Brad Smith Speeds Past Bengals As Jets Pull Away

JETS 26
BENGALS 10

When the New England Patriots erased a 24-17 deficit to the Detroit Lions for a impressive 45-24 victory Thanksgiving Day, the pressure was squarely on the shoulders of the Jets to get a win to keep pace with the Pats. A win over the Bengals and the Jets would still hold first place in the AFC East, and the AFC; a lose and everything could be lost.

The first half of the Jets Thanksgiving Night game against Cincinnati didn't look very good. They trailed 7-3 at the half, played a full half of mistake football with terrible penalties, bad decisions by quarterback Mark Sanchez, and another missed field goal by Nick Folk.

The Jets needed to show a spark. They needed momentum badly before they took a week and a half off to ready for the Pats. Then, just 30 seconds into the third quarter, the Jets got their spark from Brad Smith.

On a reverse to Smith, the speedy utility man, broke free of tacklers for a 53 yard touchdown run to give New York a quick 10-7 lead.

Later in the third quarter, Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes on a slant for a 13 yard touchdown to give the Jets a 17-7 lead.

The Jets defense picked it up nicely in the second half. They sacked Carson Palmer twice, and forced him into a safety, and picked him off twice. The Jets secondary combo of Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie held T.O. (3 catches 17) and Ocho Chinco (4 catches 41) respectively.

Finally, in the fourth quarter, Smith returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. The highlight of the play was Smith losing his shoe at the 50 and still running at high speed with one shoe on and one shoe off to the end zone. Smith had 200 total yards on the evening.

Now the talk is all about Jets/ Patriots, with the two rivals set to battle Monday Dec. 6. Let the hype begin.