NEW YORK JETS DAILY CLIPS

November 4, 2013

1 | P a g e

Table of Contents

ASSOCIATED PRESS ................................................................................................................................................ 2

Saints shut down by Jets in 26-20 loss (Dennis Waszak) ........................................................................................... 2

Folk and defense lead Jets past Saints 26-20 (Barry Wilner) .................................................................................... 4

Saints' Sproles, Jets' Kerley leave with injuries (Dennis Waszak) .............................................................................. 5

Wife of Saints owner finds reporter's lost ring ......................................................................................................... 6

NEWSDAY .............................................................................................................................................................. 6

Jets ground and astound, beat Drew Brees and Saints, 26-20 (Kimberley Martin) .................................................. 7

Geno Smith manages game nicely against Saints (Greg Logan) ................................................................................ 8

Jets Q&A: Rex Ryan not gloating about again beating twin Rob (Kimberley Martin) ............................................... 9

Chris Ivory plays huge role in Jets' big win against his old team (Bob Glauber)...................................................... 10

Wife of New Orleans Saints owner saves Newsday reporter from a turnover (Bob Glauber) ................................ 11

THE RECORD ........................................................................................................................................................ 11

Chris Ivory, Jets quietly making noise (Tara Sullivan) .............................................................................................. 11

Jets upset Saints, 26-20, improve to 5-4 (J.P. Pelzman) .......................................................................................... 13

Jets notes: Geno Smith's quiet day (J.P. Pelzman) .................................................................................................. 14

Jets replay: Week 9 vs. New Orleans (J.P. Pelzman) ............................................................................................... 15

STAR-LEDGER ....................................................................................................................................................... 16

Jets' depleted receiving corps rescued by Greg Salas, Zach Sudfeld in win over Saints (Michael Fensom) ............ 16

Rex Ryan again beats twin brother Rob as Jets top Saints, with their father, Buddy, watching (Darryl Slater) ..... 17

Chris Ivory has best game with Jets against Saints, his former team (Michael Fensom) ........................................ 18

Unpredictable Jets prove they're good enough to make the playoffs (Steve Politi) ............................................... 19

Jets upend Saints, 26-20, thanks to superb defensive effort (Darryl Slater) ........................................................... 21

NEW YORK POST .................................................................................................................................................. 22

Jets report card (Brian Costello) .............................................................................................................................. 22

Beating his twin was special for Rex Ryan (Brian Costello) ..................................................................................... 23

No wind in sails for Drew Brees, Saints (Bart Hubbuch).......................................................................................... 24

Playoffs a real possibility for Jets (Steve Serby) ...................................................................................................... 25

No-name receivers rally Jets (Mark Cannizzaro) ..................................................................................................... 27

Kicker is arguably the Jets’ MVP this season (Bart Hubbuch) ................................................................................. 28

Jets Blitz: Ivory kills former team (Mark Cannizzaro) .............................................................................................. 29

Jets stun Saints, head to bye at 5-4 (Brian Costello) ............................................................................................... 29

Chris Ivory carries Jets on his back (Mike Vaccaro) ................................................................................................. 31

Daily Clips Cont.

2 | P a g e

Quinton Coples gets his breakout game (Mark Cannizzaro) ................................................................................... 32

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ...................................................................................................................................... 33

NY Jets revive playoff hopes with stunning win over Saints (Seth Walder) ............................................................ 33

Changed Rex Ryan much more reserved with NY Jets success this season (Gary Myers) ...................................... 34

NY Jets defense steps up big, quiets Saints high-powered offense (Seth Walder) ................................................. 36

Nick Folk remains perfect on season for NY Jets ..................................................................................................... 37

Chris Ivory difference-maker for NY Jets against Saints (Manish Mehta) ............................................................... 38

Lost engagement ring found by wife of Saints owner, returned to Newsday reporter .......................................... 39

NEW YORK TIMES ................................................................................................................................................ 40

Error-Free Jets Outrun Saints (Ben Shpigel) ............................................................................................................ 40

Saints’ High-Octane Offense Sputters (Nate Taylor) ............................................................................................... 42

ESPN NEW YORK .................................................................................................................................................. 43

Jets' unsung Folk hero good as gold (Ian O’Connor) ............................................................................................... 43

Up-and-down Jets are playoff contenders (Rich Cimini) ......................................................................................... 45

Not just another game for Chris Ivory (Jane McManus) ......................................................................................... 46

Geno Smith manages Jets to a win (Matt Ehalt) ..................................................................................................... 47

WALL STREET JOURNAL ....................................................................................................................................... 48

Jets' Seesaw Season Continues With Win Over Saints (Stu Woo) ........................................................................... 48

NJ.COM ................................................................................................................................................................ 50

After benching last week, Dee Milliner responds with best performance of his rookie year (Kristian Dyer) ......... 50

With four field goals, Nick Folk continues perfect kicking season (Kristian Dyer) .................................................. 51

USA TODAY .......................................................................................................................................................... 51

Ryan bowl comes down to Rex beating Saints offense (Tom Pelissero) ................................................................. 51

SUNDAY’S SPORTS TRANSACTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 53

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Saints shut down by Jets in 26-20 loss (Dennis Waszak) Associated Press November 3, 2013

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=oasOG03z

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The New Orleans Saints knew exactly what to do against the New York Jets.

The plan was simple: Shut down the running game and force rookie quarterback Geno Smith into mistakes.

The Saints failed at both.

Daily Clips Cont.

3 | P a g e

Chris Ivory ran for 139 yards and a touchdown against his former team, New York had seven plays of at least 19 yards, and Rex Ryan's defense held Drew Brees and the high-scoring Saints to six points in the second half in a 26-20 upset Sunday.

"You try to make them play left-handed," linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "We didn't do that today."

Smith didn't turn the ball over for only the second time this season, finishing 8 of 19 for 115 yards and also running for a touchdown. Nick Folk remained perfect this year by kicking four field goals as the Jets (5-4) continued their trend of alternating wins and losses. They tied the 2005 New England Patriots for the longest such string to begin a season, according to STATS.

"I don't want to take away from the Jets," said Vilma, who made his debut against his former team after starting the season on injured reserve following knee surgery in August. "They did a very good job and deserved to win the game."

Interceptions by Demario Davis and Antonio Cromartie highlighted New York's solid defensive performance, as the Jets pressured Brees throughout and held the Saints to 3 of 11 on third downs.

"The penalties hurt, we had nine of them," Brees said. "I felt like they came at inopportune times when the offense was trying to get something going. You look to the start of the game, (we) used timeouts, had the delay of game. A lack of tempo and rhythm and it took a little while. ... But all credit to them, they played well on both sides of the ball."

New Orleans (6-2) got two touchdown catches from Jimmy Graham, giving him 10 this season, but did little in the second half while the Jets maintained their lead.

Brees was 30 of 51 for 382 yards with two TDs and two picks - each of which the Jets turned into points. Graham finished with 116 yards on nine receptions.

"We hit on some good plays and put together some good drives (early on), but overall, there were times we shot ourselves in the foot," Brees said. "They would get good pressure or get us off rhythm."

The Jets' offense was opportunistic after getting two takeaways by the D. The second was not Brees' fault: Nick Toon, son of former Jets star receiver Al Toon, had the ball pop off his hands late in the first half and high in the air, where Cromartie snagged it.

