Jets relieved after win over Panthers ends 1-6 skid
Photo credit: AP | Jets safety Kerry Rhodes (25) is congratulated by cornerback Darrelle Revis (24) after Rhodes intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter. Rhodes and Revis both had two interceptions in the Jets' 17-6 win. (November 29, 2009)
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Week 12: Jets 17, Panthers 6
They seemingly had forgotten what it felt like, that euphoria that accompanies a victory.
By dropping six of their previous seven games, including three straight at Giants Stadium, the Jets had been tagged with the label of losers, something linebacker Bart Scott knew they couldn't let continue.
"It was pivotal, man," he said of yesterday's game against the Panthers. "You can't lose four games at home in front of your own crowd. The next time you come back, there wouldn't be anybody there."
But there will be - at least for perhaps one more game.
In desperate search of a triumph to ease their fragile psyches, the Jets finally got back to their early-season winning ways, ending a three-game skid with a scrappy 17-6 win.
"To not have really won a game in a month, we needed it bad," linebacker Calvin Pace said. "It's not like Carolina was riding high or they were 0-and-something. They were basically in the same situation we were in. So it was huge."
Footage of this one won't be enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Instead, it easily could be burned and stricken from the memory banks or thrown into a safe and buried in the swamps surrounding the Meadowlands.
The Jets (5-6) won ugly and lamented not putting away the punchless Panthers earlier. After scoring their touchdowns off two of Carolina's four turnovers, the Jets let the Panthers hang around. They raced to a 14-3 halftime advantage but didn't do much after that, allowing the Panthers (4-7) to stay in it until Jay Feely's 47-yard field goal with 3:39 left made it 17-6.
That made it a two-score game, and with the way the Panthers' offense (which netted 176 yards) was sputtering, that was more than enough for the Jets to hold on for their first victory since a 38-0 pasting of Oakland Oct. 25.
"It's good to get the win, but within that, we've got to play a little bit better," Scott said. "I think we could have really put this team away early, and that's what we have to learn to do because it should have never came down to some of the situations that it came down to."
During their swoon, the Jets were the ones victimized by giveaways. But they cashed in on a miscommunication between Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith on the game's first drive.
On third-and-9 from the Jets' 39, Smith was uncovered in the slot coming off the line and Delhomme tried to hit him with a quick pass in stride. Smith never turned around to look for the ball, which caromed off his left calf and to Darrelle Revis in one of those hard-to-believe moments. The opportunistic cornerback snagged the ball and bolted 67 yards untouched down the right sideline, giving the Jets a 7-0 lead with their first defensive score of the season.
"It bounced off Steve Smith's foot and landed right in my hands," said Revis, who had two of the Jets' four interceptions. "I just made a play and went down and scored."
"I thought that was big," tackle Damien Woody said. "We hadn't had that all year. So for our defense to be able to come out and give us a defensive touchdown, that was huge. Offensively, we always appreciate that. We'll take it."
The defense was just getting cranked up, finally regaining its swaggerlicious vibe. Safety Kerry Rhodes, demoted to second team last week in favor of Eric Smith because he hadn't been making big plays, actually did something to show he deserves to collect a big paycheck.
On third-and-6 from Carolina's 30 just after the two-minute warning, Rhodes made the first of his two interceptions and returned it 11 yards to the Panthers' 38. Five plays later, Thomas Jones zig-zagged and contorted his body into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run, making it 14-3 with 28 seconds left in the half.
Carolina got within 14-6 on John Kasay's 28-yard field goal with 11:45 left, but the Jets essentially put their hands on the Panthers' foreheads and held them at bay. They never really were threatened before Feely's field goal gave them breathing room and sent them into Thursday's game in Toronto against Buffalo in an upbeat mood.
"It was a lot of pent-up frustration in this locker room, and nothing a win wouldn't cure," safety Jim Leonhard said. "So we feel good. We have to carry this momentum into this short week, and just throughout the rest of the season get that snowball effect and have that carry over."
