truebluefan

Jets: The Morning After

There's a lot to like out of this Detroit game if you're a Jets fan. First, they managed to score two, count 'em, two first-quarter touchdowns, which had been a problem for more than a year and second, they managed to avoid any kind of stumble and took care of business and beat a team they were expected to beat. They equaled last season's win total (four) in just seven games, and may have found a running back in rookie Leon Washington. And, with last-place Cleveland coming up next week, they are in position to surpass last year's win total by the midpoint of this season.

Things are looking good for the Jets today, but let's not start looking for hotels in South Florida (site of this year's Super Bowl) just yet.

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Leon Washington is clearly the best running back on the physically able to perform list, and the Jets took full advantage of the absence of Shaun Rogers to push the ball for a season-high 221 rushing yards. Chad Pennington was 16-for-22 for 189 yards, 44 of them coming on a TD bomb to Justin McCareins, but his interception late in the second quarter could have sealed the game at halftime had it been completed to Chris Baker. Unlike last week, the offense was able to drive the field, eat up time, and keep the ball and momentum away from a team looking for a comeback in the fourth quarter.

C

DEFENSE

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Maybe familiarity didn't breed contempt in the case of the Jets and Donnie Henderson yesterday, but it sure helped breed victory, as Gang Green read their former defensive coordinator like a book, and scripted a 31-24 victory over the Lions.

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Lions coordinator Mike Martz is considered one of the NFL's top offensive gurus, but he was thrown for a loop at the start of yesterday's 31-24 loss to the Jets at Giants Stadium.

"It took us a little bit to get going and kind of figure out how they were going to play us," said Lions QB Jon Kitna, admitting the Jets showed some new wrinkles that caught them off guard.

Instead of heavy blitzing, how most teams play the Lions, the Jets concentrated on pass coverage. They didn't start blitzing until the second half, when they had a 21-7 lead. Even then, it wasn't much. They did a fantastic job on WR Roy Williams, who began the day as the NFL's leader in receiving yardage.

Williams was held to two catches for 29 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown. Rookie CB Drew Coleman said the game plan was to get physical with Williams.

"Receivers don't like for you to get in their face," Coleman said. "We tried to get up and disturb their routes, the combination routes and the timing with him and the quarterback. That was at the top of our game plan."

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The game-plan was simple: stop Lions star wide receiver Roy Williams. Period.

The plan worked to perfection as the Jets focused on Williams and held him to two catches for 29 yards and a touchdown in yesterday's 31-24 victory at Giants Stadium.

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Jets rookie cornerback Drew Coleman, who stands 5-9, was asked many times this past week how he would be able to stand up against Roy Williams. Not only did the Lions star enter the game as the NFL's top receiver, he also wielded a six-inch height advantage on Coleman.

"He was big and physical," Coleman said after the game, "but he was a pretty nice guy."

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It was only one play in a game of many yesterday, but Justin McCareins' lone reception against the Lions was significant on a number of different levels.

Team-wise, it gave the Jets a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, something unheard of from a team that entered the day having not scored a single first-quarter TD on offense since Week 2 of last season.

Personally, McCareins' 44-yard TD reception from Chad Pennington ended a dubious streak of four-plus games without a single catch. Prior to that scoring reception, McCareins' first TD of the season, his last came on Dec. 11, 2005 against the Raiders.

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It was seemingly contradictory advice coming from Curtis Martin. The veteran running back was telling rookie Leon Washington to slow down.

"The most helpful thing he told me was to be more patient," Washington said. "He told me to wait for my blockers and my openings. At first I was just trying to bounce out, but this is the NFL, you can't just do that."

Washington is learning to balance patience and urgency, a balance the Jets need him to master to fill the void left by the injured Martin. Yesterday, the undersized rookie out of Florida State ran for a season-high 129 yards on 20 carries and scored his first two NFL touchdowns in the Jets' 31-24 win over the Lions.

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The most unexpected run this Jets season will occur if Curtis Martin travels from the training-room bench to the sideline bench.

Until then, Leon Washington's third-quarter burst against the Lions will have to do.

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The Lions defense must have gotten the wrong schedule.

The bye is next week, it wasn't Sunday.

There wasn't any evidence the defense showed up Sunday at The Meadowlands.

The New York Jets ran through the Lions at will in a 31-24 victory.

The only thing that stopped the Jets was the end zone. They could have run all the way to Manhattan.

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