Newsday (N.Y.): Sanchez transformed from spectator to winning QB

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SAN DIEGO -- The eye black hadn't been removed. Neither had the feeling that everything in his career was going absolutely perfectly. The fates brought Mark Sanchez to Qualcomm Stadium again, but this time it was as a player, not just a spectator.

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Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday: Jets' rushing games rolls, but Washington's lost

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Ground it, pound it. Rex Ryan kept emphasizing his philosophy, kept talking about a Jets team that ran and ran and ran; a Jets team that lost its No. 2 rusher, maybe for the season, but didn't lose its direction or its push on the offensive line.

Five minutes into a game that would serve as much as a reminder as a result, Leon Washington incurred a season-ending injury, a compound fracture of the fibula in his right leg.

Almost before teammates were airborne on their flight back home, Washington was on the operating table at a hospital. "They needed to get surgery done,'' Ryan said, an indication of the seriousness of the injury. "They didn't want to wait to get back to New York.''

It was a sobering comment about an otherwise delightful afternoon along San Francisco Bay. The Jets, rushing for more than 300 yards for a second straight week -- the first time that had been accomplished by anyone in the NFL since 1975 - crushed the Oakland Raiders, 38-0.

"This is as good as it gets from an offensive standpoint,'' said Ryan after a game in which the Jets, ending a three-game losing streak, gained 447 yards of total offense. "We were able to control the ball as good as we did.''

They did it because rookie Shonn Greene from Iowa, who had only seven carries the first six games, carried 19 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns and because Thomas Jones rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

They did it because the offensive line pushed around a Raiders team that showed a bit of life a week ago in upsetting the Eagles but now, at 2-5, seem pathetic once more.

"When we took the young man,'' Ryan said of Greene, whom the Jets acquired with the 65th pick in last spring's draft after a complex trade, "how we visualized our team was that we would ground it, pound it, and let the young kid hit you when you were on your heels. But he's a talented back, and you can't have too many good players.''

Nor can you have too much vengeance. Jets offensive line coach Bill Callahan led the Raiders to the Super Bowl in 2002 and then was fired after a 4-12 season in '03. So at game's end it was Ryan himself who gave Callahan a Gatorade dousing.

"He probably won't say it,'' Ryan said of Callahan, "but this game was really important to him. We just wanted to show him our support. He means a lot. And this game was special to me, with my brother.''

That would be Rob Ryan, longtime Raiders defensive coordinator, dismissed after last season.

No one was dismissing Greene's performance, including Greene. "I was upset when the injury happened [to Washington] but I was prepared. I just followed that offensive line. They did a great job sustaining blocks. Give them the credit for all the hard work. [Jones] and I just followed them the whole way.''

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/jets-rushing-games-rolls-but-washington-s-lost-1.1548347
Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday: Jets' defense nasty from start and never lets up

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It started early for the Jets' defense, the first play from scrimmage, and it never ended until the game did.

The Jets took willingly -- four turnovers -- and gave grudgingly in a 38-0 rout Sunday, the most lopsided home loss in the Raiders' 50 seasons.

This without nose tackle Kris Jenkins, done for the season with a torn ACL. But this with his replacement, Sione Pouha, along with Marques Douglas, Calvin Pace, Shaun Ellis and the rest of the Jets' defenders.

"When a guy goes down,'' linebacker Bryan Thomas said, "there's not going to be any sympathy cards. The next guy has to step up. It was good to see Mike DeVito and [Howard] Green and [Ropati] Pitoitua step up and contribute.''

Pace sacked troubled Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell on the first scrimmage play, with Russell fumbling and Douglas recovering at the Oakland 4. Four plays later, the Jets were in front 7-0.

Jets coach Rex Ryan said defensive coordinator Mike Pettine "wanted to give Calvin the opportunity to pass rush, so he flipped the responsibilities for Calvin and Bryan Thomas, and it paid off for us. Calvin did a great job, not only with sacks [three] but in stripping the ball.''

Before the half was history, Russell was. After the fumble, Russell threw two interceptions, and with about six minutes left in the second quarter he was benched, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft replaced by Bruce Gradkowski.

Apropos of nothing, it was a bad day for Bay Area quarterbacks, with Shaun Hill of the 49ers being replaced by Alex Smith in the loss at Houston.

Ryan didn't care about who was playing for the Raiders, just that his defense was effective against one and all.

Oakland had the ball at the Jets' 2 with a couple of minutes left but couldn't score. "Our guys never flinched,'' said Ryan, who conceded the Raiders could have kicked a field goal just to get points. "We wanted to keep them out of the end zone. It was a great sign.''

He said the defense's primary goal was to halt the Raiders' running game. The Jets allowed 119 harmless yards on the ground.

"We just have to be physical up front,'' he said. "We miss Kris. That's a big loss. But we want to win a championship, so we can't stop.''

In Oakland, interest in the Raiders virtually has stopped.

Announced attendance at a game blacked out regionally was 39,354, smallest since the team moved back to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995.

A bad sign was the way the fans, few as they might have been, booed Russell. By game's end, the only cheers were for the Jets, probably from New York expatriates.

New York teams have pummeled the Raiders of late. Three weeks ago, the Giants beat them, 44-7, at the Meadowlands. Now comes 38-0 from the Jets.

"Our guys stepped up,'' Ryan said. And stepped all over the Raiders.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/jets-defense-nasty-from-start-and-never-lets-up-1.1548378
Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.