By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer
December 23, 2002
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- Chad Pennington showed the New England Patriots something they learned last season. A young quarterback can lead a struggling team on a stretch drive.
Doing an impressive imitation of Tom Brady -- the 2001 version -- Pennington threw three touchdown passes and kept the New York Jets in the playoff race with a 30-17 victory Sunday night.
``He had a big game,'' Jets coach Herman Edwards said. ``Our guys have had that fortitude, coming in here realizing that we had to win it or go home.''
It's a surprise that they've gotten this far. The Jets were 1-3 with Vinny Testaverde at quarterback, then lost Pennington's first game as a starter. Since then, he's 7-3.
The Jets (8-7) will win the AFC East if they beat Green Bay on Sunday, and New England (8-7) beats Miami (9-6).
``We always believed in ourselves, even when others didn't,'' Jets linebacker Mo Lewis said. ``We believed when we were 1-4 and we continued to work hard.''
Lewis is part of the reason the Patriots were champions last season. His hard hit on Drew Bledsoe in the second game sidelined the quarterback and Brady took over. They were 5-5, then Brady led them to nine straight wins, including the Super Bowl.
On Sunday night, he looked like anything but the MVP of that game, going 19-for-37 for 133 yards and leading one decent drive. It covered 16 plays, ending with his 6-yard pass to Christian Fauria that tied it at 17 on the first series of the third quarter.
``We put ourselves in a position to take it down to the wire,'' New England coach Bill Belichick said.
The Jets punted on the next series, a play that turned the momentum in their favor. Troy Brown muffed it, Nick Ferguson recovered at the 19 and John Hall kicked one of his three field goals, a 23-yarder for a 20-17 edge.
``It's one of the worst plays I've ever had in my career,'' Brown said. ``It was just a bad decision'' not to call for a fair catch.
It sent the Patriots toward a loss that took their playoff chances out of their control. If they had beaten the Jets and then Miami in the regular-season finale, they would have won the AFC East. Now they can win it with a victory over Miami and a Jets loss to the Packers.
``If we don't play better, it's not going to matter who hands us something,'' Fauria said.
The Patriots and Jets also are in the wild-card race.
``We've come along too far to not say we're going to finish it,'' Edwards said.
Pennington finished strongly Sunday, completing 7 of 8 passes in the fourth quarter after going 11-for-11 in the first, including touchdown passes to Laveranues Coles of 32 yards and Santana Moss of 11.
``I'm shocked that we didn't come out with more interest in this game,'' Patriots center Damien Woody said.
In the fourth, Pennington, who was 23-for-33 for 285 yards, hit Wayne Chrebet in the end zone with a 15-yarder for a 27-17 lead with 8:45 left.
It was a big relief for Chrebet. The Jets lost to Chicago 20-13 a week earlier, and his fumble as he tried to leap over opponents with the Jets driving toward the tying touchdown was critical.
``I had a tough week last week,'' he said. ``I just wanted to come out and make the plays and have everything go back to normal.''
So does Brady.
The Jets, he said, ``don't come in here saying, 'We're playing the Super Bowl champs.' They come in here saying, 'We're playing a team that's 8-6.'''
The Patriots had gone 5-1 to improve to 8-5, then scored just two offensive touchdowns in losing to Tennessee and New York. New England's other points Sunday came on Kevin Faulk's 87-yard kickoff return that made it 7-7 and Adam Vinatieri's 49-yard field goal.
One of those wins was a 44-7 rout of the Jets in the second week when Testaverde started and Curtis Martin rushed for five yards on an injured ankle. On Sunday, Martin had 106 yards in 26 carries for a total of 1,011 this season. He and Barry Sanders, who did it 10 times, are the only NFL players to rush for at least 1,000 yards in each of their first eight seasons.
``It means everything to me. I was hurt this year,'' Martin said.
All the Jets are feeling better now after overcoming a 1-4 start and the loss to Chicago.
``Last week, we didn't think we were going to be breathing, but now we're breathing,'' Pennington said.
The Patriots are down to their last gasp.
``You hope at the end of the year, with as much work as you put in, you really play the best you can play,'' Brady said. ``This team is not playingwith a lot of confidence.'' Notes Faulk returned a kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown against Oakland in a Sunday night game this season. ... The Jets outgained the Patriots 261-78 in the first half and are 5-0 at New England since 1998. ... Fauria has seventouchdowns, matching his total for his previous seven seasons.
Updated on Monday, Dec 23, 2002 3:42 am, EST
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