Jets win another nail-biter, beating Browns 26-20 in OT

CLEVELAND - Santonio Holmes didn't have much time to think, not with a precious 20-something seconds left on the clock inside Cleveland Browns Stadium.

As the wide receiver motored toward the end zone closest to Lake Erie, visions of getting caught from behind by a linebacker - as he did during his critical 52-yard reception in overtime against the Lions a week earlier - weren't exactly dancing in his head. But don't think for a second that he wasn't cognizant of the barbs that were sure to come his way if he got dragged down from behind again.

"I know they would've if it would've happened again," Holmes said. "Those guys would have definitely been all down my butt, on top of me, hounding me the whole week and every day from here on out. So I definitely had to show the guys I've still got a little speed left in the tank."

Holmes grabbed a simple slant from Mark Sanchez, hit the afterburners and took it 37 yards to the house for a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining in overtime, propelling the Jets to a heart-stopping 26-20 win over Eric Mangini's Browns.

Not even three missed field-goal attempts by Nick Folk, including a 47-yarder with 4:51 left in overtime, could prevent the Jets (7-2) from pulling out their second consecutive overtime win and franchise-record eighth straight regular-season road victory. Each of their last three wins - against Denver, Detroit and Cleveland - wasn't decided until the closing seconds, and they became the first team in NFL history to win overtime road games in consecutive weeks.

"For a team that's smoke and mirrors," right tackle Damien Woody said, "to be undefeated on the road, that's no easy feat right there."

"If you want to win games on the road, you bring a good football team, and that's what we have," coach Rex Ryan said. "You talk about how resilient this football team is, that's two road games in a row in overtime."

The Browns (3-6) got the ball at their own 3 with 1:35 left in OT after intercepting Sanchez's heave intended for Braylon Edwards, making his return to the city where he spent four-plus tumultuous seasons. Cleveland took a shot deep with rookie quarterback Colt McCoy on first down before Peyton Hillis - who bruised his way to 82 yards on 19 carries - was stuffed for a 2-yard gain and McCoy was sacked at the 2.

After Jim Leonhard's 18-yard punt return to the Browns' 37, the Jets had a mere 24 seconds remaining. In their minds, that was plenty of time.

Holmes finally got the play called that he had been lobbying Brian Schottenheimer for. He was ready to torch Eric Wright, given how far he'd been playing off in coverage. "I went to my OC, coach Schottenheimer, and said, 'I need a slant route on 21 at some point in this game because he's giving me too much leverage,' " Holmes said. "We hadn't run a slant all game and we called it at the perfect time."

Holmes caught the ball between Wright and former Jet Eric Barton at the 30-yard line, and Barton nearly ran into Wright. Rookie safety T.J. Ward completely whiffed on a weak arm tackle as Holmes changed direction, cutting inside him and bolting straight for Lake Erie. Game over.

"Tone made a great catch and I finally saw his top-end speed," Sanchez said. "I didn't think he was going to get caught on this one. We gave him a lot of grief all week about getting caught by a linebacker, so there was no way . . . "

Folk's second field goal, a 25-yarder, gave the Jets a 20-13 lead with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter, but the Browns tied it on a 3-yard pass from McCoy to Mohamed Massaquoi with 44 seconds left. Then the Jets were able to stave off the first tie of the NFL season.

"This is an easy game to lose, an easy game to lose," Sanchez said. "One mistake could've lost it for us. But we were resilient another week and we'll take the win."