Critics told Plaxico Burress that his career was over, destroyed by a mistake in a nightclub that sent him to prison. But he never once gave up and when he was released this offseason, the New York Jets offered him a shot at redemption in his old stomping grounds.
It took some time for Burress to prove that he still had “it”, but his three-touchdown performance tonight erased all doubts. He only had four receptions on the day, but he made them count with three short red zone receptions that propelled the Jets to their fourth home win.
“I told the guys after the game that this is our bye week coming up, and that Plax and Sanchez have to work on red zone efficiency. The rest of them can go,” Rex Ryan joked. “Nah, but it was great to see. The thing we talk about as a team is that sometimes you’re going to be featured more than others. Obviously, he had the three red zone touchdowns.”
A lights-out second half performance from Rex Ryan’s defense held the Chargers scoreless for the last thirty minutes of play to keep the team undefeated in MetLife Stadium. The pass defense came up huge once again, limiting Philip Rivers to 16 completions on 32 attempts for 179 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.
Darrelle Revis brought in his fourth interception of the season early in the fourth quarter to end a Chargers drive that brought them all the way to the Jets’ 25-yard line. The offense quickly turned it around for seven points and the first New York lead of the game on Burress’ third touchdown.
Rex Ryan explained the defensive look on the interception: “This will be for the advanced class. They were running motions over to see if it was man. We showed them a man look, then ran loaded zones. It was a great call. Sure enough, they threw into it. Cro had great coverage. He got a tip on the ball and Revis was off to the races.
Kyle Wilson picked off Rivers on the next San Diego drive with just 5:23 remaining in the game on a pass intended for Vincent Jackson. The Jets were able to run the clock down to 1:36 before a Nick Folk field goal put them ahead 27-21. All it took was some poor time management from Rivers and a few confusing attempts at short passes before Sanchez lined up in the victory formation to put it in the books.
“We saw the team we envisioned at the start of the season. We were slow to get it going, but we saw it,” Rex Ryan said. “That team is the NFL leader in time of possession, and that’s something we talked about, third down and time of possession. We were able to win it, and that was the difference in the game.”
Mike Tolbert saw success running the ball in a temporary Ryan Mathews absense during the game, averaging 5.3 yards per carry as he ran for 58 yards and a touchdown. Mathews was held to just 39 yards on his 13 rushing attempts and was highly ineffective when he was on the field.
The Chargers were glad to get Antonio Gates involved today as he returned from injury as he led the team with five receptions and 54 yards as well as the only San Diego touchdown reception.
After a successful week against the Dolphins, the Jets offense found some continuation today as both the pass game and run game were in full force. Mark Sanchez was 18 for 33 in the game for 173 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
Sanchez finally recognized that at 6’5”, Plaxico Burress is his best bet in the end zone every time. Lob it up there high enough that only he can catch it, and Burress will go up there and bring down a touchdown just about every single time.
“I feel we got off to a good start offensively,” said Burress. “We came in with a great plan [and] we were just trying to execute it. Mark [Sanchez] and myself, we did a good job of trying to get a little groove going. We’ve been working hard at it, day in and day out, and it showed.”
Despite Burress’ success in the game, the most valuable player for the Gang Green offense was Shonn Greene, who averaged 5.6 yards on 20 carries for 112 yards (his first 100+ yard game of the season). Greene did not find the end zone, but he put the team in position to score all day long.
After receiving the honorary start against his former team, LaDainian Tomlinson had a fairly quiet day. He rushed for just 14 yards and had another 37 via receptions, certainly a letdown after the announcement of the start got some hoping that he would have a monster showing.
“This team doesn’t have any quit,” Mark Sanchez said after the win. “We rely on each other to come back and make plays, offense. I didn’t like that we had too many penalties this week, but that’s something we have to compete against and battle with the next two weeks. I’m sure happy the way we persevered through a slow start.”
The New York Jets enter their bye at 4-3, looking towards a trip to Buffalo on November 6th to face the division rival Bills at 1:00 p.m. The San Diego Chargers will go to Arrowhead Stadium next week to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football at 8:30 p.m.
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