Jets crush Jaguars, 32-3, in rare blowout

The Jets finally got that elusive laugher Sunday, the kind of satisfying victory that for once didn't have anyone gnawing their nails down to the cuticles.

"It's definitely different," tight end Dustin Keller said after the Jets mashed the Jaguars, 32-3, yesterday at MetLife Stadium. "I'm very happy to get one. All these close games, we've been giving Jets fans heart attacks for the last few seasons. Just to be able to put one of these together and finally show the fans that we will get an occasional blowout, that's huge for us."

Consider it a lesson learned. When the Jaguars rolled into town two years ago, the Jets allowed them to hang around until the closing minutes, only to watch them steal it away at the end. The Jets put their foot on the accelerator from the get-go this time, breaking that much-talked about 16-game drought without an offensive touchdown in the first quarter.

The Jets (2-0) had nine points before the Jaguars (1-1) even blinked, cashing in on the game-opening, six-play, 65-yard drive. They also picked up a safety on Jacksonville's first possession when rookie defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson basically went WWE on Luke McCown, slamming him in the end zone for a safety.

With the way their defense stifled and rattled McCown -- holding him to a 1.8 quarterback rating -- and kept Maurice Jones-Drew in check on the ground, that was more than enough for the Jets in this one.

McCown was intercepted four times, twice by Antonio Cromartie, and gave way to rookie Blaine Gabbert in the fourth quarter. Jones-Drew was limited to 88 yards on 18 carries. It was a solid bounce-back effort from a Jets defense that played so poorly, in Rex Ryan's eyes, last week against the Cowboys that he didn't award a game ball to anyone on that side of the ball.

"It wasn't like I was flinching," said Ryan, whose team yielded only 203 yards to Jacksonville. "I knew where this defense would end up, where it always does. It was great to see them respond. When we tighten things up and we don't make mistakes and the communication's good, we're tough to beat physically.

"We have a lot of talent on defense."

They have a few playmakers on offense, too.

Keller was nearly unstoppable, racking up 101 yards and a touchdown on six receptions. His 11-yard hookup with Mark Sanchez gave the Jets a 22-3 lead, their largest in a third quarter since a 38-7 edge at Buffalo last October. Shonn Greene's 1-yard plunge 2:20 later put things out of reach at 29-3.

"It should've happened earlier," said Sanchez, who lamented the two interceptions he had to go along with two touchdown tosses. "We should've been up 29-3 in the first half, if I don't turn it over. Can't get greedy, can't try and force it down the field and do too much, just let our guys work and let our run game develop.

"I think we did that in the second half."

Just as he did on the game's opening drive. After hearing all week about the offense's 16-game first-quarter drought, the Jets came out with a purpose. They won the toss and elected to receive rather than deferring, something they did only once previously in Ryan's three-season tenure.

Sanchez engineered an impressive drive, completing all four passes for 60 yards, capped by a 17-yard strike to Santonio Holmes. Sanchez pump-faked nicely before finding his wide receiver in between former Jets defensive back Drew Coleman and William Middleton.

"[Saturday] night,'' Ryan said, "we challenged our team that if there was one streak we wanted to break, that was it -- struggling offensively, as they always put it. We've got to do something. There is always someone on the radio saying we don't score with returns and things, and he's right.

"We never scored again today," Ryan added sarcastically. "I think we got it down to the six-inch line or something."

Sanchez said: "Opening drive, that was huge."

It certainly set the tone for a rarity for these Jets: a blowout.

"We like to make it entertaining for the fans," linebacker Calvin Pace said. "But today, we were able to shore it up kind of early. We talked about that: Go out there and get our work done early, so we can kind of pin our ears back and get after the quarterback.

"The last time they came here, it was close and they were able to make a play at the end and we didn't. You never want to get in that situation. Any time you can put a team away, you want to get your work done early."