Just as Coach Herman Edwards promised, Chad Pennington returned to lead the Jets offense, However, the Coach will likely get a lot of second guessing by the media this coming week as a Pennington interception led to the Eagles winning score.
Just as Coach Herman Edwards promised, Chad Pennington returned to lead the Jets offense, However, the Coach will likely get a lot of second guessing this coming week by the media as a Pennington interception led to the Eagles winning score.
Pennington relieved a hot handed Vinny Testaverde in the second quarter after Testaverde led the Jets to 10 early points including a beautiful 60 yard touchdown to Santana Moss during a perfectly played flea flicker play. Testaverde was taken out after completing 7 of 11 passes for 112 yards. On Pennington’s first drive, he led the Jets offense from their own 8 yard line to the Eagles 20 but the drive was ended on a Santana Moss fumble.
The only score drive led by Pennington was late in the third quarter capped by a four yard LaMont Jordan TD run. The interception by Pennington in the fourth quarter was the result of a badly underthrown pass intended for Moss.
Overall, despite a few flashes, Pennington (14-23 141, 0 TD, 1 INT) looked rusty and Edwards will surely be criticized by some for his decision to remove Testaverde who was playing well. The team did rush the ball effectively with Curtis Martin getting his first 100 yard day of the season (20 carries, 110 Yds).
On defense, the good news continues to be the Jets pass rush which sacked Donovan McNabb five times, including 3 1/2 by DE John Abraham. DE Shaun Ellis also had another sack which brought his league leading total to nine for the year. Ellis has has now had a sack in ten consecutive games. The bad news is the teams run defense continued to be horrid. The Jets gave up 194 total yards rushing including 100 yards to Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter. Philly averaged over six yards every time they ran the ball against the sorry Jets run defense.
The Jets are now right back to where they are used to being....on the brink of the season blowing up. The task gets no easier as they face their cross town rival Giants next week and then go on the road to face a desperate Raiders team. However, if history repeats itself, the Jets have the rest of the league right where they want them.
