Jets escape with 24-20 win over Broncos

DENVER - They filtered through the tunnel and into the bowels of Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium with every single one of them barely able to contain their outright giddiness.

"It be's like that sometimes," linebacker Bart Scott said to no one in particular just before he waltzed into the Jets' downright happy locker room.

The Jets knew they had just gotten away with one Sunday, escaping with a 24-20 victory they admitted they never would've gotten last year under virtually any circumstances.

"C'mon, man," Scott said later. "We lost some tough ones last year, and I think the teams that won didn't apologize for them. We've got to make sure that we tighten up some of the things and we keep tightening the bolts down because one day it might come back to affect us. We made enough plays to win and are not going to apologize for it."

The Jets overcame an overall sluggish performance and three costly turnovers - two Mark Sanchez interceptions and a drive-killing fumble by Santonio Holmes - to pull this one out with late-game dramatics and stay atop the AFC East. They were aided by a pass-interference penalty on fourth-and-6 from Denver's 48, one that set up LaDainian Tomlinson's 2-yard winning touchdown with 1:16 remaining.

"It could be debatable, but we don't care. We'll take it," Rex Ryan said. "I'd like to apologize for that win. No, I wouldn't."

For the better part of the afternoon at the base of the Rocky Mountains, it appeared as if the Jets (5-1) would have plenty of apologizing to do. They gave Denver several chances in the first half to grab a stranglehold and take command. The Broncos couldn't seem to get out of their own way, though, and let the Jets, who led only twice, hang with them throughout.

The Jets managed to wipe away with their miscues and gaffes with one Sanchez heave - and, of course, a yellow handkerchief. With 73,951 mostly orange-clad fans screaming at the top of their lungs and the stadium shaking as if there was an earthquake, the Jets faced a fourth down with 1:31 left, needing to convert to keep their fading hopes alive.

Sanchez had already thrown his first two interceptions of the season and also had two others that could've been picked off. He looked left initially. After seeing nothing was there and that Holmes wasn't open, he looked down the middle, only to be taken off that read as well because tight end Dustin Keller was covered up.

The second-year quarterback kept the play alive with his feet and looked left again for Holmes, heaving a pass nearly 50 yards. Holmes had gotten past cornerback Perrish Cox and down the left sideline. He leaped for the catch and safety Renaldo Hill tried to defend the play, but he was flagged for pass interference for grabbing Holmes' face mask.

"I looked to Dustin down the middle first and then all the way outside," Sanchez said. "I knew that would be a long throw. I felt the safety running that way off of Tone, so it was one-on-one and the defender wasn't looking. I just threw it at the back of his head, give Tone a chance. He definitely would've caught that without interference."

Said Holmes: "It was a double move on the corner. He bit down on it and it left me one on one with the safety. I couldn't find my quarterback. I never saw him until I saw the ball in the air.

"It was just one of those plays that you depend on somebody to make a play for the team, and come out on top at some point. And that's what we did."

Tomlinson's 2-yard plunge one play later gave the Jets a four-point bulge with 1:16 to play, and Dwight Lowery's fumble recovery on Denver's bad snap out of the shotgun on third-and-6 from the Jets' 44 sealed their fifth straight victory.

And just like that, all was well. The sloppy, turnover-filled effort was a distant memory, vanishing somewhere in Big Sky country for the Jets as they hit their bye this week.

"We feel like we kind of stole one," safety Jim Leonhard said. "We got one at the end. We made plays when we needed to and it's good to get a win. A lot better to be 5-1 than 4-2."

Said Ryan: "We didn't have our best game, we turned the ball over a bunch. They ran the ball more effectively than we would have liked. But at the end of the day, it's a Jet victory and we'll take it. We're 5-1 heading into our bye week."