Jets shake off Favre's 3 INTs to rally past Chiefs

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

October 27, 2008

No matter what, the sting of last week's ugly loss to the horrid Raiders wasn't going to be eliminated yesterday at the Meadowlands. Not against the Chiefs, who might be the third-best team in their state, behind the Rams and the University of Missouri.

But a strong performance had the potential to springboard the Jets into the difficult stretch of their schedule and at least show the Raiders game to be more of an aberration than a representation of who they are.

Instead, Brett Favre's 15-yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles with a minute left that beat the Chiefs, 28-24, merely left far more questions than answers about an enigmatic 4-3 club.

Players described the Oakland loss as a "wake-up call," then curiously came out flat against the depleted Chiefs (1-6), who were down to starting their third-string quarterback. The Jets nearly suffered a loss that even for a mostly forlorn franchise would have ranked near the historic bottom for shock value.

"Against Buffalo, we make those mistakes, it's going to get ugly quick," linebacker Calvin Pace said of Sunday's opponent, sure to be edgy after losing in Miami. "We have to get better."

But before hammering the Jets for a win that a few players were honest enough to say they were lucky to get, a bigger picture of the AFC East can't be dismissed, either. If the Jets beat the Bills and the Patriots lose to the Colts, there will be a three-way tie for first.

That, of course, won't happen if Favre continues what has been an alarming lack of judgment in recent weeks. Yesterday he threw three interceptions, the fourth time this season he's had at least two, and raised his total to seven in the last three games. He has 15 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions after throwing 28 and 15, respectively, in 2007.

"It's a concern, it's always a concern," said Favre, who went 28-for-40 for 290 yards with two TDs. "Believe me, I'm doing my best to try and eliminate it. But I'm also trying to do my best to help this team win."

The 39-year-old did pull out his 41st fourth-quarter comeback win, but it was a deficit almost entirely of his making.

With the Jets leading 21-17 midway through the fourth, they faced third-and-2 from the Chiefs' 8-yard line. Favre tossed short over the middle for Chansi Stuckey, but cornerback Brandon Flowers read the play and made his second pick of the day. Flowers bolted 91 yards down the left sideline, avoiding a diving Favre just past midfield, to give the Chiefs a 24-21 lead with 7:48 left.

"It's never going to be one guy when it comes to interceptions, but obviously the quarterback will share a bulk of that," Eric Mangini said. "There are a lot of things that we can do as a coaching staff in giving him better options. That's something I'm going to investigate."

Getting Leon Washington more touches might be one of those options, because he scored two touchdowns on an 18-yard pass reception and a 60-yard run, had 274 all-purpose yards on 13 touches and helped set up Favre's winning TD pass.

The defense - which for long periods made Tyler Thigpen (25-for-36, 280 yards, two TDs) look like Chiefs icon Len Dawson - forced a Kansas City punt with 3:20 left, and Washington returned it 37 yards to the Chiefs' 46. Favre's 18-yard pass to a sliding Stuckey helped move the ball toward the red zone and set up the fade to Coles, who was questionable all week because of a concussion.

The win still wasn't secured until Drew Coleman broke up Thigpen's fourth-and-1 pass from the Jets' 31 with 17 seconds left.

Favre has said "never question a win" several times this season, and that was the prevailing feeling in the locker room.

"It tested one of our core characteristics about finishing games," linebacker David Bowens said. "Guys just had to step up and make plays, and that goes to finishing."

But there was some disgust, too. Disgust about having to sweat against a team that came in ranked last or near-last in most offensive and defensive categories; disgust with struggling against Thigpen, who came in with a 44.3 rating but had a 110.9 and led a 74-yard drive just before halftime that tied it at 14; disgust overall with not playing appreciably better after the debacle in Oakland.

"Yeah, a little bit," Pace said when asked if during the game the defensive players asked themselves how it was possible Thigpen was doing so well. "You can't discredit him. He's trying to get out there and make some plays and stay out there. It's not like we were going out there and putting him down ... but that being said, it shouldn't have come down to that last drive."

Taking the good with the bad

GOOD FAVRE

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