New York Jets

Jets C Nick Mangold can't stop making witty 'Star Wars' references

Published Dec. 14, 2015 2:04 p.m. ET

foxsports

It's officially "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" week, which means fans of the series are probably shaking with excitement. New York Jets center Nick Mangold showed his anticipation for the film last week when he called teammate James Carpenter a Wookiee, but he didn't stop there.

Mangold made yet another witty 'Star Wars' reference after Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans. One of the game's pivotal -- and strangest -- plays came when the Titans forgot to cover Brandon Marshall, leading to a 69-yard touchdown.

Mangold had just one explanation for how the play happened.

“The Force is strong with that one,” Mangold said, explaining how Ryan Fitzpatrick knew Marshall was so open, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “You could just feel it.”

The score gave the Jets a 27-0 lead just before halftime, all but sealing the victory for New York. Though the play looked like an easy one to execute, it could have easily been a disaster. Fitzpatrick started in the shotgun, but rushed to the line and made sure Mangold knew to snap it quickly.

"I went up there, sped up the count, got under center so it could have been a disaster before it started just with Nick [potentially] still snapping it as a shotgun snap," Fitzpatrick said.

Mangold couldn't see Marshall standing alone on the outside, but he said that he felt something when he lined up on the line.

“The Force,” Mangold said when asked what he felt. “You are not a believer there, Han [Solo], are you?”