The New York Jets won their third game in a row and improved to 5-5, as they defeated the Detroit Lions, 31-14. QB Chad Pennington led the way, completing 21 of his 26 passes for 229 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Pennington's finished the game with an astounding quarterback rating of 126.9. WR Laveranues Coles caught 7 of Pennington's passes for a total of 114 yards. Mr. Third Down, WR Wayne Chrebet, made four catches for 46 yards, two of them for touchdowns. RB Curtis Martin ran for 112 yards on 22 carries, his second 100+ yard game of the year. Martin's backup, RB LaMont Jordan, also saw plenty of action. He ran for 63 yards on 11 carries, as the Jets rushed for a total of 189 yards - their best ground performance of the season.
The defense started the game poorly - RB James Stewart gained 39 yards on the first play from scrimmage. The Lions continued pounding the ball, and it sure looked like Stewart was going to have another career game against the Jets, but MLB Marvin Jones intercepted Joey Harrington's pass in the end zone. Jones probably had his best game of the season - 7 tackles and 1 pass defense in addition to the interception. Stewart still finished the game with 93 yards on just 16 carries (5.8 yards per carry), and didn't break the 100-yard mark only because the Lions had to play a catch up game in the 4th quarter. The Jets' defensive line once again basically applied no pressure on the quarterback, giving Harrington more than enough time to throw. DE John Abraham, who had 2 sacks last week, was visible on the field only when he committed two stupid penalties, one of them resulted in a first down. It looks more and more like for every good game Abraham has 3-4 really bad ones. DE Shaun Ellis left the game in the fourth quarter with a hand injury. The secondary played relatively well with the exception of the 37-yard touchdown pass that they allowed in the second quarter. FS Damien Robinson completely missed his assignment on that play. PK John Hall had an extra point blocked in the second quarter.
Well, the Jets look like they are back in the hunt, and if the Patriots lose to the Raiders later tonight, the Jets will be in a three way tie for the second place in the AFC East. The next three games against the Bills, Raiders, and Broncos will be a make it or break it for this Jets' team. Drew Bledsoe, Rich Gannon, and Brian Griese are no Joey Harrington or Ray Lucas - if the Jets fail to pressure these guys, they will pick the slow Jets' secondary apart...