that included four broken tackles, the last of which saw the cornerback do a 360-degree spin at full speed to squeak free.
Thread: A random play from every team, starting with the Arizona Cardinals!
Cardinals-Rams 2011: Patrick Peterson's 99 yard game-winning punt return TD!
(@P2) pic.twitter.com/7TdXX4FrJS
— Four Verts 🏈 (@FourVerticals_) July 27, 2021
The play was one of four return touchdowns that Peterson had during his rookie season after Arizona selected him with the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Before that, the first punt return touchdown in overtime on record was an 86-yarder by Kansas City Chiefs’ Tamarick Vanover, who secured a 29-23 win over the San Diego Chargers in October 1995.
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