The Morning After (Week 3 edition)

After a tumultuous week that included Braylon Edwards' DWI arrest and the subsequent second-guessing of the Jets' decision not to deactivate the wide receiver, that 31-23 victory over the Dolphins in Miami had to have a bit of a savory taste to it.

You know, almost like wolfing down a New York Strip steak dinner after fasting for about a week or so.

The lions were out in full force, ready to really eat the Jets' alive. But just like Edwards -- who had a 67-yard third-quarter touchdown reception that gave the Jets the lead for good at 21-17 -- they brushed the distractions off and put together a key win in steamy South Florida.

“This is our job," RB LaDainian Tomlinson said after the game. "You got to understand something. We do this, with offseason stuff, pretty much nine months out of the year. So, you know, it’s a job for us. When we step out on the field we don’t even think about anything else. That includes during practice. And so you can’t think about anything else.

"So we were able to put it behind us, everything that happened, and move on.”

The Jets' offense was alive and kicking for the second consecutive week. They rolled up 402 yards, averaging 7.1 yards per play on their 57 offensive snaps.

QB Mark Sanchez had another solid game -- his second in a row -- throwing for 256 yards and three touchdowns. He was interception-free for the second consecutive game and is showing some serious signs of maturity.

"I knew that if we eliminated some of those interceptions from last year, and they’re not even completions and just make them incompletions, we win more games during the regular season and maybe get a playoff game at home," Sanchez said. "That’s what we’re fighting for and those are those little battles during the game and those red zone opportunities.

"We had a couple of those tonight and did really well we just need to eliminate those penalties and we’ve got a shot. That work in the off season definitely paid off. There’s no stopping now, we’re not going to plateau, we need to just keep getting better.”

Especially on defense. The unit that was supposed to be the team's strength yielded a ridiculous 436 yards and 24 first downs. There were a few communication breakdowns in the secondary, which led to Chad Henne throwing for 363 yards and two scores and Brandon Marshall's 10 receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown.

“You know they pay us a lot of money for us to play well," LB Bart Scott said. "We got to get better. We got to get off the football field. That used to be our strength. Third-and-10 getting up the football field and now we [are] letting teams convert. We got to get better. It’s just we got to go back and work hard.”

Give the defense this much: They came through on Miami's final drive of the game to thwart the Dolphins' last-second gasp.

Facing a fourth-and-4 from the Jets' 5, Henne looked for TE Anthony Fasano on a short curl route right near the goal line. But S Brodney Pool got his hands on the ball, tipping it. CB Drew Coleman collected the interception with 27 seconds left and sealed the Jets' second AFC East victory in successive weeks.

"We just had basically a Cover-2 and the coaches made a good call," Pool said. "We had saw that route before. We were fortunate to jump it and Drew made a good play."

Henne said: “Well, I mean we actually ran the play we scored on before with Anthony, and we tried to run it again. They ran a different coverage there; they went into cover two and dropped eight there. Anthony was in the end zone and the guy just came around his back and made a good play. He was there, but they made a good play.”

A play that elevated them to first place in the division and in good position to put a real stranglehold on things if they can knock off the bumbling Bills at The Ralph on Sunday.

Mind you, it also brought a bit of finality to an extremely wild week.

"It’s huge," S Jim Leonhard said. "Once Sunday rolls around, that’s our day. It’s football. Everything is back to the side and you put all that stuff out of your mind for four hours or however that game goes and it’s huge. To get back on that field and get a victory is big for this football team.

"Hopefully we can ride this momentum into next week."