But a key play came with the Saints trailing 26-17 midway through the fourth quarter and facing a fourth-and-1 from the Jets 36. Sean Payton went for it, but his playcalling was a bit curious. The Saints tried a reverse to tight end Josh Hill, who was immediately crushed in the backfield by Quinton Coples for an 8-yard loss and change of possession.

"We practiced it during the week, but they just didn't do what we expected," Hill said. "The guy (Coples) was right there. That's the situation you want to use it in and it didn't go like we wanted."

Brees, who lost one of his favorite targets when versatile running back Darren Sproles left early with a concussion, shook off a first-quarter interception by Davis with a 51-yard throw to Graham. The powerful tight end beat Jaiquawn Jarrett down the right sideline and dragged the safety the final 5 yards to the goal line.

Often, though, the Saints were out of sync, including using all three first-half timeouts on offense in the opening quarter. That cost them when they couldn't challenge Cromartie's interception, which led to Smith's 3-yard touchdown run.

Davis' interception came on a ball tipped by teammate Dawan Landry, and led to Folk's 39-yard field goal. Ivory gave New York's offense its biggest boost with first-half runs of 27 and 52 yards. The second

Daily Clips Cont.

4 | P a g e

burst came from the Jets 2 and sparked a 93-yard drive to Folk's second field goal, from 21 yards to make it 7-6.

Ivory added a 3-yard TD run in the second quarter, and Folk hit his 22nd straight field goal without a miss, a 47-yarder, to start the second half.

Garrett Hartley, who missed earlier from 43, made a career-best 55-yarder, drawing the Saints within 23-17. Folk nailed another one, from 45 yards, in the fourth period, and Hartley countered with a 43-yarder.

Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan also lost to his twin brother again - with their father Buddy watching at MetLife Stadium - falling to 3-7 against him and 0-3 since Rex took over as coach of the Jets.

"Yeah, there's a little extra, but at the end of the day, now you realize that your bro just took a loss, so that's the tough thing," Rex Ryan said. "I pull for them every single week except one."

Back_to_Top

Folk and defense lead Jets past Saints 26-20 (Barry Wilner) Associated Press November 3, 2013

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=aS5WXu4r

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Rex Ryan found plenty of things to brag about after his New York Jets upset the Saints 26-20 Sunday. His impressive string of wins over his twin wasn't the main one.

Oh, Rex mentioned beating brother Rob, the New Orleans defensive coordinator, for the seventh time in 10 matchups. How could he not, given the competitive nature of the twins, something they got from their father, Buddy, who went 55-55-1 as an NFL head coach? The 79-year-old Buddy was at the game.

But there were so many other aspects of yet another victory in an odd-numbered game that thrilled the Jets boss.

"All right, I beat my brother again. Just kidding," Rex said with a laugh. "Yeah, there's a little extra, but at the end of the day, now you realize that your bro just took a loss, so that's the tough thing. I pull for them every single week except one."

The Jets (5-4) win every other week. They tied the 2005 New England Patriots for the longest such string to begin a season, according to STATS.

This win was built on big plays by Rex's pride and joy, the defense. The offense and special teams came up with some huge plays, too.

"We didn't know how we'd win and all that, but we told our team, 'All I know is we've got a team that believes and fights until the end and we find a way,' " Rex Ryan said. "And that's really what we did."

Nick Folk remained perfect this season by kicking four field goals, the defense held Drew Brees and the high-scoring Saints (6-2) to six points in the second half, and New York had seven plays of at least 19 yards against Rob Ryan's D.

Rob was not made available to reporters by the Saints after the defeat.

Interceptions by Demario Davis and Antonio Cromartie and a fourth-and-inches stop highlighted New York's solid defensive performance, and former Saints running back Chris Ivory rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown.

Daily Clips Cont.

5 | P a g e

"They did a really good job scheming us and figuring out how to get those runs on us, how to get Ivory the ball and get some positive plays on us," said Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who made his 2013 debut after recovering from a knee injury. "They did a very good job and deserved to win this game. Ivory got the ball and had 9 or 10 yards before someone touches him."

Folk is 23 for 23 on field goals and 14 of 14 on extra points.

"Guys, how about that year?" Ryan said. "It's not that it's a given, but you think, 'OK, Folk Hero, knock it through. Let's go.'"

New Orleans got two touchdown catches from Jimmy Graham, giving him 10 this season, but did little in the second half, even resorting to a reverse to rookie tight end Josh Hill on fourth-and-inches in the final period.

The brothers hugged at midfield after the game.

The Jets' offense was opportunistic after getting two takeaways. The second was not Brees' fault: Nick Toon, son of former Jets star receiver Al Toon, had the ball pop off his hands late in the first half and high in the air, where Cromartie snagged it. That pick soothed the crowd that was getting on Cromartie for two major gaffes earlier in the second period.

Cromartie fell down on Robert Meachem's 60-yard catch and run. Graham capped that 80-yard drive when he outmuscled Cromartie in the end zone for a 10-yard score.

Brees, who lost one of his favorite targets when Darren Sproles left early with a concussion, shook off a first-quarter interception by Davis with a 51-yard throw to Graham. The powerful tight end beat Jaiquawn Jarrett down the right sideline and dragged the safety the final 5 yards to the goal line.

Often, though, the Saints were out of sync, including using three timeouts on offense in the opening quarter. That cost them when they couldn't challenge Cromartie's interception, which led to Geno Smith's 3-yard touchdown run.

Davis' interception came on a ball tipped by teammate Dawan Landry, and led to Folk's 39-yard field goal. Ivory gave New York's offense its biggest boost with first-half runs of 27 and 52 yards. The second burst came from the Jets 2 and sparked a 93-yard drive to Folk's second field goal, from 21 yards.

Ivory added a 3-yard TD run in the second quarter, and Folk hit a 47-yarder that barely sneaked over the crossbar, to start the second half.

Garrett Hartley, who missed earlier from 43, made a career-long 55-yarder, drawing the Saints within 23-17. Folk nailed another one, from 45 yards, in the fourth period, and Hartley countered with a 43-yarder.

NOTES: Brees was 30 of 51 for 382 yards with two TDs and two picks. Graham finished with 116 yards on nine receptions. ... Smith was only 8 of 19 for 115 yards, but the Jets rushed for 198 with a 5.5-yard average. ... Josh Cribbs, in just his third game for New York, had five kickoff returns for 134 yards, three rushes for 12, two receptions for 6, and even completed a 25-yard pass to a fellow newcomer, TE Zach Sudfeld. ... Jets WR Jeremy Kerley hurt his elbow, LB Garrett McIntyre hurt his knee, and safety Antonio Allen suffered a head injury.

___

Saints' Sproles, Jets' Kerley leave with injuries (Dennis Waszak) Associated Press November 3, 2013

Daily Clips Cont.

6 | P a g e

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=aS5WXu4r

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - New Orleans running back Darren Sproles left the Saints' 26-20 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday with a concussion and didn't return.

Sproles headed to the locker room early in the first quarter, and the Saints announced he was out for the rest of the game shortly before halftime.

