For the second week in a row, the New York Jets (8-5) faced a do-or-die situation, an elimination game. Knowing that they essentially need to run the board to make the playoffs, Gang Green put together their best performance of the season topping the Kansas City Chiefs (5-8) at home 37-10. The win, along with losses by the Bengals and Titans today, means that if the Raiders lose, the Jets will have sole possession of the sixth seed.
Firing on all cylinders, the Jets totaled 314 yards on offense while allowing just 221 yards on defense. They efficiently shut down Chiefs and pressured quarterback Tyler Palko all day, sacking him five times and limiting him to 16 of 32 for 195 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
The pick came in the second quarter when Jets safety Jim Leonhard snatched a pass intended for Steve Breaston, who grabbed Leonhard’s ankle in an attempt to bring him down. Leonhard left the game with a right knee injury and was unable to return.
Mark Sanchez accounted for 28 points himself and didn’t throw an interception for the second consecutive week. The Jets kicked off the game with a great opening drive that was capped off with a bootleg run by Sanchez as he went untouched into the end zone.
By halftime, he’d thrown two more touchdowns, one to Santonio Holmes in the back of the end zone early in the second quarter, and another on a screen pass to LaDainian Tomlinson just before the half. Shonn Greene’s seven yard touchdown run accounted for another seven points as the Jets went into the locker room at the break up 28-3 with over two hundred yards of offense to the Chiefs’ four yards.
Greene continued his great start to the month, rushing for 129 yards on 24 carries and reaching the end zone twice, once on the ground and once on a reception. He has five touchdowns in two games this December and has been running with a purpose.
Jackie Battle led the Chiefs ground attack with 10 carries for 33 yards. Ex-Jet Thomas Jones added five carries for just 12 yards, numbers that are reflective of the general ineffectiveness of the Kansas City offense throughout the game.
Game Notes:
Dwayne Bowe had 6 receptions for 69 yards of the game; Darrelle Revis was guarding him for the majority of the game. Shonn Greene led the Jets in both rushing and receiving yards, grabbing five passes for 58 yards. The Jets owned the time of possession battle, holding the ball for almost 38 minutes of playtime. The Chiefs had 11 penalties for 128 yards in the game, the majority of which came on a third quarter Jets drive that started at the three-yard line and ended in a Mark Sanchez touchdown run, with 66 of the 97 yards coming in the form of Chiefs’ penalties.
