The New York Jets visited the Tennessee Titans at LP Field Sunday afternoon for what many expected to be a battle of the AFC’s strongest teams.
The Titans were unbeaten and the Jets were starting to peak at the right time, having come off a huge win against their longtime rival, the New England Patriots.
Starting the first quarter, the Jets came out strong on their opening drive and went the length of the field with Brett Favre passes to Jerricho Cotchery, Laveranues Coles, and impressive rookie Dustin Keller.
Coles caught a big 21-yard pass down the middle of the field, setting up a Thomas Jones 10-yard touchdown run. This was the sixth game in a row the Jets scored on their opening drive.
The Titans offense could not match the Jets energy and were forced to punt on all five of their first half possessions.
The Jets–Titans match-up featured two of the league’s premier interior defensive linemen with Kris Jenkins and Albert Haynesworth respectively. Jenkins would prove his superiority on the day.
“They [Titans] have a great running game. We had to make sure that we contain them,” said Jenkins in his post-game press conference.
“We feel that we’re a good team and that we can compete. We felt we came in as underdog.”
In the second half, the Titans turned the ball over when Jets cornerback Abram Elam, at the Tennessee 35-yard line, stripped running back Chris Johnson. With great field position, the Jets went back to work. This would prove to be the turning point in the game.
Favre then threw passes to Coles and Cotchery, getting the Jets down to the goal line before hitting Coles in the end zone on a great two-yard pass play, putting the Jets ahead 20–3.
With the Jets ahead 20–6, running back Leon Washington contributed to the highlight reel. Washington took a handoff and put the nail in the coffin with an explosive 61-yard touchdown run. That put the Jets up 27–6 and seemed to take the life out of the sell-out home crowd.
Brett Favre was sharp, throwing for 25 completions out of 32 attempts, 224 yards passing, two touchdowns, and one interception.
“The short passing game, if you’re good at it, it takes away a bit of that pass rush,” explained Favre when talking about how his offense handled the speedy Tennesee pass rush.
In addition to winning the physical battles, the Jets controlled the clock with over 40 minutes in time of possession.
Head coach Eric Mangini thanked his team afterward, “I’m really proud of the group today. Us being able to do the things we talked about prior to the game…
“[It’s my] third trip here…tough place to play. We controlled the time of possession, effectively stopped the run. We played very much a complementary game. Offense complements defense. Defense complements special teams.”
“I think we beat the best team in football today, if you go by record,” added Favre.
Indeed, if the Jets were going to make a statement, this game was it. They manhandled the unbeaten Titans on their home turf and are now 8–3, tied for second place in the AFC along with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and all alone in first in the AFC East.
A Giant Win in Arizona
The New York Giants went on the road to Arizona to take on the high-flying Cardinals. Led by veteran gunslinger Kurt Warner and talented receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, the Cardinals brought plenty of match-up headaches for the Giants.
Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo gave his assessment for stopping the Cardinals by saying, “They make you defend a lot of the field. And over the course of 60 minutes, it is hard to completely shut that down. So you have to try to slow it down and hope your own offense keeps them off the field. That is probably the best defense.”Not to worry coach Spags! The Giants best defense showed up.
The defense pressured Warner and prevented him from having a big game.
On the other side of the ball, Eli Manning (26 completions in 33 attempts, 240 yards passing, and three touchdowns) and the Giants offense matched their teammates’ effort and put up excellent numbers against Arizona’s defense. The overall effort resulted in a 37–29 Giants win and improved their record to 10–1.
Of special note, Giants kick returner Dominic Hixon had a special game with 150 yards returning and over 250 total yards. Eli Manning had a near perfect performance and finished the game with a 127.3 quarterback rating.
NOTES:
With the (8–3) Jets victory over the (10–1) Tennessee Titans, there are no unbeaten teams remaining in the NFL.
Next Sunday, the Jets will be at home taking on the (6–5) Denver Broncos, while the Giants will be on the road playing against NFC division rival (7–4) the Washington Redskins.
