It was a Sunday filled with firsts for the New York Jets.

The Green and White donned their green jerseys for the first time, experienced their first lead of the season, returned their first kickoff for a score, recorded their first sack and interception of the year and Chad Pennington scored the first rushing touchdown for the Jets as Gang Green raced to a 31-13 lead and hung on to defeat the Dolphins 31-28 for their first victory of 2007 on a sun soaked afternoon at the Meadowlands.

The Dolphins outgained the Jets 424 to 256 on Sunday, but this isn't fantasy football and you don't earn extra points for yardage gained.  Still, there's always room for improvement.  Let's take a look and see what worked and what didn't on Suday.

REASONS TO GET UP ON MONDAY:

Chad Pennington.  Pennington was back in the saddle for the Jets and didn't skip a beat.  His numbers aren't spectacular, but No. 10 made a difference with his arm, his leadership and, surprisingly, with his legs.  Pennington got the Jets on the board first with a perfect pitch-and-catch to Laveranues Coles for a 3-yard TD in the first quarter.  The Jets were guilty of giving up touchdowns right before the half the previous two Sundays, but Pennington flipped the script and led the Jets on a 9 play 57 yard drive culminating in a pretty 4-yard touchdown grab by Chris Baker to give the Jets a 21-13 lead at the half.  Pennington then ended the Jets scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run on a draw to extend the lead to 31-13.  Pennington spiked the ball in the end zone after he scored in what looked to be a big "up yours" to the "fans" who cheered his injury in Week 1.  The spike was ugly, but the message was loud and clear.  Pennington finished the afternoon 15 of 22 for 124 yards, 2 TD passes and 1 rushing score.  Glad to have you back, Chad.

Thomas Jones.  Jones stared out slowly, but really turned it on in the second half.  Most running backs will tell you that they run better with more carries and that was the case with Jones on Sunday.  Jones totally abused CB Travis Daniels on an 11-yard run to start the fourth quarter with a devastating stiff-arm and followed it up with a nifty 11-yard run on the very next play.  The Jets new running back was fired up after that run and so was I.  Jones finished with 25 carries for 110 yards.

Leon Washington.  Washington was thrust into the role of primary kickoff returner with the loss of Justin Miller and took the new assignment seriously.  His 98-yard kickoff return for a score gave the Jets a 14-7 lead and swung the momentum back to the Jets.  That return also set up the Jets score right before the half -- the Dolphins decided to squib kick rather than kickoff to the dangerous Washington after cutting the lead to 14-13, giving Gang Green excellent field position.  Washington's rushing stats weren't anything special (7 rushes for 18 yards), but his kickoff return more than made up for it.  Leon finished with 2 returns for 111 yards.

REASONS TO SLEEP IN ON MONDAY:

The run defense.  Ronnie Brown had a field day against the Jets.  Brown finished with 112 yards on 23 carries and 2 touchdowns.  He also caught 6 passes for another 99 yards and a score.  Unacceptable.  The Jets must tighten up against the rush if they expect to win games this season.

The pass defense.  A good running game is a great way to open up the passing game and that's exactly what Trent Green did against the Jets.  On the one hand, Green's numbers are a bit skewed because the Dolphins were down by 18 points, but the Jets still allowed Miami to move the ball downfield instead of stepping on their throats.  I didn't see that killer instinct from Gang Green and that was a bit disappointing.  Green finished 23 for 36 for 318 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick.

Still, the Jets finally cracked into the win column for 2007 and will head to Buffalo next week, a place that always gives them problems, and take on the 0-3 Bills.

Sunday was a good win, not a great one, but I'm still going to enjoy it.

After all, it's the first time I can bask in the glow of a victory for a whole week.