Sanchez hit early; he has to adjust fast

Well, this wasn't quite the way Rex Ryan had envisioned it, but so what? The Jets' coach got his season-opening win against the Cowboys, he beat his twin brother Rob, and he fulfilled his vow to the New York metropolitan area to win an emotion-packed game on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

This was about as unconventional a game as you could imagine, with both teams alternately sputtering and then showing flashes of brilliance. But in the end, it was the Jets who took advantage of some woeful mistakes by the Cowboys in the second half to win the game, 27-24, before a packed house at MetLife Stadium.

"It was an unbelievable team effort, and maybe the best I've ever been a part of," Ryan said afterward."This one was for our community, and we all felt it. We just kept hanging in there and hanging in there, and believing we could get it done and that's what happened."

It was the Cowboys who looked to be the vastly superior team almost from the start, as quarterback Tony Romo helped build a 17-7 first-half lead and then made it 24-10 early in the fourth quarter. But Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, who had been running for his life for most of the game under a heavy pass rush led by DeMarcus Ware, turned clutch down the stretch and found Plaxico Burress for a 26-yard touchdown pass, and then the Jets returned a blocked punt for a touchdown to get to within a score.

And just when it looked hopeless for the Jets, who had surrendered a long completion to tight end Jason Witten and were about to surrender what would have been a decisive touchdown, Romo turned back into a turnover machine, fumbling near the goal line.

after making the ill-fated decision to try and run for it after finding no open receivers on third downLater in the quarter, as he was attempting to drive the Cowboys to what could have been the game-winning score, Romo was picked off by All Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis on a pass attempt down the right sideline for Dez Bryant. Nick Folk then kicked a 50-yard field goal to win it for the Jets.

Amazing win on an incredibly emotional night for everyone.

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"I talked about it early in the week about the pressure I felt and the pressure [the players] felt," Ryan said. "You have to give the opponent credit. I'll sign up right now to play them again in the Super Bowl, and I know they would, too."

With the emotions still raw after a day of remembrance on the 10-year anniversary of one of the worst days in our history, the Jets offered some escape, the kind that Ryan so desperately wanted to provide. He admitted early in the week he was far more nervous than usual because of the difficult backdrop.

"Usually, it's [going] against my brother and all that and you have a lot of fun with that, but obviously I feel [like] it's different, like a responsibility," he said."The significance of it, I think it's stronger than any game I've ever felt. I feel more pressure on this game for whatever reason than any game I've ever coached, it seems like." Perhaps that pressure played into his team's sloppy play through much of the game, particularly Sanchez, who was sacked on the first play from scrimmage and was under a heavy rush most of the way. In fact, The early part of the game was reminiscent of the Jets' 10-9 loss to the Ravens in last year's opener, which also came in prime time at home.

Sanchez felt the dynamic was just right coming into last night's game, after admitting that he was pressing in last year's opener.

"We have all of these new players and we want to do so much, so let's be ourselves," he said. "Go with what you do well. We're a good rushing team. We can throw the ball when we need to. Just play and have fun."

Sounds like a plan. At least until you're standing across from Ware and the rest of a defense that is counting on a resurgence under Rob Ryan, the Cowboys' new defensive coordinator. When the live action started, Sanchez was running for his life to avoid the Cowboys' relentless pass rush. Four of the Jets' first five drives were three-and-outs. On the last one, which ended when Sanchez threw behind Santonio Holmes, the wide receiver waved his hand in disgust.

But as he has done so often in his young career, Sanchez maintained his composure, and kept slugging away until the breaks started going the Jets' way.And in the end, Romo gave the Jets that one final opportunity, and Folk made it count with his last-minute field goal.

"I'm so proud we were able to pull this off for the town," Ryan said. "I feel probably better [about] that than I do for our football team."

One very big game down, and a bunch more to go.