JETS 27CHARGERS 21
Give credit where credit is due. For the first time this season, the New York Jets played their best game and beat a legitimate opponent. Unlike their previous three wins, Week 1 vs. Dallas, which should never have happened, and two subsequent victories against the dreadful Jaguars and Dolphins, the Jets came back to stun a very good Chargers team at the Meadowlands.
It's not like this was a pretty game to watch for Gang Green. As usual, the Jets got off to a hideous start, falling behind 21-10 by the half, looking and playing like a team destined to be blown out of their own building.
On the first play of the game things looked ominous when Mark Sanchez was hit from behind; his pass to Dustin Keller was juggled by the tight, ending up in the hands of Donald Bulter who rumbled 37 yards for a Chargers touchdown.
Later in the quarter with the Jets moving the ball on a couple of nice completions by Sanchez, the Jets struggling quarterback found a wide open Santonio Holmes in the end zone for the touchdown. However, a hold by the Jets offensive line negated the score, forcing the Jets into a first and 20 situation. Two plays later, Sanchez was picked off by Eric Weddle at the Chargers one yard line, killing the Jets momentum.
In turn, the Bolts drove the ball right down the field, keyed by big passes by Phillip Rivers to his tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Vincent Jackson, to set the Chargers up inside the Jets 10 yard line. Rivers eventually found Gates in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
At this point it looked hopeless for the Jets. They once again had fallen far behind; Sanchez was plain awful, and the Jets defense was porous. It appeared that San Diego was on their way to an easy victory, bu things quickly changed in the second half.
The Chargers were shut down offensively by the Jets. On three drives in the third quarter, the Chargers totaled only 17 yards of offense. Defensively, the Chargers had no answer for the Jets on third down and couldn't avoid getting flagged for off sides and pass interference penalties.
Case in point: In the third quarter, Sanchez converted two huge third downs with big completions to slot receiver Jeremy Kerley keeping the Jets moving to an eventual touchdown. Even though he was erratic at times, when he needed to make a big throw, Sanchez accomodated. The Jets converted 61 percent of their third downs, and Sanchez's passes to Kerley and Dustin Keller played a big part in that statistic.
And who was there to haul in the touchdown catches? None other than Plaxico Burress.
Burress had three touchdowns on the afternoon. The guy who looked uninterested in the game last week against Miami and had been seldom used all season to point he even complained to Coach Rex Ryan, was more involved in the offense this time. Burress's second touchdown pulled the Jets back to within four, at 21-17, giving Gang Green renewed life.
Still, the Chargers had one last drive left in them. Rivers' 30 yard bomb to a wide open Randy McMichael moved San Diego to the Jets 30. It appeared that San Diego would eventually score to ice the game, until Darrelle Revis stepped in and changed the course of the afternoon.
Revis, who made waves on Friday by hanging up on WFAN host Mike Francesa after Revis was prompted by Francesa to admit that he got away with a pass interference call on Monday against Miami, left no doubt about his efforts time around. Rivers pass to Vincent Jackson was tipped up into the air, and Revis came away with it and ran down the sideline for a 64 yard return before getting banged out of bounds.
The Jets were in business. Sanchez heaved a pass down the side to Holmes for an incompletion, but the play was ruled for pass interference on San Diego, moving the Jets closer. A few plays later, Sanchez found Burress in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.
Now leading 27-21, Rivers got one last shot to win the game for San Diego with a 1:40 left. He was off to a good start when he hit Gates for 18 yards to the 42 yard line, but San Diego couldn't move it any further. With no timeouts, the Chargers struggled to get back to the line after the Jets stopped a series of short passes. Rivers hauled up one last pass on 4th down with 11 seconds left only to watch it fall incomplete.
For the Jets, it was their most complete effort. Even though Sanchez was inconsistent at times, he did throw three touchdowns and showed some good touch on the ball in key situations. A Jets defense that had been mauled for the better part of the season, stiffened against a high powered Chargers offense. And for the first time all year, Shonn Greene ran for over 100 yards, and the Jets opened the playbook to include their big target wide outs.
So the Jets backed Rex Ryan's bravado this week and now head into the Bye at 4-3, avoiding the possiblity of living two weeks with an all hands-on-deck mindset. The big challenge for Gang Green is can they parlay this success in their next two games against Buffalo and New England.
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