There is no God.
Thomas Jones ran for 159 yards on 24 carries and Jay Feely booted a game-tying 52-yard field goal with :03 seconds left in regulation, but Sebastian Janikowski nailed a 57-yarder in overtime as the
Raiders outlasted the Jets 16-13 in Oakland.
If your idea of a good football game includes inept offenses, tons of penalties and numerous punts, then this was the game for you. I, myself, am not a big fan of that type of play, but I would have accepted it if the Jets would have come out on top.
Alas, no.
REASONS TO GET UP ON MONDAY:Thomas Jones. I was watching this game with my brother and he was amazed (and a bit annoyed) that the Raiders could not stop the Jets running attack. The Green and White love (love!) running counters and they must have run that play at least 100 times (OK, maybe not 100 times, but a lot). Jones looked poised to break several runs all the way (unfortunately, he didn't), but he still rushed to the tune of 6.6 yards a pop, including a season-long 31-yard scamper. TJ's big game helped Gang Green rush for 242 yards as a team.
Jay Feely. If you were feeling confident in Feely's ability to hit a 52-yarder, please raise your hand. Anyone? Yeah, me neither. But Oakland head coach Tom Cable may have given Feely a boost when he called a timeout just before the attempt. Feely got the kick off and missed, hitting the left upright. But it had the distance and gave me a reason to hope. Maybe Feely felt the same because he connected on his second attempt and sent the game into sudden death.
REASONS TO SLEEP IN ON MONDAY:Turnovers. The Jets turned the ball over three times last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, but still came out on top. I guess the Jets decided to see if they could pull that trick again on Sunday. Not a good idea. Leon Washington muffed a punt late in the first quarter and Sam Williams recovered at the Jets 16-yard line. The Raiders converted that turnover into three points. In the second quarter, the Jets lined up for a 3rd-and-goal from the Raider 8-yard line. Brett Favre tried to stick a pass to Jerricho Cotchery, but Gibril Wilson came away with a pick. Then late in the fourth, Favre and the Jets faced a 3rd-and-18 from their own 13-yard line. Favre flung a pass deep down the right side that was intercepted by DeAngelo Hall and returned to the Jets 40-yard line. I'm going to assume their was a miscommunication between No. 4 and Cotchery, because Hall was the only player in the area. Coughing up the football six times in two games isn't a winning formula.
Brett Favre. The broadcasting trio of Dick Enberg (Oh, my!), Randy Cross and Dan Fouts went out of their way to praise Favre on the Jets game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter (and give him credit for that), but No. 4 had an overall horrible game. The Jets came out firing on their first possession of the game and Favre completed 5 of 7 passes as he drove the team to the Oakland 22-yard line. Feely kicked a 40-yard field goal to give the Jets a quick 3-0 lead. That was the best Favre would look all day. Favre was banged around early in the game and it looked like he was shaken up at one point. Maybe that contributed to his lackluster game. Favre finished 21 of 38 for 197 yards, 0 TD and 2 INTs.
Vanilla offense. The Jets rushed for almost 250 yards on the ground, but the play-calling was horrible. Maybe the Jets receivers just weren't getting open (Laveranues Coles and Cotchery both left for a short time with injuries), but the offense seemed to take a step back against the Raiders. Yes, Brad Smith ripped off some nice runs and Chansi Stuckey made two big catches, but it seemed like the Jets were playing things too close to the vest. Again, it sounds almost ridiculous to complain about play-calling when the team rushes for a ton of yards, but the offense just seemed off to me.
Chris Baker. Oh, what could have been. Baker had a solid afternoon (5 catches for 42 yards, mostly on that game-opening drive), but he'll probably be kicking himself on the ride back to New Jersey tonight. The Jets faced a 2nd-and-5 from their own 49-yard line on their first overtime possession and C-Bake found a soft spot in the Oakland defense. Unfortunately, the turf monster bit him in the ankle, causing him to tumble to the ground. Favre's pass fell incomplete and the Jets missed a golden opportunity to end things right there. Baker took a spill at about the Raider 32-yard line and there wasn't a defender within 10 yards of him. Heartbreaker.
Sunday's loss dropped the Jets to 0-2 on the Left Coast this season and 3-3 overall. The Jets obviously didn't listen to my advice yesterday and did everything they could to give a struggling Raiders team hope.
The Jets will host the scrapping 1-5 Kansas City Chiefs next week. That game was supposed to be the third in what was called the "soft" spot in their schedule. But after Sunday's performance, the Green and White don't get the benefit of the doubt.
In fact, they may be the ones other teams look at as soft.
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There is a God if you're a Jet hater (or Dolphin hater, for that matter). Looks like Buffalo is taking charge in the division.