It was unclear when the injury occurred, but Sproles had a 2-yard catch and was hit hard by Antonio Allen before leaving. He was replaced by Travaris Cadet on kickoff returns, and Lance Moore on punt returns.

"What it does is it eliminates a handful of your plan that he's going to be involved in," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "You just have to quickly be able to say, 'All right, here's what we're going to get to, and here's how much we'd like to do with Cadet that we might normally have done with Darren.'"

The versatile Sproles came into the game with 36 receptions, tying him with Kansas City's Jamaal Charles for the second-most among NFL running backs, four behind San Diego's Danny Woodhead.

New York also lost a key player on offense when wide receiver Jeremy Kerley was knocked out of the game with an elbow injury in the second quarter.

Kerley, the team's leading receiver, appeared to be hurt when he was on the ground after a running play. New Orleans' David Hawthorne hit Kerley's left arm, which rolled awkwardly under the linebacker's shoulder. Kerley immediately grabbed at his arm, was checked by trainers on the sideline and then headed to the locker room.

Allen left in the third quarter with a possible head injury, and linebacker Garrett McIntyre also didn't return after leaving with a knee injury. Jets linebacker Calvin Pace left the game late, but said he was just "banged up" and was fine.

New York coach Rex Ryan had no immediate updates on the severity of the ailments, but said his team had to "overcome some tough injuries" to beat the Saints.

Back_to_Top

Wife of Saints owner finds reporter's lost ring Associated Press November 3, 2013

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=PW4GvchH

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The wife of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson found a newspaper reporter's engagement ring after the team's 26-20 loss to the New York Jets.

Gayle Benson was in the women's restroom in the MetLife Stadium press box Sunday when she spotted the ring on a counter. She gave it to stadium security and later found out it belonged to Newsday's Jets beat writer, Kimberley Martin.

Martin removed the ring to wash her hands and forgot to put it back on. A relieved Martin, engaged to Bergen Record sportswriter Jeff Roberts, was "incredibly grateful" when told the ring was recovered.

Benson wished Martin "many blessings" and added she should always keep her ring on. "Better to get soap on it than lose it," she said in a message to Martin.

NEWSDAY

Daily Clips Cont.

7 | P a g e

Jets ground and astound, beat Drew Brees and Saints, 26-20 (Kimberley Martin) Newsday November 3, 2013

http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/jets-ground-and-astound-beat-drew-brees-and-saints-26-20-1.6370209

Calvin Pace just shook his head and sighed.

These Jets have learned to assume nothing these days -- and not to put much stock into what outsiders say.

Few believed in Rex Ryan's team before kickoff Sunday. And Pace, the 33-year-old elder statesman of the Jets defense, figured few would see them differently after the final whistle.

It took a total team effort for the Jets to disrupt Drew Brees and stifle the Saints, but that's just what they did in their 26-20 upset of New Orleans at MetLife Stadium. Rex improved to 5-0 in head-to-head NFL matchups with his twin, Rob, the defensive coordinator for the Saints (6-2).

Former Saint Chris Ivory gained 139 yards on 18 carries for the Jets (5-4), who rushed for 198 yards. Muhammad Wilkerson and Pace each had a sack to lead a swarming defense that kept Brees (30-for-51, 382 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) off balance from the opening series. And while he struggled against the pressure, rookie Geno Smith completed only 8 of 19 passes for 115 yards, but he ran for a 3-yard score late in the second quarter to put the Jets ahead to stay 20-14.

But even in the midst of their lighthearted locker room, Pace was skeptical that the Jets now will be viewed as a legitimate playoff contender.

"We're always the underdog, and ESPN had their little pieces on us. It's cool. It motivates us,'' he said. "We understand what type of market we're in and some of the things we've done in the past. We're just focused on the next game.''

For the Jets, there is no next game -- well, not until they travel to Buffalo after the upcoming bye week. That's why they couldn't leave East Rutherford without a "W.''

It's become impossible to predict the course of this Jets season, with each week providing another unexpected turn. The Jets continued their trend of alternating wins and losses, tying them with the 2005 Patriots for the longest such string to begin a season, according to STATS.

They are masters of inconsistency. But one thing we do know about Rex's Jets is that they're at their best when others doubt them.

"Anybody that made those predictions about this team, did not know this team,'' Ryan said.

Said wide receiver/kick returner Josh Cribbs: "On paper, they look better than us. But they still had to go out there and play. We went out with the Bengals and laid an egg, but today, we were ready to play. Today, we were better than the Saints.''

The Jets overcame the absences of tight end Jeff Cumberland (concussion) and wide receiver Santonio Holmes (hamstring) -- and the in-game injuries to slot receiver Jeremy Kerley (elbow), safety Antonio Allen (head) and linebacker Garrett McIntyre (knee). Big-time plays by Cribbs (25-yard Wildcat pass), and backups Zach Sudfeld (two catches, 46 yards) and Greg Salas (two catches, 57 yards) also provided a big boost. Nick Folk (4-for-4) remains perfect on field goals this season (23-for-23).

Nevertheless, guard Willie Colon insisted this isn't the time for the Jets to be talking about the playoffs.

Daily Clips Cont.

8 | P a g e

"Right now, we have to put our foot on the pedal and we've got to start winning some away games,'' he said.

Rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson couldn't help himself, however.

"If we stay consistent like this, we're a tough team to deal with,'' he said. "We have spurts where we've shown that we're a playoff team.''

So how good can the Jets be?

"Very good,'' Richardson said. "They were supposed to be the best team in the NFL. So, we proved them wrong.''

When reminded the Jets have beaten two of the NFL's "elite'' teams (New England and New Orleans) in the past three games, Richardson just shrugged and said, "That's ya'll's elite teams.''

Perhaps in the coming days, people will begin to see the Jets for what they are: a team that has the potential to do something special this season. But Pace doubts that the negative perception will change.

"You go to Buffalo, they're not going to believe,'' he said. "They're going to think, 'Oh, the 49-9 Jets are coming up here.' So we've got to go out and play our game. It's not so much about the other team, it's about us. If we're on our p's and q's, we can win the rest of them -- or we can win one, lose one.''

Back_to_Top

Geno Smith manages game nicely against Saints (Greg Logan) Newsday November 3, 2013

http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/geno-smith-manages-game-nicely-against-saints-1.6371898

The Geno-coaster goes down, as it did with two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns in the Jets' 40-point loss in Cincinnati last week. But the good thing is that the Geno-coaster always seems to come back up, as rookie quarterback Geno Smith showed again in the Jets' surprising 26-20 bounce-back win over the Saints Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Not that Smith outdueled Saints quarterback Drew Brees by any means. The Jets relied on a running game that produced 198 yards, and Smith managed the game by eliminating turnovers, completing timely passes and scoring on a 3-yard run just before halftime for a 20-14 lead.

Smith played well despite going only 8-for-19 for 115 yards and a 62.4 rating while working with a depleted receiving corps. You could tell because his name came up only once in coach Rex Ryan's media session.

"With Geno, the thing I was most proud of, he never forced the issue," Ryan said. "He's not worried about stats or anything else. He's worried about wins. That's where I think he's grown. I've seen it."

Smith was especially poised after Antonio Cromartie's interception put the Jets at the Saints' 39 with 2:12 left in the first half. Smith hit passes of 13 yards to Greg Salas and 21 yards to tight end Zach Sudfeld to move to the 3.

