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Jerry Rice showed off
his Hall of Fame form
in the Raiders' win
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Joe Namath and Daryle Lamonica had to feel a touch of nostalgia while watching the
Jets-Raiders AFC wild-card game. This one was like those old AFL shootouts in which
gunslingers like Namath and Lamonica thrived.
Try these numbers on for size: The two teams combined for 62 points (the Raiders won
38-24), 902 yards of offense and 46 first downs. And get this: The teams combined for 19
offensive possessions, and EVERY ONE of them advanced past midfield.
The ageless Jerry Rice was incredible, with nine catches for 183 yards, Rich Gannon was
23-of-29 for 294 yards, Charlie Garner and Curtis Martin each ran for more than 100 yards.
Wow.
Here’s a look at random thoughts and comments accumulated throughout a memorable
playoff game:
First quarter
The Raiders come out in a no-huddle offense, and their quicker tempo seems to catch the
Jets off guard as everything Oakland does works well until the offense bogs down inside
the Jets’ 10. RB Charlie Garner runs well, QB Rich Gannon completes all six of his
passes and Jerry Rice makes a big catch for 26 yards. This is a brilliant strategy since
the Raiders need to snap out of the doldrums of their three-game losing streak and they
also want to take advantage of the Jets’ tired legs after traveling cross-country
three times in less than a week.
It looks as though Raiders PK Sebastian Janikowski is fully healthy as he bangs a
21-yard field goal through the uprights.
The Jets show what they’re made of, marching right back on the Raiders. RB Curtis
Martin bursts ahead for 22 yards, and rookie RB LaMont Jordan picks up nine on another
run. The drive ends, however, when PK John Hall misses a 45-yard field goal wide left.
Amazingly, Hall is the reason why the Jets are here, since he booted a 53-yarder in the
dying seconds of these teams’ matchup last Sunday to give the Jets a 24-22 win and
earn them a place in the playoffs. That field goal is the longest in the illustrious
history of the Raiders’ home field, now called Network Associates Coliseum. A pretty
impressive feat.
The Raiders come back on their next possession as Gannon finds Rice for 29 yards. Boy,
it looks as though Gannon has all day back there to throw — the Jets are offering no
pass rush whatsoever.
Rice shows his age a bit when he stumbles and a Gannon pass hits Rice in the shoulder
pad and falls away incomplete — Gannon’s first incompletion of the game. Gannon
then gets out of rhythm as he fires high over an open Tim Brown. Janikowski comes on to
kick a 41-yard field goal, proving he is indeed OK.
The Jets’ Chad Morton looks dangerous, running back the ensuing kickoff 41 yards
to the Oakland 48.
Note of thanks to referee Dick Hantak and his crew for calling exactly ZERO penalties
in the first 15 minutes.
Second quarter
Raiders DT Grady Jackson makes a big run stop inside on Martin. Jackson is a key player
for the Raiders’ rush defense. The "D" has bent but not broken. Martin, who
gained 50 yards on 16 carries last week against the Raiders, is running well and looks
much better. He finishes with 63 yards on nine carries in the first half.
The great kickoff return results in a 45-yard field goal by Hall, who drills this one
through the uprights to cut the Raiders’ lead to 6-3. Both teams’ offenses look
better than the defenses.
Got to give credit to the Oakland offensive line for protecting Gannon brilliantly. The
Jets’ pass rush looks dead.
Oh, Gannon knows he missed a great opportunity as he scrambles for nine yards but
points to Garner, acknowledging the fact that Gannon saw Garner wide open in the flat, but
it was too late to throw to him. Garner had no one near him and would’ve probably
scored.
The first flag of the game comes with 7:50 left before halftime when Raiders OT Lincoln
Kennedy gets called for a false start. Janikowski knocks a 45-yard kick through the
uprights to make it 9-3.
The Jets miss top pass rusher DE John Abraham, who is shown in uniform but sitting on
the bench. He is suffering from the flu and is questionable to return. It’s a blow to
the Jets’ defense, as he led the team with 13 sacks.
Morton has another great kickoff return, and it leads to another field-goal attempt by
Hall. This time his kick is blocked by Anthony Dorsett. Hall, who was last week’s
hero, is certainly looking like this week’s goat for the Jets.
The Raiders march down the field as Gannon is surgically precise in his passing,
connecting on 14-of-16 passes for 143 yards in the first half. He caps his great half by
hitting a wide-open Tim Brown for a two-yard TD pass. Janikowski’s PAT makes it 16-3,
and that’s the score at the half.
The Jets are used to making comebacks and were 7-1 on the road coming in. They
can’t be counted out of this one.
Third quarter
The Jets come out throwing as QB Vinny Testaverde hits Laveranues Coles for 22 yards,
then finally finds WR Wayne Chrebet for the first time in this game for a 15-yard gain.
What a great catch! Chrebet fell but stayed with it and pinched the ball between his knees
before gathering it in.
