Jets Have Their Chances but Fall To 3-12
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by Alanschech
The New York Jets kept the game close this afternoon in Tennessee. They deserve credit, even with the season as disappointing as it has been, coach Mangini has them playing hard every week. But in the end, they didn't make the plays when they had to and came up short to the Titans, 10-6, keeping the Titans playoff hopes alive one more week.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Titans opened up the scoring with a 4 yard Chris Brown TD run early in the second quarter. Chad Pennington, starting for an injured Kellen Clemens, led the Jets right back down the field, connecting on a 48 yard pass to Jerricho Cotchery to set them up deep, and a 9 yard TD pass to make the score 7-6. Cotchery became the lead receiver after Laveranues Coles was placed on injured reserve earlier this week. On the ensuing PAT attempt, Mike Nugent's kick was blocked, always a bad omen, and the score remained 7-6.
An interesting moment happened later in the quarter. David Barrett picked off a Vince Young pass to set the Jets up to drive and take the lead. The Jets drove into Titans' territory, and it appeared that they stalled and were going to settle for a Mike Nugent 36 yard field goal. However, a leverage penalty was called, and Mangini elected to take the first down and points off the board. The drive continued, and a rare Chad Pennington red zone interception ended what turned out to be the Jets last good scoring chance of the game, aside from a Mike Nugent 51 yard field goal that wasn't close. Rob Bironas added a 46 yard field goal to make the score 10-6, which is how the game ended. The Jets had the ball 3 more times, but never mounted a serious threat.
For the game, Chad Pennington was efficient in the absence of Clemens, going 26-32 for 264 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs. Thomas Jones carried the ball 21 times for 58 yards, becoming the 5th Jet in team history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Jerricho Cotchery led the receiving corp with 8 catches for 152 yards and 1 TD.
For the Titans, Vince Young was 12-22 for 166 yards and 1 INT. Lendale White led all rushers with 23 carries for 103 yards. Roydell Williams added 4 receptions for 54 yards.
The Jets play out the string with the return of Herman Edwards to the Meadowlands where they will face the Kansas City Chiefs.
