Raiders, slightly less inept than Jets, win in OT

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

October 20, 2008

Abram Elam tries to tackle Darren McFadden

Jets safety Abram Elam tries to tackle Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden during the Jets' 16-13 overtime loss Sunday. (Getty Images Photo / October 19, 2008)

OAKLAND - On an afternoon when two teams alternated between being inept and undisciplined, it was the Raiders who were a little less bad.

The Raiders won, 16-13, on Sebastian Janikowski's franchise-record 57-yard field goal with 2:30 left in overtime. It was their first home victory in three tries.

The Jets dipped into their familiar post-loss well of laments for the third time this season, discussing their "self-inflicted wounds." But no one self-impaled yesterday as much as the Raiders, who committed 14 penalties, seemingly at one point early in the game lining up offsides more often than not.

Defensive end Shaun Ellis mentioned those wounds as well - seven penalties and three turnovers - but finally ventured and spoke what no one else had, something that everyone inside the locker room and outside knew: that the Jets had no business losing to the Raiders (2-4), who have had the word "dysfunctional" used in front of their name as often as "Oakland" this season.

"It's definitely a team we should have beaten," Ellis said, before catching himself. "But they played great, too. Their defense gave our offense a lot of problems, and their offense gave us a lot of problems in the run game."

Brett Favre led a frantic, final-seconds drive that resulted in a 52-yard field goal by Jay Feely with 3 seconds left that tied it at 13. He missed his first attempt but was granted a reprieve when Oakland coach Tom Cable called a timeout. But Favre (21-for-38, 197 yards, zero TDs, two interceptions) could not get anything going in overtime. He was denied his 41st fourth-quarter winning comeback and first with the Jets.

"Being in the situation that I'm in, coming here, in my opinion, I came here to win games like that," said Favre, who called the loss among the most difficult to accept of his career.

"That's what's disappointing for me. I've been in a lot of those and you don't win them all, but this being my first one \, I was really hoping we could pull this one out."

The Jets fell to 3-3, and based on their performance, a victory next Sunday against Herman Edwards' dreadful Chiefs isn't a sure thing. On offense, only Thomas Jones, who had 159 yards on 24 carries, Brad Smith, who was a threat running (59 yards) and catching (four receptions), and Feely had reasons to smile.

Not that any Jet on either side of the ball was.

"I really felt we were going to pull that off in the end and it just came down to that field goal, and we didn't pull it out," said nose tackle Kris Jenkins, part of a defense that came in third against the run (69 yards per game) but allowed 153.

"You have to take your hat off to them, they came out and played a great game. We just fell short and it hurts. I don't know how else to explain it. It's something if you take pride in what you do, you take pride in competing, you take pride in going out and winning ... there's really no way to describe the pain of defeat. It's agonizing."

Linebacker David Bowens called the loss "an eye-opener."

"We had two wins in a row and were feeling pretty confident coming in here, but it just goes to show on any given Sunday any team can win," Bowens said.

The Jets started the game in a no-huddle and went 58 yards in nine plays, the final one a 40-yard Feely field goal for a 3-0 lead.

The typically undisciplined Raiders were caught off guard on the drive ... and offsides, called for three such infractions, including one in which defensive tackle Gerard Warren and defensive end Jay Richardson were in the neutral zone. Favre went 5-for-7 for 39 yards on the opening drive.

The Raiders tied it via a Jets gift as Leon Washington muffed a knuckleball from punter Shane Lechler at the 16, leading to Janikowski's 29-yard field goal with 1:49 left to make it 3-3.

It remained that way until JaMarcus Russell (17-for-30 for 203 yards) hit Javon Walker for an 8-yard touchdown with 9:35 left in the third to make it 10-3.

The Jets continued to flounder on offense until the fourth, when they went 87 yards in nine plays, tying it at 10 on Washington's 11-yard run with eight minutes left. The drive featured a 5-yard first-down run by Smith on a direct snap, and a 36-yard Smith run on a reverse.

After Janikowski gave the Raiders a 13-10 lead with a 37-yard field goal with 2:56 left, Favre threw an interception that DeAngelo Hall returned to the Jets' 40. But three straight runs - and three timeouts - gave the Jets one final chance as they took over at the 5 with 1:24 left. They somehow moved into field-goal range and had all the momentum after Feely's boot, but victory eluded them.

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