Running out of the shotgun formation, Smith scored on the next play to put the Jets ahead.

"It was designed," Smith said of the TD, crediting center Nick Mangold for suggesting it. "Nick saw something on the D-line and relayed it to Marty , and Marty relayed it to me. I kind of tried to stretch

Daily Clips Cont.

9 | P a g e

the play . . . and just cut back into the end zone. It really elevated us because not only did we get points but we gained momentum."

Reflecting on his overall play, Smith added: "Not having so many negative plays and negative yardage really helped us."

Back_to_Top

Jets Q&A: Rex Ryan not gloating about again beating twin Rob (Kimberley Martin) Newsday November 3, 2013

http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/jets-q-a-rex-ryan-not-gloating-about-again-beating-twin-rob-1.6372041

What did Rex Ryan say about beating his brother Rob?

"I beat my brother again," Rex Ryan said with a laugh to open his postgame news conference. "Just kidding."

The gentle jab came after Ryan's Jets defeated his twin brother, Rob, the Saints' defensive coordinator. Rex now is 5-0 in head-to-head matchups against his brother.

Leading up to the game, Rex praised Rob for leading the defensive turnaround in New Orleans. On Sunday, he praised Rob again, saying: "My brother has done a phenomenal job."

While the Jets' victory puts them above .500 -- and provides much-needed momentum heading into this week's bye -- Rex couldn't help but feel some sympathy pains for his twin.

"At the end of the day, now you realize that your brother just took a loss. That's the tough thing," said Rex, who has defeated Rob twice as a coordinator with the Ravens and three times as a head coach. "I pull for them every single week except one. I've mentioned it before -- I always look at their score . . . There's not one game I can tell you how it went today, but if the Saints were playing, I'd have known."

The latest installment of The Ryan Bowl garnered a lot of media publicity, but Jets players said Rex didn't use sibling rivalry as part of his pregame speech.

"No, it wasn't so much about his brother," said outside linebacker Quinton Coples, who had three quarterback hits. "At the end of the day, he was focused on us winning the game. We went in with the game plan. It was nothing about him beating his brother, although he takes pride in doing that. It was more about making sure we set a statement and do things the Jet way."

How did Nick Toon fare playing against his dad's old team?

Let's just say he won't be drawing comparisons to his old man anytime soon. The Saints receiver, son of Jets great Al Toon, had a rough day. He easily outran rookie cornerback Dee Milliner early in the game but dropped a long pass from Drew Brees near the sideline and close to the end zone.

That prompted this tweet from Joe Namath: "I don't recall ever seeing Nick's father drop a pass like that . . . "

Toon was targeted four times but had no catches. He also tipped a pass in the direction of Antonio Cromartie, who hauled it in for his first interception of the season.

Did Jonathan Vilma say anything about facing his old team?

The former Jet made his season debut after being activated from short-term injured reserve, but there were no warm, fuzzy feelings about facing his old club.

Daily Clips Cont.

10 | P a g e

"It's a different coaching staff, and I think I know three or four players from when I was there," said Vilma, who was the Jets' 12th overall pick in 2004. "It was a little more personal when I played against them in '09. Now it's just another game."

Vilma, a 10-year veteran and three-time Pro Bowler, had only one tackle.

Back_to_Top

Chris Ivory plays huge role in Jets' big win against his old team (Bob Glauber) Newsday November 3, 2013

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/bob-glauber/chris-ivory-plays-huge-role-in-jets-big-win-against-his-old-team-1.6372072

Go ahead and let it out now, Chris Ivory. The game's over, you beat your former team and you were the offensive star with 139 rushing yards and a touchdown. So even though you insisted during the week there was no added motivation, it's OK to admit it. There has to be a part of you that really, really loved sticking it to the Saints.

Sorry. Ivory wasn't buying it.

Even after he dominated the team he played for from 2010-12, he wouldn't puff his chest. Not even a hint of an in-your-face moment.

"You guys want me to say that , but that's just not how it feels,'' he said after the Jets scored a 26-20 upset over the Saints, who entered 6-1. "I really look at it just like another game.''

Of course he does.

As we like to say in the Twitter world: #eyeroll

"To say that you're going against your old team, there's nothing special there? Yeah, right,'' said Rex Ryan, offering his own eye roll to the notion that the game didn't mean more to Ivory. "There always is, no matter who it is, whether it's high school, college, pro, whatever. You want to play against your former team and you want to have a good showing.''

And Ivory did just that, rushing for the most yards since his rookie season in New Orleans and giving the Jets their second victory over a first-place team in the past three games.

Not coincidentally, Ivory's tough running keyed the Jets' Week 7 OT win over the Pats. He did it again in an equally big spot against the surging Saints.

Ivory is proving to be every bit as valuable as the fourth-round draft pick the Jets surrendered to get him. Once he recovered from hamstring problems that set him back in the preseason, his between-the-tackles running has been a major factor in the Jets' recent surge. A team that was given up for lost entering the season is 5-4 at the bye, with big-time wins over two Super Bowl contenders sandwiched around a mystifying 49-9 loss to the Bengals.

"You treat every game the same,'' Ivory said. "Everybody played well collectively.''

If there was one play that underscored just how important Ivory was to the win, it was this:

On second-and-12 from the Jets' 2, Geno Smith took the snap and turned to hand the ball off to Ivory. The play was designed to have the running back get through a hole on the right side, with pulling guard Brian Winters leading the way. Winters' job was to pull to his right and block inside linebacker Curtis Lofton to spring Ivory.

Daily Clips Cont.

11 | P a g e

"My first read is an inside read or an outside read, and I blocked the linebacker outside and he bounced right off,'' Winters said of Lofton.

Ivory barreled through the hole and ran 52 yards before being shoved out of bounds by rookie safety Kenny Vaccaro.

"By the time he runs through, I'm a fan,'' right tackle Austin Howard said. "There's no way I'm going to catch Chris, so you kind of just watch him. It was great to see.''

"It energizes you,'' Ryan said of the play. "Any time you get a big back making plays like that, it energizes everybody, including myself.''

Even if Ivory insists it was no big deal doing it against the team that let him go. Right.

"I think it's human nature,'' Howard said. "If you have ever played with another team and get the chance to play against that team, it's going to be a little extra edge for you, extra emotion towards it. Chris has that mentality every week, but you could definitely see that in his eyes.''

Ivory runs as hard as anyone, offering an added dimension to a team that knows it can beat the best when it plays its best.

That's two statement wins in three weeks -- enough to make you realize that the Jets have a chance to do something no one outside their locker room could have imagined coming into the season: playing into January.

Back_to_Top

Wife of New Orleans Saints owner saves Newsday reporter from a turnover (Bob Glauber) Newsday November 3, 2013

http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/wife-of-new-orleans-saints-owner-saves-newsday-reporter-from-a-turnover-1.6371567

The Saints didn't get the win on Sunday, but the team did score a victory for a Jets beat writer.

Moments after the Jets' 26-20 win over New Orleans, Saints owner Tom Benson's wife, Gayle, found an engagement ring that accidentally had been left in the MetLife press box's ladies room. Turns out the ring belonged to Newsday writer Kimberley A. Martin, who had removed the ring to wash her hands and realized after she got to the locker room that she hadn't put it back on.