That catch seems to spark the Jets as Martin bursts ahead for a 14-yard run. Testaverde
then finds a wide-open Chrebet in the endzone for a touchdown — it’s now 16-10.
The first big replay call of the game occurs when Brown catches a long pass down the
sideline from Gannon. The catch is ruled good on the field, but Brown clearly had only one
foot inbounds. The Jets immediately challenge the call, and after further review, the call
is reversed. Good decision.
Believe it or not, the first game’s first punt is by the Raiders’ Shane
Lechler, who comes onto the field with 7:47 left in the third quarter and promptly boots
the ball into the endzone for a touchback.
What a terrible call against Raiders DE Regan Upshaw as he’s flagged for roughing
Testaverde after sacking him. It doesn’t look like Upshaw did anything wrong. The
next play, a visibly upset Upshaw gets flagged for a 15-yard penalty for a facemask and is
promptly pulled from the game. He and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden exchange pleasantries.
It looks like the Raiders are starting to unravel.
The Raiders collect themselves long enough to force the Jets to punt for the first
time.
Testaverde hits Coles for 20 yards. The Jets’ passing game is starting to heat up.
Testaverde to Richie Anderson for a short gain, but Raiders S Johnnie Harris strips
Anderson of the ball. A huge play and the first turnover of the game. The Raiders take
over at their own 45.
Gannon finds Rice for the sixth time in the game, this time on a quick slant, and it
goes for 47 yards deep into Jets’ territory — a huge play when momentum had
seemed to be on the Jets’ side. The turnover by Anderson and the pass play to Rice
are a double whammy to the Jets.
Fourth quarter
FB Zack Crockett scores an easy touchdown and Garner adds an even easier two-point run
as the Raiders take a 24-10 lead. The Jets’ defense looks tired and beaten.
We’ll see if they’ve got anything left.
Martin and Jordan combine for big yardage for the Jets on the ground as New York shows
its pride and marches right back down the field. Jordan looks VERY impressive; he’s
going to be a good one.
The Jets go right after the hobbled Charles Woodson and pick up a pass-interference
call that puts the ball at the Raiders’ nine. On 4th-and-goal, Testaverde finds
Richie Anderson over the middle for a four-yard TD pass. What a clutch play! That cuts the
Raiders’ lead to 24-17.
In this, the 24th playoff game of Jerry Rice’s illustrious career, he
is lighting up the Jets’ secondary, especially CB Marcus Coleman. Rice catches
another slant over the middle to move the ball into Jets territory, his eighth catch of
the game.
WR Jerry Porter comes up with a clutch catch on 3rd-and-8 and sets the
Raiders up with a first down at the Jets’ 21. On the next play, Gannon finds Rice
open in the corner of the endzone for a 21-yard TD pass. Rice has nine catches for 183
yards, once again proving he’s the best ever. In fact, with that score, the
39-year-old Rice becomes the oldest man ever to score a postseason touchdown. At 31-17
with 5:45 left, you’ve got to think the Jets are done.
Here come the never-say-die Jets! A pass-interference call on the
obviously-not-100-percent Woodson and a good gain to WR Santana Moss set the Jets up at
the Raiders’ 30.
Testaverde finally gets sacked for the first time in the game. I know I praised the
Raiders’ offensive line earlier, and deservedly so, but the Jets’ O-line has
been outstanding tonight and all year. In fact, it allowed only 19 sacks during the
regular season.
On 4th-and-1 at the Raiders’ 11, the Jets go for it and pitch the ball
back to Jordan, who gets nine yards. He’s runs so hard — I’ve got to think
he’d start for several teams in this league.
After the two-minute warning, Chrebet catches his second TD pass of the game with 1:52
left to cut the lead to 31-24. The Jets will not quit! You really have to hand it to head
coach Herman Edwards. He’s very calm and composed on the sideline (much like the man
he previously worked for, Tony Dungy). But he gets his players to trust him and believe
that his way is the best way. The Jets’ great road record and ability to come back
prove that he’s got the players fully behind him.
After kicking deep, the Jets stuff the Raiders on two consecutive runs and call
timeouts to set up a 3rd-and-11 situation with 1:27 left at the Raiders’
own 20. Gruden calls for a pitchout against the Jets’ up-the-middle blitz, and Garner
takes the pitch, runs toward the Raiders’ sideline with a host of blockers out front,
turns the corner and gallops untouched 80 yards into the endzone for a back-breaking
score. The TD run is the longest of the season for Garner and ties the longest TD run in
playoff history. It also gives Garner an impressive 158 yards on 18 carries.
The Jets don’t quit and march to the Raiders’ two before running out of time.
A curious running play is called with 23 seconds left, and Martin is stopped a foot short
of the goal line. With no timeouts, the Jets have to hurry up and toss an incomplete pass
into the endzone as the clock runs out. If Martin had scored, there would’ve been
time for an onside kick. What a draining game to watch; I can only imagine how tired the
players are!
The Raiders get to go to what will be, I’m sure, a frigid Foxboro Stadium next
Saturday. That should be a great one too. |
