New York Jets give thanks for Detroit Lions' blunders

After Lions coach Jim Schwartz handed them a 23-20 overtime win, the Jets were not about to throw the victory back.

Sometimes, you just have to take the gifts as they come. And if a large part of that gift involves an opposing coach’s mistake, then so be it.

“Obviously, we feel fortunate we got the win,” coach Rex Ryan said. “But we don’t care. We got the win. We’ll take it.”

Unfortunately for the 6-2 Jets going forward, they haven’t been a good team the past two games. They were shut out by the Packers, and they had scored just 10 points until the Lions imploded in the final 2:36 of regulation Sunday.

Among other mistakes, Schwartz opened the biggest door when, up 20-17, he called for a pass play on third-and-5 with less than two minutes to go. When it fell incomplete, Schwartz basically gave the Jets 40 more seconds to work with, which they used to position themselves for Nick Folk’s tying field goal.

“Really a dumb play by them,” said Santonio Holmes. “We’re definitely thankful for what they did.”

Before that, they had 11 penalties, five fumbles and a huge Mark Sanchez interception.
But Schwartz made it all better. The Jets had better not rely on that happening this week against their ex-coach Eric Mangini and the suddenly dangerous Browns.