All hail... *checks notes*...*adjust glasses*...*reads it a second time*...Mike White! Starting in place of an injured Zach Wilson, making his first NFL start and playing in just his second game, the former fifth-round draft pick out of Western Kentucky balled out in the Jets' stunning 34-31 win over the Bengals. He overcame two early interceptions to throw for 405 yards and three touchdowns, also catching a two-point conversion on a Philly Special.
He became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for 400 yards in his first career start - Cam Newton is the other - and he became the first Jet in over 20 years to have such a day. How rare is it for the team? Here are all of the 400-yard days in franchise history:
2021 - Mike White: How unlikely was this? Consider that the Bengals had only allowed 300 yards passing in a game twice this year: in overtime against Kirk Cousins, and in OT to some guy named Aaron Rodgers. And in 44 career college games between USF and WKU, he'd only had three 400-yard performances, all against Conference-USA schools. Alas, all Hail Mike White!
2000 - Vinny Testaverde: Think of how much passing stats have exploded this century thanks to innovate schemes and rules protecting wide receivers and quarterbacks. And yet in all that time, the Jets never had a 400-yard passing day. You have to go back to Christmas Eve of 2000, when Testaverde threw the ball 69 times for 481 yards in a Week 17 loss to the Ravens that kept New York out of the playoffs.
1998 - Glenn Foley: You'd be forgiven if you didn't remember Foley. A seventh-round pick by the Jets in 1994, he only appeared in 18 games (with eight starts) in five years with the team, going just 1-7 in his starts. But he was under center for the season opener in '98 against the 49ers, and although they lost in overtime, it wasn't because of Foley. He had his best day as a pro, throwing for 415 yards and three scores, one of only three games in which he'd surpass 250 yards passing in a single game.
1986 - Ken O'Brien: O'Brien actually accomplished the feat twice in the '86 season. He first hit the 400-yard mark in a Week 3 shootout win over the Dolphins. Out-dueling Dan Marino, O'Brien threw for 479 yards and four touchdowns to Wesley Walker (lengths: 65, 50, 21 and 43 yards), including the game-winner in overtime.
A few months later he'd do it again, completing 26-of-32 passes for 431 yards, four TDs and no turnovers in a 38-7 dismantling of the Seahawks. It was one of two games in O'Brien's career in which he finished with a perfect passer rating.
1983 - Richard Todd: The longtime Jets starter had two career 400-yard days. The first came in 1980, a 10-point loss to San Francisco in which he had 447 yards and three scores. The second came three years later, when he tossed for 446 yards in a 27-24 overtime win against the Rams.
1972 - Joe Namath: Naturally Namath is the franchise record-holder with three career 400-yard days. The first came in 1967, when he went off for 415 and three TDs against the Dolphins. The other two happened in 1972; a Week 13 loss to the Raiders (403 yards) and one of the more efficient days in NFL history in Week 2. In New York's 44-34 win at the Baltimore Colts, Namath completed just 15-of-28 passes... for 496 yards and six touchdowns! Both remain franchise records, as he completed TD tosses of 65, 67, 28, 10, 79 and 80 yards.