Martin, who is engaged to Bergen Record sportswriter Jeffrey Roberts, eventually was told that the ring had been given to stadium security by Gayle Benson.

"I am so happy she has her ring," Benson said. "So happy I saw it on the counter. I suspected it was an engagement ring. Very beautiful."

She then offered a few words of advice to Martin: "Many blessings and always keep your ring on. Better to get soap on it than lose it."

Said Martin, "I am so touched that Mrs. Benson found the ring and was able to get it back to me. You have no idea what it means to me to have it back. I'm incredibly grateful."

Back_to_Top

THE RECORD

Chris Ivory, Jets quietly making noise (Tara Sullivan)

Daily Clips Cont.

12 | P a g e

The Record November 3, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/columnists/Sullivan_Chris_Ivory_Jets_quietly_making_noise.html?page=all

EAST RUTHERFORD – In the three weeks since joining the Jets, Josh Cribbs has yet to have a real conversation with Chris Ivory. They’ve nodded, smiled and exchanged a few words, but that’s about it. And that’s more than enough. When it comes to chatter, Ivory may be the personality inverse of the loquacious Cribbs, yet Cribbs was absolutely certain how his offensive teammate felt after a dominant rushing performance Sunday against the Saints.

There are universal motivations in the NFL, and when you scratch and claw your way into this league only to have the team you started with trade you away, when you take the field against that team for the first time since the unexpected divorce, well, consider yourself motivated. And when you walk off that field with 139 rushing yards and a touchdown, when you walk into your new home locker room with a decisive 26-20 victory, when you are one of the last players in the locker room to drop back into your chair, gingerly working through the bumps and bruises to pull on a pair of socks, well, consider your mission complete.

“I know it meant a lot to him,” Cribbs said. “He’s making them kick themselves in the butt, thinking, ‘Oh man, he’s running all over us.’Ÿ”

Veteran Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma put a voice to those thoughts when he admitted, “Ivory would get the ball and have 9 or 10 yards before anybody touched him,” a concession to the dominance of the team he once played for, too. But as much as Ivory had his told-you-so moment, the real measure of the slow maturation of the Jets is how nobody in the locker room, Ivory chief among them, was interested in saying so out loud.

The Jets may have turned in their ugliest performance of the season last week in Cincinnati, but the two games that now sandwich that hideous blowout have to be considered evidence of a potential playoff push. Beating first-place New England two weeks ago followed by Sunday’s win over first-place New Orleans raised the Jets’ record to 5-4, sending them into the bye week on the high end of the win-loss roller coaster they’ve ridden all season.

But if Rex Ryan’s first four years were marked by outsized guarantees and overhyped confidence, this is a group marked mostly by its quiet resilience. On Sunday, Ivory was the perfect representation of that persona, all but goaded into admitting his day was “special” because it came against the Saints, but that really, “You treat every game the same.”

“He’s a leader by example and we need more guys like that,” Cribbs said. “He doesn’t need to talk and be loud. He leads with his play on the field.”

Nothing spoke louder than the handoff Ivory took early in the second quarter, when the Jets were trailing, 7-3, watching Drew Brees throwing the ball all over the field. Backed up on the 2-yard line, the defense stood on the sidelines, in the words of rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, “on alert.”

It was only second down, but “we were ready for it, possibly punting out of the end zone,” Richardson said.

Instead, the end zone handoff went to Ivory, who took off behind the blocking of fullback Tommy Bohanon. Fifty-two yards later, Ivory was pushed out of bounds along the right sideline. Nine plays later, Nick Folk kicked the second of his four field goals, and the Jets were officially on the comeback trail.

Daily Clips Cont.

13 | P a g e

“He gashed them, just gashed them,” Richardson gushed.

“Chris is a beast, man,” linebacker Calvin Pace said. “He had a little extra motivation today against his old team. But he really fits what we do and that was the type of game we needed.”

Ivory would add a 3-yard touchdown run later in the quarter, and by the time it was over, when the defense snuffed out a final, two-minute drill by the dangerous Brees thanks to smothering fourth-down pressure from Quinton Coples, the Jets had added another optimistic layer to a continually promising season.

Not that they were willing to say it.

“We have a long way to go,” Ryan said. “Clearly, we have to fix a lot of things still, but I know one thing: We have a group that’s willing, and that’s the toughest thing. When you have a group that’s willing to get better and work hard to get better, that’s where we are.”

On Sunday, Ivory was his best test case. “No matter who we play, he just wants the ball,” Ryan said. “The kid loves to play. To say that there’s nothing special about going against your old team – yeah, right. Whether it’s high school, college or pro, it makes no difference. You want to play against your former team and have a good showing, and clearly he did.”

Just don’t ask him to admit it. “He’s a quiet kid – that’s his demeanor,” guard Willie Colon said. “But he plays like a bandit. We have faith in him and he showed up for us today.”

Back_to_Top

Jets upset Saints, 26-20, improve to 5-4 (J.P. Pelzman) The Record November 3, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/Jets_upset_New_Orleans_26-20.html?page=all

EAST RUTHERFORD – After Geno Smith’s game-ending kneel-down Sunday, a few Jets began jogging toward the tunnel.

Willie Colon was not one of them. The veteran right guard, who started and played the entire game despite a left-calf injury that had caused him to miss two days of practice, walked toward the exit. He briefly spoke to inactive New Orleans wide receiver Marques Colston, a former Hofstra teammate, then did a brief in-house TV interview before finally trudging off.

But even though he walked slowly, he moved well enough during the game. So did the rest of his teammates as the Jets continued an improbable upward climb.

The Jets enter their bye week on the upside of their roller-coaster season.

Quarterback Geno Smith and former Saint Chris Ivory each rushed for touchdowns, and the Jets scored 10 points off New Orleans turnovers in a 26-20 upset of the Saints at MetLife Stadium.

The Jets (5-4), who have alternated wins and losses since a victory over Tampa Bay on opening day, now will get a good rest. They return to action Nov. 17 at Buffalo.

NFC South-leading New Orleans (6-2) lost for the second time in three games. It was the Jets’ second straight home upset over a division-leading team. They beat AFC East-leading New England on Oct. 20, before being pounded on the road by AFC Central-leading Cincinnati a week ago.

“It was huge,” Colon said of the victory. “You want to go into a bye week with momentum. After getting our butts kicked in Cincinnati, something had to turn around.”

Daily Clips Cont.

14 | P a g e

The Jets secondary certainly did. A week after being shredded by Andy Dalton and Co., the Jets got two first-half interceptions off New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, both on tipped balls. Those picks led to 10 points, including a second-quarter touchdown that put the Jets ahead to stay.

The Jets sacked Brees twice and harassed him often.

“We knew,” defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson said, “[that] getting [Brees] off his mark would get him rattled. And I think we did that. … [Give] credit to the whole defense [for] being disruptive.”

Although the Saints took a 14-6 lead in the second quarter, the Jets defense definitely had them confused, even early in the game. The New Orleans offense used all three of its first-half timeouts in the first quarter, and also incurred two delay-of-game penalties during that period.

