Jets slip past Titans, 24-17

The New York Jets sprinted out to a two touchdown lead, saw it evaporate and then came back for a 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans.

The Jets got off to a quick start, putting up two touchdowns early in the first quarter for a commanding lead.

New York then got complacent, and Tennessee rattled over 17 unanswered points to take the lead.

However, the Jets eventually settled down, regained the lead and then shut down the Titans’ comeback attempts.

The Jets will now face the undefeated Saints in a tough road game in Week 4.

Monday, September 28, 2009 at 8:31 pm by steve

Sanchez impressive again as Jets move to 3-0

Three games into his first season in the NFL, and quarterback Mark Sanchez is already making history.

The New York Jets’ signal-caller became the first rookie in league history to start a season and win his first three games, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another one to lead the Jets to a 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans.

The New York defense wasn’t as dominating as it had been in its first two games, but it was stingy in the fourth quarter in shutting out the Titans offense when it was trying to tie the game. It harassed Kerry Collins into a 15-of-37 performance, intercepting him twice, and also slowed down the explosive Chris Johnson, who rushed for 97 yards on 22 carries.

The defense will face its most daunting task next week, with a trip to New Orleans on tap. But win or lose, this season has already gotten off to a better start than anyone dreamed possible with a rookie QB taking the snaps. The 3-0 start is just the fourth in franchise history.

Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 10:24 pm by Raj Sethi

Ryan Gives Fireman Ed Game Ball

Fireman Ed – the New York Jets’ most famous fan – received a game ball from head coach Rex Ryan during the Jets’ team meeting on Friday for his help in leading a thunderous crowd at the Meadowlands on Sunday when the Patriots came to town.

“Ed Anzalone, a New York City firefighter, has been coming to every Jets home game for years, wearing a fire helmet and leading the ‘J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!’ cheer,” according to ESPN.

Earlier in the week, Ryan sent a voicemail message to all Jets season ticket holders, begging for the fans to come to the stadium loud, raucous, and intent on making Patriots’ QB Tom Brady’s life miserable.

They succeeded, in style. The Jets new-look defense bullied Brady all game, as he continued to look tentative on his surgically repaired knee. Ryan’s defense blitzed Brady from the first snap to the last, putting an enormous amount of pressure on the Patriots’ QB. In turn, the Patriots offense could not muster a touchdown on Sunday and only knocked through three field goals.

After the game, Ryan said that the fans were the difference in the team beating the Patriots at home for the first time since 2000.

Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 1:48 am by bryan

Sanchez Has “A Little Tendinitis”

Coach Rex Ryan announced that rookie QB Mark Sanchez is dealing with “a little tendinitis” in his right knee, but that Sanchez should be good-to-go on Sunday when the Jets square off against the 0-2 Titans.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Ryan said. “He has something. I don’t know how to describe it than just to say it’s a little tendinitis. But, he’s fine. I mean, he fully participated and moved around great, I thought.”

Jets’ offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer opined, “Mark’s totally fine.”

Ryan made “sure he’s on that list” (referring to the injury report), after Sanchez appeared on the report Thursday as “fully participated in practice.” The Jets and former head coach Eric Mangini were fined $125,000 for their failure to report an injury to then-QB Brett Favre last season.

Ryan also updated reporters on the injury status of two Jets cornerbacks: Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland. Sheppard, who came to the Jets in a trade from the Eagles this offseason, sounds like he will recover enough from a right quadriceps injury to possibly play this weekend, while Ryan was not nearly as optimistic about Strickland.

Friday, September 25, 2009 at 7:20 am by bryan

Favre Believes Jets Tampering Penalties Ridiculous

Count Brett Favre in the camp of people who supported the Jets’ injury reports last year.

Considering he’s the one who the issues have been raised about, one would think the NFL would take notice. Instead, they fined the Jets and former coach Eric Mangini a total of $125,000 for how they handled their injury listing of Favre last year.

In the offseason, Favre had surgery for a torn bicep tendon that he suffered at some point in the second half of last season. While Favre got the Jets off to a stellar 8-3 start, he and the Jets collapsed down the stretch, losing four of five en route to missing the playoffs entirely.

“I felt like maybe there were some throws where I could’ve played better because of this injury,” Favre said. “I just wanted to let them know that. I never asked them to put me on the injury report. I can’t tell you how many times I probably should’ve been on the injury report. I practiced. I played. I knew I was going to play.

Favre has since signed with the Minnesota Vikings and continued his ironman streak at 271 games currently.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 10:41 pm by bryan

Jets surprise Patriots, 16-9

The New York Jets backed up all of their trash talk in a big way with a 16-9 victory over the New England Patriots.

A very stingy defensive effort from the Jets rattled quarterback Tom Brady and kept the Patriots offense off balance throughout the day.

The offense did just enough in the second half to get the job done, as the running game and the occasional big pass was the formula for success.

Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery came alive after halftime, and tight end Dustin Keller hauled in the only touchdown of the game.

The Jets now move to 2-0 on the season after making a statement against the top dog in the AFC East.

Monday, September 21, 2009 at 5:06 pm by steve

Jets surprise Texans, 24-7

The New York Jets looked solid on all sides of the ball in a surprising easy 24-7 road win over one of this year’s popular sleeper picks, the Houston Texans.

The win was also the first in the career of new head coach Rex Ryan, who received a hug from linebacker Bart Scott and a gatorade shower at the end of the game.

The Jets defense turned in a dominating performance, holding an explosive Houston offense scoreless. Houston’s only touchdown came on a defensive fumble return.

On offense, rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez looked like a grizzled veteran, tossing a couple of touchdown passes to help lead the Jets to a big win.

Running back Thomas Jones also had a big day, finding the end zone twice and rushing for over 100 yards.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 6:43 pm by steve