Jets, Remarkable in Their Competence, Get By the Raiders
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Jets do not score many points, and they do not win many games, and yet here they were on Sunday doing both. A 37-27 victory against the Oakland Raiders featured a remarkable display of competence on offense for a team that had looked neither remarkable nor competent in losing its last three games.
The Jets' eruption for a season-high 37 points stemmed, perhaps remarkably, from quarterback Geno Smith. Benched last week for the third time, Smith engineered six scoring drives on Sunday, committed only one turnover and heeded his coaches' wishes to play more instinctively. For the first time since Nov. 3 the Jets won, and for the first time this season their victory was by a double-digit margin.
Smith, who threw for 219 yards and ran for 50 more, was aided by critical plays on defense and special teams - though hardly a commanding defense performance - as the Jets improved to 6-7 and a spot on the periphery of the A.F.C. playoff picture.
They had the brilliant idea of importing an injury-ravaged opponent that had lost 12 consecutive games in the Eastern time zone, and, for a half at least, the Raiders played the part of polite guest. The Jets raced to a 20-3 lead, the game turning within a span of 1 minute 8 seconds in the second quarter An Ed Reed interception deep in Oakland territory set up a field goal, and the Raiders' ensuing possession ended with Antonio Allen recovering his own blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown.
Oakland opened the second half with a 63-yard touchdown from its fourth-string running back, Marcel Reece, but the Jets countered on the next series with an 8-yard touchdown scamper by Smith on a read-option.
The Jets' slide has increased speculation that Ryan could be entering his final month as coach, but the owner Woody Johnson said before the game that he was 'pretty happy with the way things are going.' Johnson, speaking on ESPN Radio, said 'the direction of the team' and 'how the young players are going' will influence his thinking as much as its record. 'At the end of the day,' Johnson said, 'you want to give players the opportunity to win, which is what I think we're doing.'
The Jets' talk throughout the week set them up for victory, or their biggest failure. Their best two receivers, Santonio Holmes and Jeremy Kerley, were healthy and available for the first time since Week 4. Ryan bragged how the offense on Wednesday had its best practice of the season. Did that include Smith? 'Absolutely,' Ryan said.
For a team that ranks at or near the bottom in most statistical categories, and with a quarterback who had not thrown a touchdown pass since Oct. 20, improvement is measured incrementally. With an opening drive, for instance, that netted more yards (57) than were gained in the entire first half last week (39). Or with a first quarter that featured more points (10) than the Jets scored in their past two weeks combined (6).
The Jets led, 10-0, because Kerley rescued Smith by leaping to catch a 25-yard touchdown pass that was intended for him or Holmes - and not, presumably, any of the three Raiders who surrounded them in the end zone. Matt Simms ran off the sideline to greet Smith with a flying chest bump, and why not? It was the Jets' first touchdown in 129 offensive plays, Smith's first in his last 38 possessions.
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