It almost looked like a potential repeat of the Cincinnati debacle when Brees connected with tight end Jimmy Graham for two first-half touchdown passes, but Cromartie’s interception of a tipped pass turned the tide late in the first half.

Smith’s 3-yard touchdown run with 37 seconds left in the half put the Jets ahead to stay, 20-14.

“You just have to forget about those and get going,” said Cromartie, who made the pick after getting burned for a 10-yard score by Graham earlier in the quarter.

Linebacker Quinton Coples made the biggest play of the second half, nailing reserve tight end Josh Hill for an 8-yard loss on a very curious play call on fourth-and-inches from the Jets’ 36 in the fourth quarter. The loss of scatback Darren Sproles, who suffered a concussion on the first series of the game, loomed large at that point.

“I was thinking [Brees] was going to [tuck] it away and throw the ball,” Coples said, “but when he handed it off my eyes just got big.”

Much like the rest of his Jets as they continue to look at the possibilities of a surprising season.

Back_to_Top

Jets notes: Geno Smith's quiet day (J.P. Pelzman) The Record November 4, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/230451571_Jets_notes__Geno_Smith_s_quiet_day.html?page=all

Quiet day for Geno

In most games this season, rookie quarterback Geno Smith has been a focal point, both good and bad, for the Jets.

That wasn't the case Sunday in the 26-20 upset of New Orleans. Although Smith scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run in the second quarter, he had a rather quiet day through the air.

Of course, Smith didn't need to do much in the passing game, considering how well Chris Ivory was running the ball. Smith was 8-for-19 for 115 yards and no scores, and his longest completion was a 44-yard screen to wide receiver Greg Salas, who did most of the work.

"I think I did a pretty good job of managing situations, not trying to force the ball," said Smith, who was turnover-free after throwing three interceptions for touchdowns in the previous two games.

He also said he said he did a good job of knowing "when to tuck the ball and run, [and] knowing when to get the ball out of my hands versus the pressure or even throw it away."

Daily Clips Cont.

15 | P a g e

Backups contribute

The Jets' offensive depth was tested because of injuries, and their backups did a better job of filling in than did those of the Saints.

Josh Cribbs had a 25-yard pass to tight end Zach Sudfeld out of the Wildcat, and Sudfeld had a 21-yard reception to set up Smith's touchdown. Salas, making his Jets' debut, had two catches for 57 yards. Sudfeld started in place of tight end Jeff Cumberland (concussion), and Salas got extra playing time because wideout Jeremy Kerley left in the first half with a potentially serious elbow injury.

"Those guys stepped up to the plate and did a tremendous job," Smith said.

Briefs

The Jets' bye week comes at an opportune time, considering their mounting injury list. S Antonio Allen (concussion) and LB Garrett McIntyre (knee) left the game and didn't return. … Nick Folk hit field goals of 39, 21, 47 and 45 yards for the Jets, and is a perfect 22-for-22 this season. … New Orleans LB Jonathan Vilma (knee), a former Jet, returned from short-term injured reserve and made his 2013 debut. "It was a little more personal when I played against them in '09," said Vilma, who was traded to the Saints after the 2007 season. "Now it's just another game."

Back_to_Top

Jets replay: Week 9 vs. New Orleans (J.P. Pelzman) The Record November 4, 2013

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/230451501_Jets_replay__Week_9_vs__New_Orleans.html

Turning point

Two plays after RB Chris Ivory went off right tackle for a 3-yard score to cut the Jets' deficit to 14-13, New Orleans QB Drew Brees threw his second interception of the first half. His pass bounced off the hands of Nick Toon and CB Antonio Cromartie grabbed it near the sideline while keeping his feet inbounds. That set up the Jets at the Saints' 39, and they scored five plays later when QB Geno Smith ran 3 yards to put them ahead to stay, 20-14, with 37 seconds left in the first half.

Star of the game

Ivory, a former Saint, burned his old team for 139 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries. His 27-yard burst in the first quarter led to the first of Nick Folk's four field goals, and his 52-yard run in the second period set up the second. Ivory was acquired by the Jets in April for a fourth-round draft choice.

Costly mistakes

Jets S Antonio Allen was called for holding against backup TE Josh Hill in the third quarter. The infraction wiped out what would have been Cromartie's second interception of the game. … A first-quarter interception by LB DeMario Davis helped set up a field goal. … New Orleans FB Jed Collins dropped a perfect pass from Brees on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter, and on fourth down, Quinton Coples stopped Hill for an 8-yard loss on an end-around.

Eye-catching

Smith faked out DE Cameron Jordan en route to his 3-yard score, his third rushing TD of the season. … Toon, who misplayed the pass that resulted in Cromartie's interception, earlier had dropped a long pass inside the Jets' 20 after beating struggling rookie CB Dee Milliner. Toon, the son of former Jets great Al Toon, might have been pressing in his first game against his father's old team. He was targeted four

Daily Clips Cont.

16 | P a g e

times and had no receptions. … New Orleans K Garrett Hartley's 55-yard field goal is the longest of the sixth-year pro's career.

Looking ahead

The Jets (5-4) reach their bye week in second place in the AFC East, a half-game ahead of Miami (4-4) and two games ahead of last-place Buffalo (3-6). The Bills will visit Pittsburgh next week before hosting the Jets on Nov. 17. The Jets beat Buffalo, 27-20, on Sept. 22 at MetLife Stadium.

Back_to_Top

STAR-LEDGER

Jets' depleted receiving corps rescued by Greg Salas, Zach Sudfeld in win over Saints (Michael Fensom) Star-Ledger November 3, 2013

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/11/jets_depleted_receiving_corps_rescued_by_greg_salas_zach_sudfeld_in_win_over_saints.html

The Jets scooped Greg Salas off the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad on Oct. 15, the same day they signed Josh Cribbs, a free agent.

While Cribbs is a former Pro Bowler, and one of the best kick returners in NFL history, Salas arrived with a modest reputation. The Jets were his fourth team since the St. Louis Rams picked him in the fourth round of the 2011 draft out of Hawaii.

Perhaps, that’s why Willie Colon, the Jets’ right guard, couldn’t recall the wide receiver’s name even though the two sit a few stalls apart in the Jets locker room.

“I don’t know his name, but he had a huge one for us,” Colon said, referring to his teammate by his uniform number, 17.

Suppose that’s a start. Salas began his Jets career in earnest this afternoon against the New Orleans Saints. After being inactive for the first two games since he arrived, Salas caught two passes and led the Jets with 57 receiving yards today. Both catches drew first downs on Jets scoring drives in a 26-20 win.

Salas’ experience since arriving at Florham Park has mirrored those of many in the Jets offensive huddle as general manager John Idzik continues to tinker with the roster. As the new players cram to learn the terminology of the offense, hours of study are accumulated at team headquarters. Developing chemistry on the field supercedes even learning new teammates’ names.

Santonio Holmes, Kellen Winslow, Jeff Cumberland and Jeremy Kerley were ripped from the lineup today, but Idzik has found suitable pieces to patch the holes.

When Kerley hurt his left elbow in the second quarter, Salas, who expected only to see time in four-wide receiver sets today, saw increased snaps. On a 3rd and 10 at the Jets’ 21 near the start of the third quarter, he caught a screen pass, zipped through a hole created by David Nelson and Brian Winters and gained 44 yards.

