Jets rout Rams to set up battle for 1st with Pats

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

November 10, 2008

In the locker room afterward, Damien Woody had a message for Brett Favre and the rest of his teammates.

"I told Brett and I told everybody else, 'This is how good we can be,'" Woody said. "We're a good football team. There's no question in my mind, we're a good football team. We just have to do it week in and week out. That's what good football teams do."

And for the first time this season, the Jets were good - really good - two weeks in a row.

Coming off their biggest victory of the season at Buffalo and with a first-place battle in New England looming Thursday night, the Jets emphatically took care of business yesterday, blasting the inept Rams, 47-3, on a blustery afternoon at the Meadowlands. It was the Jets' largest margin of victory in franchise history.

Woody talked about good teams "developing a swagger," something the Jets might be doing. "You do that, it's a powerful thing," Woody said.

The Jets (6-3) overpowered the Rams, building a 40-0 halftime lead - the second-highest point total for a half in franchise history and the third-largest halftime lead in league history. The rout allowed Eric Mangini to rest some starters with a short week of preparation upcoming before playing the Patriots (6-3).

That game elicited as many questions as yesterday's did. And the players were fine with that.

"I think this is the reason some of the guys came here from other teams, the offseason acquisitions," said free-agent linebacker Calvin Pace, whose 50-yard fumble return for his first touchdown since high school made it 17-0 in the first quarter. "To play in a game like this."

Another import, nose tackle Kris Jenkins, agreed. "It was good to win," he said, "but we understand we have a big showdown coming up."

The Jets' biggest acquisition of all, Favre, felt the same. "It would mean a lot," he said of a victory in New England.

Favre, with the game long since clinched, was pulled with more than 11 minutes left. He went 14-for-19 for 167 yards and a TD, and the only time he hit the ground was when he fell on a bad snap. For the second straight week, Favre wasn't sacked.

The offensive line did its job for the ground game, too, with Thomas Jones amassing 107 of his 149 rushing yards by halftime. Jones, who averaged 5.7 yards a carry, had a career-best three touchdowns, and rookie tight end Dustin Keller had six receptions for 107 yards and a TD.

After forcing only one turnover in a three-game span, the defense forced three at Buffalo and five more yesterday. Three of them came in the final six minutes of the first half, leading to 13 points.

"The completeness of the game is something we've been stressing week in and week out," Mangini said. "I thought we took a really good step toward that last week against Buffalo and were able to continue this week."

The Rams (2-7), shorthanded even before their leading rusher, Steven Jackson, was ruled out Friday with a quadriceps injury, offered little resistance.

But the game still represented significant progress for the Jets, who have struggled against some of the worst teams in the NFL. There were subpar performances in victories over the Bengals and Chiefs and an inexplicable loss to the Raiders.

The Jets showed right away that yesterday would be different. They easily moved downfield on the game's opening possession, driving 80 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. Jones, who entered averaging 4.5 yards a carry, ran five times on the drive for 53 yards.

Jones received a space-clearing block from center Nick Mangold - who left the game in the third quarter with a back issue but returned after missing two snaps - on the first play, a 20-yard gain. Jones' 13-yard run made it 7-0.

The Jets received four first-half field goals from Jay Feely, including a 55-yarder, tying the franchise record, on the final play. The Jets outgained the Rams 246-88 in total yards in the first half and 373-200 overall.

"I think it was a sign of maturity of this team, being able to get up on a team that we feel like we should be able to take care of," guard Brandon Moore said.

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