It's over!
Brett Favre tossed two touchdown passes, Leon Washington rushed for two scores and Gang Green's defense allowed only 45 yards rushing as the
Jets stomped the Titans 34-13 in Tennessee. Thomas Jones went for 96 tough yards and a score and Laveranues Coles hauled in 7 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown to knock the Titans from the ranks of the unbeaten. The Jets have won five games in a row and improved to 8-3 on the year.
I'm sure Mercury Morris and the rest of the 1972 Miami Dolphins are happy, now matter what
Morris says.
The tone was set early as the Jets engineered a 9-play, 76-yard drive on their opening possession to take a quick 7-0 lead. The Gotham Green dominated through the first 30 minutes of play, but held only a 10-3 advantage at the half. That's usually not a good sign. But the Jets took care of business in the second half. The Guys in Green opened the third quarter with another long drive (13 plays, 66 yards) that ended in a Jay Feely field goal to go ahead 13-3. The Titans coughed up the football on their ensuing possession and the Jets took advantage. Favre hit Coles for a 2-yard touchdown strike for a 20-3 lead and the Jets never looked back.
The bandwagon is starting to get a little crowded and I'm not comfortable with all the attention, but it definitely beats the alternative.
REASONS TO GET UP ON MONDAY:Green Giants. Both teams entered Sunday's game with stingy run defenses. Only one of them showed up. The Titans never established anything on the ground and finished with only 45 yards rushing. Rookie sensation Chris Johnson did rip off a 24-yard run, but his fumble in the third quarter was the turning point of the game. LenDale White carried the ball only once and was dropped for a one-yard loss on a 3rd-and-1 early in the first quarter. The Titans only rushed the ball 11 times in the game and may have abandoned the running game too soon, but the Jets forced their hand by taking the air out of the football. Gang Green dominated the time of possession: 40:30 to 19:30.
One-two punch. I'm running out of superlatives for Leon Washington. Washington was having a so-so game through three quarters, but all he needs is one play to work his magic. And it came early in the fourth quarter. The Titans sliced the lead to 20-6 early in the fourth and I was looking for the Jets to respond with a time-consuming drive that would hopefully result in three points. I set the bar too low. Washington ripped off a 61-yard touchdown scamper on the third play from scrimmage to give Gang Green a 27-6 lead. Then the little-big man finished things off with a 4-yard touchdown run late in the game. The guy can do it all. Washington finished with 82 yards rushing, 1 reception for 2 yards and 47 return yards. Thomas Jones isn't the fastest running back in the league nor is he the strongest, but he gets the job done. And he did it again in Nashville. TJ scored the game's first touchdown and the Jets improved to 9-0 in games when he finds pay dirt. I guess you could have turned your sets off after the first quarter. No, that's just silly. It wasn't a great game for Jones statistically (he finished with just a 3.6 rushing average), but he finished four yards short of his third straight 100-yard game. Not too shabby.
Brett Favre. I think it's safe to say that Favre is comfortable with the Jets offense now. Favre spread the wealth once again on Sunday, connecting with seven different receivers and helped engineer long scoring drives. The Jets used a quick-hitting attack against the Titans and Favre sliced and diced the defense. No. 4 was sacked twice on the afternoon, but the offensive line played great and gave Favre plenty of time to do his thing. Favre finished 25 of 32 for 224 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT.
REASONS TO SLEEP IN ON MONDAY:Turnovers. The Jets have done a good job of protecting the football lately, but things got away from them early in this one. Gang Green was dominating on both sides of the ball, but shot themselves in the foot with two turnovers in the first half. The Jets moved the ball to the Titans 23-yard line, but Washington fumbled and Tennessee recovered. The defense forced the Titans to punt, but the Jets were in perfect position to increase their lead to 10-0 before the turnover. After the punt, Favre lofted a lame duck up the left sideline that Cortland Finnegan intercepted at the Jets 42-yard line. Neither mistake turned into points for the opposition, but they were open initiations for Tennessee to get back into the ballgame.
This was a total team effort and the Jets are really starting to hit their stride. I really want to find more things to complain about, but I can't -- at least not right now. The Jets are playing well in all phases of the game and are winning on the road. They are in first place and smoked a previously undefeated team by 21 points.
Things are looking good Jet fans.
Gang Green will head home next to take on another first-place team -- the 6-5 Denver Broncos. The Broncos are coming off a
31-10 whipping at home to the Oakland Raiders.
Ah, there's a reminder to keep things in perspective. The Jets may be riding high, but they are the same team that lost to the 3-8 Raiders. This is a week-to-week league and the Jets may be the flavor of the week now, but things can turn in a heartbeat.
Still, it's important to celebrate. So, here's some Pantera doing Domination (just like the Jets did on Sunday -- get it?!) to get you in the mood. Enjoy!
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A Jets / Giants Superbowl, perhaps?