“I’m trying to make the most of it,” Salas said, though he could be speaking for Cribbs, Nelson or Zach Sudfeld today.

None of those players were on the roster prior to Oct. 2, when Nelson signed. Two days later, the Jets claimed Sudfeld off waivers from the New England Patriots, who also employed Salas in 2012. Today,

Daily Clips Cont.

17 | P a g e

the quartet combined to catch seven of the eight complete passes thrown by Geno Smith. They allotted for 103 of Smith’s 115 passing yards.

“I credit it to the GM,” Cribbs said. “He saw integral pieces. He saw a puzzle being made. He went out and got the pieces to the puzzle that would fit and help this offense be as versatile and as off balance to the defense as possible.”

Cribbs had 177 all-purpose yards today. He ran for 12 yards, caught two passes for six, completed a 25-yard pass to Sudfeld and gained another 134 yards returning five kicks, including a 42-yarder.

“I feel revitalized, reborn on this team,” Cribbs said. “Every time we have a good game, I go up to him and hug (Idzik) for the opportunity.”

In addition to Cribbs and Salas, the rookie Sudfeld had his best game with the Jets, catching a pair of passes for 46 yards.

“It was great to be out there, to be in the game and help,” said Sudfeld, who filled in for Cumberland, absent due to a concussion. “It’s what you play for.”

Back_to_Top

Rex Ryan again beats twin brother Rob as Jets top Saints, with their father, Buddy, watching (Darryl Slater) Star-Ledger November 3, 2013

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/11/rex_ryan_again_beats_twin_brother_rob_as_jets_top_saints_with_their_father_buddy_watching.html

The postgame handshake was warm and the hug an enthusiastic, full-armed embrace. Once again, Rex Ryan and his fraternal twin brother, Rob, had met in a setting that has defined their lives — from youth to adulthood.

And once again, Rex had emerged the victor on the football field, as the Jets beat the Saints, 26-20, yesterday.

Rex is now 7-3 all-time against Rob, including 5-0 in the NFL. On hand to watch the game was their father, Buddy, who molded his sons into two of the NFL’s most renowned defensive coaches.

The brothers, who posed for pictures before the game, are loving, but always competitive

"I beat my brother again," Rex said with a chuckle to open his postgame press conference. "Just kidding."

Ryan later said "a little extra" goes into a game against Rob.

"At the end of the day, now you realize that your brother just took a loss," Rex said. "That’s the tough thing. I pull for them every single week except one. I always look at their score. I can’t tell you another game. There’s not one game I can tell you how it went today. But if the Saints were playing (somebody else), I’d have known (the score)."

The Jets sensed some additional zest from their head coach, who already wears his emotions on his sleeve.

"He told us he always likes beating his brother," said defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. "He brought a little bit more fire, a little bit more energy (this week)."

Daily Clips Cont.

18 | P a g e

But rush outside linebacker Quinton Coples said Rex didn’t bring up Rob in the pregame message to the Jets.

"It wasn’t so much about his brother," Coples said. "At the end of the day, he was focused on us winning the game. It was nothing about him beating his brother, although he takes pride in doing that. It was more about making sure we sent a statement."

An hour before yesterday’s game, Rex and Rob greeted each other along the Jets’ sideline. They stood for photographs, and were joined by their father, a former NFL head coach and defensive coordinator, and their other brother, Jim, an attorney in St. Louis.

Buddy, 82, was in a wheelchair and wore neutral clothing with no Jets or Saints logos or colors. He has battled cancer in recent years.

A couple times during the pregame greeting, Rex and Rob shook hands and hugged. Rex’s wife, Michelle, also joined in the photographs. Before heading to the Saints’ locker room, Rob leaned over and gave Buddy a hug and kiss on the cheek.

A few members of the Jets’ organization also greeted Buddy. Wide receiver Santonio Homes talked to him for a couple minutes. First-year general manager John Idzik, who holds Rex’s job security in his hands, also spoke to Buddy and took a picture with him.

After Rex and Rob parted ways along the sideline, Jets owner Woody Johnson approached Buddy and put his right hand on Buddy’s left shoulder. The men spoke for a few moments. Rex and Johnson then took a photo with Buddy between them.

In this season of great consequence for Rex, yesterday's game moved him one step closer to remaining in Johnson’s employ.

Back_to_Top

Chris Ivory has best game with Jets against Saints, his former team (Michael Fensom) Star-Ledger November 3, 2013

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/11/chris_ivory_has_best_game_with_jets_against_saints_his_former_team.html

Chris Ivory began the week insistent that facing the New Orleans Saints would provide no incentive. Motivation to play well, Ivory said, exists against any opponent, not just a former employer.

Still, the Jets sensed the Saints might bring out the best in their second-leading rusher, whether due to an added sense of pride or the fact the Saints came to the Meadowlands today getting carved for 4.8 yards each time an opposing rusher touched the ball this season.

Jets coach Rex Ryan named Ivory a game captain. During pregame introductions, Ivory was the last player sent out of the tunnel.

There was a practical purpose in believing Ivory would bash the Saints defense, as well. With Drew Brees guiding a powerful Saints offense, the Jets required a productive rushing attack to chew up yards and eat time off the clock.

By game’s end, Ivory had left tire tracks on the chests of Saints defenders with his "punch-you-in-the-face" style, as the Jets coach put it.

Daily Clips Cont.

19 | P a g e

He blasted through the visitors 18 times for 139 yards, the second-highest total of his career. A three-yard run in the second quarter resulted in Ivory’s first touchdown as a Jet. After the game, the ball resided in his locker. Most importantly, Ivory said, the Jets won, 26-20.

"I’m not satisfied, I’m happy," Ivory said. "We won, that’s what matters. Hopefully we’ll continue to do it."

Ivory has played a significant role in the Jets’ two biggest victories this season, and as the air chills it seems increasingly evident he has cemented a prominent place in the Jets backfield. Against the New England Patriots he had 104 yards on 34 carries. By comparison, his yards today came in larger quantities — 27, 30, 52 yards at a time.

"They were arguing on their side of the ball," Willie Colon, the Jets’ right guard, said of how Ivory helped stagger the Saints defense. "They were trying to figure out what was going on. We just kept plugging away at it and knew they were going to crack.

"They couldn’t figure out why we was kicking their butt."

Ivory’s 52-yard run — the longest of his career — three seconds into the second quarter kick-started the Jets. Buried at their own 2-yard line, Ivory busted through Curtis Lofton at the line of scrimmage and down the sideline until Kenny Vaccaro tracked him down at the Saints’ 46.

"It swung momentum," Jets receiver David Nelson said. "We needed something. We needed a big play."

This offseason, the Saints deemed Ivory excess in a crowded backfield. In April, they traded him to the Jets for a fourth-round draft choice. Today they could have made use of his bullying style, with Khiry Robinson inactive and Darren Sproles knocked from the game in the first quarter. The Saints rushed for merely 41 yards.

Jets teammates said it is inevitable to be energized against a former team. But even in the huddle, Josh Cribbs said, Ivory remained calm.

The closest Ivory came to expressing the sentiment was calling his performance "special." He prefers to let his legs do the talking.

