Jets hold off Vikings' second-half rally

The Jets entered Monday night's matchup with Brett Favre and the Vikings looking to get a little more validation, hoping to collect a few more props and add to their three-game winning streak. But there's only one word to describe how the Jets should be feeling now: fortunate.

They nearly let the Vikings steal a game the Jets led throughout, as Favre passed for 233 yards and three touchdowns in the second half. After Minnesota cut a 12-point deficit to two points on two occasions, Dwight Lowery's 26-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:30 left put an end to Favre's potential winning drive, giving the Jets a 29-20 victory and sending the rain-soaked revelers left at New Meadowlands Stadium well past midnight into a frenzy.

On the interception, Favre threw a pass intended for Visanthe Shiancoe but Lowery jumped the route to pick it off. "The pressure got there and he had to hold the ball a split second more than what he probably wanted to,'' Lowery said, "and the rest was history.''

"Our challenge to our guys was to keep digging, to dig deep and find a way to get it done,'' coach Rex Ryan said. "That's what I'm proud of. We felt confident we'd win the game, we just didn't know how.

"We're happy to move on at 4-1. We're right on schedule. We want to have that best record in the National Football League at the end of the season and we're right on pace.''

Shonn Greene ran for a 23-yard touchdown for a 22-13 lead with 4:30 left and Nick Folk drilled all five of his field-goal tries to help the Jets (4-1) squeeze past Minnesota (1-3).

Mark Sanchez completed 21 of 44 attempts for 191 yards, and LaDainian Tomlinson gained 94 yards on 20 carries, including 61 in the first half.

Favre picked it up after a sluggish first half, connecting on 14 of 34 attempts for 264 yards, with three TDs, one interception and two fumbles. Randy Moss snared four passes for 81 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown, in his Vikings debut, and Adrian Peterson rushed for 88 yards on 18 carries.

"Well, the goal was to go out and limit A.P., and he had some good runs. He's the best back in the league,'' linebacker Calvin Pace - who returned from a broken foot and said he played all but the last four snaps - said of the second half. "They made some plays, but we talked a lot about closing out games throughout the offseason and season, and we were able to close it out. Dwight made a huge play in getting the pick and sealing it with a touchdown. So again, it was a total team effort.''

The game was delayed about 45 minutes by lightning after a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area.

The Jets took a 9-0 lead into the third quarter, but it felt as if they should've been ahead by more than three field goals. They piled up 206 yards by halftime and spread the ball around, with eight players besides Sanchez getting their hands on it.

They also held Minnesota to 51 yards in the half, shutting down Favre and Peterson. But despite all that, the Jets never seized control and let the Vikings hang around.

Minnesota finally got its offense on track late in the third quarter. Moss and Favre found that magic they'd been looking for in their first game together, hooking up for a 37-yard touchdown on Favre's perfectly thrown pass to the right back corner of the end zone. Favre's record 500th scoring pass cut the gap to 12-7 with 2:10 left in the third.

Brad Smith's 86-yard return to the Vikings' 19 on the ensuing kickoff gave the momentum back to the Jets, who pushed their lead to 15-7 four plays later on Folk's 31-yard field goal.

Minnesota cut the deficit to 15-13 early in the fourth on Favre's 34-yard touchdown toss to Percy Harvin. The Vikings went for two, but Favre's conversion pass was picked off by Antonio Cromartie.

By going for two and failing, it set up the possibility of a two-score deficit if the Jets scored a touchdown. That's what happened when Greene's 23-yard run and Folk's PAT made it 22-13.

"As an offense, we were kind of sputtering out drives, kind of getting caught up in third-and- longs. That was a good lifter for us,'' Greene said of his touchdown. "It was one of those comeback plays, start one way, come back the other way. Misdirection. I kind of knew it was going to work. We hadn't run it the whole second half. We ran it the first half. They saw it. But I had a good feeling about it and it worked.''

But Favre threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Harvin with 3:09 remaining to move the Vikings within 22-20 before Lowery's interception and touchdown return clinched it.

"It was getting scary out there,'' linebacker Bart Scott said. "He marched down the field in what, less than a minute. He's a great quarterback and that team has a lot of grit, a lot of great players. We knew it was going to be a championship-type mentality. We weren't able to capitalize on some of the plays we made earlier to put them away. You let a team like that hang around, he keeps slanging that thing up to Moss. It got real interesting.''

Said tight end Dustin Keller, "We're just fortunate to have the type of defense that we do. We were a little bit sluggish offensively, especially early on. But you've got to find ways to win games. I don't think we were converting on third down as well in the red zone and we kicked five field goals. That's never really something you'd want. Obviously, you want to come away with points, but you want to get into the end zone.''