J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!!
Leon Washington tallied 212 total yards and two scores, Thomas Jones rumbled for 104 yards and a touchdown and Jay Feely connected from 34 yards out in overtime as the
Jets subdued the Patriots 34-31 in Foxboro. Brett Favre was judicious with the football, spreading the wealth to seven different receivers, and Dustin Keller continued his emergence as a go-to tight end with big grabs, especially in the fifth quarter. Jerricho Cotchery did his best David Tyree impersonation on a 46-yard catch in the second quarter and Laveranues Coles hauled in a big 16-yard reception in the extra stanza. Add it all up and the Jets now sit alone atop the AFC East at 7-3.
I felt a wide range of emotions while watching this one: pride, giddiness, disgust, fear, exhilaration, anger, satisfaction, exhaustion. The Jets raced out to a 24-6 lead, but the Pats battled back and eventually tied things up at 24-24 early in the fourth quarter. The Green and White took a 31-24 lead with 3:10 left in the game, but Matt Cassel hit Randy Moss from 16 yards out with one tick remaining to send things into sudden death.
Momentum was with New England as the teams headed into overtime, but the Gotham Green won the coin toss (thank you Kerry Rhodes!) and marched down the field to victory.
This roundup is a bit tardy (sorry for the handful of you out there who care) and it feels strange to write this two days after the game, but I'll use my shtick anyway. I also added an extra picture and a short video to make amends because that's just the kind of guy I am. Onward, ho!!
REASONS TO GET UP ON FRIDAY:Leon Washington. The man is a touchdown waiting to happen. Washington gave the Jets a 7-0 lead with a nifty 7-yard touchdown reception on the game's opening drive. All Favre did was flip the ball to Washington on the outside and No. 29 did the rest, weaving in and out until he reached the promised land. In the second quarter, Washington fielded a kickoff at his own 8-yard line and raced 92 yards for a score to give the Jets a 17-6 advantage. Mr. Washington may be one of the most explosive players in the NFL right now and I think the Jets are slowly realizing they need to give him the ball as much as possible. Washington finished with 18 yards rushing, 2 receptions for 17 yards and 177 yards on kick returns.
Brett Favre. The man was a surgeon Thursday night. There's been a lot of back-and-fourth regarding Favre's play this season. Some have lobbied to "unleash" Favre while others want him to "manage" the game. The bottom line is to make plays and not commit stupid mistakes. Maybe that's an oversimplification, but gosh-darnit, that's how I feel! Anyway, No. 4 completed nearly 80% of his passes (78.8) and came up huge on almost every third down play. And Favre directed two big crunch-time drives. The first came after the Pats knotted things up at 24-24 as he led the team on a 14-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Jones' touchdown plunge. The second came in overtime as he orchestrated a 14-play, 64-yard drive that ended with Feely's game-winning kick. Great game, Brett. Favre finished 26 of 33 for 258 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT.
Dustin Keller. It's almost as if Keller has channeled the spirit of Mickey Shuler, the last play-making tight end to wear the Green and White. The rookie had a coming out party last week against the Rams and continued his maturation Thursday night. The former Boilermaker was Favre's main man in overtime and made a key (key!) 16-yard reception on a 3rd-and-15 to keep the Jets in business. You can never really predict the future, but there's no doubt in my mind that the Jets lose if they don't convert on that third down. Keller also converted on a 3rd-and-1 five plays later. It wasn't a perfect game for Keller (he dropped a pass for a sure touchdown in the first quarter), but it was close enough. Keep reaching for the stars, DK! Keller finished with 8 catches for 87 yards.
Thomas Jones. The word "workmanlike" is tossed around a lot these days, but that's exactly the kind of night Jones had. I didn't even realize TJ went over the century mark until well after the game. It wasn't Jones' best game this season, but it might be the most satisfying. The Jets were ripped after their Week 2 loss to New England for giving the ball to Jones three straight times from the 3-yard line. Jones couldn't punch it in and the Jets settled for a field goal. TJ got a bit of redemption this time around when he powered his way in from 1-yard out to give Gang Green a short-lived 31-24 lead late in the fourth. Take that! Jones finished with 104 yards rushing on 30 carries and added 2 catches for 15 yards.
Jay Feely. I usually keep my "reasons" to three and I've already pushed that to four for this game, so what the hell? I'll give Feely some recognition. After all, the Jets don't do a little dance on the field unless Feely's kick is true, right? Way to come through in the clutch, Jay. Feely also booted a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter. I get a feeling Mike Nugent won't be heard from again this season.
REASONS TO SLEEP IN ON FRIDAY:Defensive game plan. Ugh! If the Jets lost this game, all the talk would have been predicated on the defensive scheme. Ty Law was great in his first action this season and the Jets didn't allow Randy Moss to catch a pass until the third quarter, but Cassel had all day in the pocket. The Green and White opted to put Law on Moss with over-the-top help and Darrelle Revis on Wes Welker. That left rookie Dwight Lowery one-on-one with Jabar Gaffney. And Lowery struggled. Mightily. Gaffney beat Lowery for a 19-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left in the first half to slice the Jets lead to 24-13. Lowery had a chance to be a hero of sorts after the Jets took the 31-24 lead, but couldn't snag an errant pass from Cassel on the Patriots' next series. Anyway, the Jets changed things up in the second half by matching Lowery on Moss with help and Law on Gaffney. That didn't work too well either. It was mix-and-match the rest of the way, but it doesn't really matter who's on whom when you give a quarterback, any quarterback, time to pick and choose his receivers.
Prevent D. Another head-scratcher. The Patriots had the ball at their 38-yard line with 1:04 remaining in the game, no timeouts and down by seven. And the Jets allowed them to pick up 37 yards in 41 seconds. Very frustrating. The plan almost worked as the Jets came within one second of wrapping things up, but I hate, hate, hate, the prevent defense when up you're up by only seven points. It's a recipe that usually always ends in disaster.
So, the Jets blew an 18-point lead, allowed Cassel to become the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 400 yards and rush for 62 more in a game and New England tied the score with :01 second remaining in regulation. And yet, I'm elated. Ah, the mysteries of life.
The Jets will have 10 days to prepare for the undefeated (as of this writing) Tennessee Titans. That should be another good one, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this win.
You should, too.
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