Perhaps, though, we should just listen to Ivory when he says those feelings, present or otherwise, isn’t what matters most.

"It’s huge, but at the same time he’s a Jet now," Colon said. "He stood up in a major way for us."

Back_to_Top

Unpredictable Jets prove they're good enough to make the playoffs (Steve Politi) Star-Ledger November 3, 2013

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/11/politi_the_jets_are_good_enough_to_make_the_playoffs.html

The Jets are going to the Super Bowl!

The Jets are totally not going to the Super Bowl.

The Jets just beat a pair of legit contenders, the Saints and the Patriots, in two of their last three games!

And got absolutely smoked by the Bengals in the third one.

The Jets defense just made NFL poster boys Drew Brees and Tom Brady look ordinary in the second half!

Daily Clips Cont.

20 | P a g e

And made Andy Dalton look like some kind of laboratory engineered super quarterback in between.

The Jets have all the ingredients to make the playoffs.

Really. That final statement, heading into the bye week, is the one conclusion you can safely draw about this team from these wacky first nine games. The Jets are good enough. They don’t always look good enough, to be sure. But they demonstrated again, with a 26-20 victory over Brees and the Saints, at MetLife Stadium, that they are good enough.

Will they get there? Who knows. But they can get there. Really, they should get there. And yes, I'll take "Sentences I Never Thought I'd Type" for $200, Alex.

When a team can rush for 198 yards, hold one of the elite offenses in pro football to a pair of second-half field goals and has a kicker who never misses, that usually is enough. This was a win that seemed stolen from the Jets' 2009 season, and we know what happened then.

“We know the type of team we can be,” said defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson, who might be the best defensive player in the NFL right now.

“We know we’re a better team that people thought,” said head coach Rex Ryan, who is starting to act like his old brash self again.

One week after his defense was embarrassed in Cincinnati, Ryan one-upped his twin brother with a perfect plan to slow down Brees. The Saints quarterback got his usual fantasy numbers – 382 yards and two touchdowns – but he threw two interceptions and could only muster three points on a 55-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Brees was smacked and rattled, hurried and harried. The final drive seemed like the worst-case scenario for the Jets after their way-too conservative play calling failed to ice a victory. Brees had a timeout and 1:58 left on his own 19-yard line with a chance to break their hearts.

But the Jets' front four provided consistent pressure, leading to two incompletions and a holding penalty, and the game ended with Brees meekly flicking the football to no one as Quinton Coples threw him to the turf.

That the Jets still ran a couple of plays when they could have just taken a knee, well, that says it all with this team, doesn’t it? It hasn’t figured out how to build on its success. Win one. Lose one. Ryan jokingly guaranteed that his team would lose to the bye week.

“Yes, it does (make a statement), but it’s also how we respond to it,” said guard Willie Colon. “We’ve showed a lot of people in the league that we’re worthy, but are we really contenders? We haven’t proven that yet.”

Winning in Buffalo after the bye would be a good place to start. Maybe the biggest reason to believe the Jets can pull this off is a very favorable schedule. They have the Bills, two games against Miami, Oakland, Baltimore, Cleveland and Carolina. Of those teams, only the surging Panthers have a winning record.

It will help quarterback Geno Smith, an erratic 8-of-19 passing against the Saints, that he should get two of his top weapons – tight end Kellen Winslow and receiver Santonio Holmes – back.

The Jets managed to win this one with “guys who came off the street,” as one of those guys, Josh Cribbs, put it. Cribbs completed a 25-yard pass out of the wildcat. Greg Salas, signed off the Philadelphia practice squad last week, led all receivers with 57 yards.

Greg Salas. Remember that name, because even Colon admitted that he had no idea what it was. “Hopefully, I’ll learn it now,” he said.

Daily Clips Cont.

21 | P a g e

Good teams find a way to win without their best personnel, and that’s what the Jets did. Even Ivory, who changed this game with a couple of huge runs, wasn’t supposed to be the starter when the season started. Now, he is the focal point of this offense, the reason Smith could be more of a game manager.

“All I know is, I’ve got a team that believes and will fight to the end,” Ryan said, “and that’s what we did.”

They did it this week. They did in two weeks ago. Last week in Cincinnati? Not so much, and this is what makes this team so impossible to predict.

The Jets have all the ingredients to make the playoffs.

And just enough flaws to blow this chance.

Which will it be?

Back_to_Top

Jets upend Saints, 26-20, thanks to superb defensive effort (Darryl Slater) Star-Ledger November 3, 2013

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/11/jets_saints_final.html

Clinging to the game’s final, desperate moment and on the run, Drew Brees flicked a harmless shovel pass that fell to MetLife Stadium’s turf. Chasing Brees, Jets linebacker Quinton Coples smothered him.

For an instant, the New Orleans Saints’ future Hall of Fame quarterback disappeared, covered in green and white — the colors he saw swarming him most of yesterday afternoon.

Brees had come to this cavernous, gray stadium leading a 6-1 team that hopes to return here in 90 days for the Super Bowl. He left, soon after Coples peeled himself off Brees, with a 26-20 loss to the Jets, who led for the entire second half and strutted into their bye week with a 5-4 record, looking as confounding as ever, yet ensuring everyone they still matter.

"People can sit there and talk about, ‘Oh, it’s one game at a time,’ but to see where we are, we’re in a great position in our division and also in the wild-card situation," said wide receiver David Nelson. "We pay attention to that stuff. People will say we don’t. But I’ll be honest with you. We do. Today set us up huge for the rest of the season."

Nelson beamed as he stood inside the Jets’ warm, buzzing locker room. The challenging five-game stretch before the bye week was always going to determine, to a significant degree, whether the final seven games would comprise a playoff push or an extended elegy for coach Rex Ryan’s tenure here.

Yesterday, the Jets finished that stretch at 3-2 with a performance that was quintessential Ryan. They held the Saints’ potent offense to two field goals in the second half by harassing Brees. They ran 36 times for a season-high 198 yards — including 18 for 139 by Chris Ivory. And in the end, as an evening chill settled in outside their locker room, they let themselves swagger just a little.

"When we’re firing on all cylinders, I don’t think we can be beat," said wide receiver Josh Cribbs, a major contributor yesterday.

November is here — a month of separation in the NFL — and, at least, these Jets are not yet gone. Luck has kept them around, sure. Late, fluky penalties contributed to victories over Tampa Bay and New England. But yesterday’s victory looked crisp and convincing.

"We can’t hold this as a trophy," said right guard Willie Colon. "We’ve got to build something."

Daily Clips Cont.

22 | P a g e

Yesterday’s film will provide bricks aplenty. Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan — who fell to 3-7 against his twin brother Rex, including 0-5 in the NFL — may well watch the footage and marvel (or scowl) at how the Jets gashed his group for 5.5 yards per carry, which kept pressure off rookie quarterback Geno Smith. He played his second turnover-free game, partly because he threw a season-low 19 times, including six in the second half, which the Jets began leading just 20-14.

No statistic will reflect this, but Colon credited the Jets’ stellar rushing attack to center Nick Mangold, who adjusted blocking schemes when the Saints brought more pressure off the edges.

"Nick did a great job of putting us in places where we could really be efficient," Colon said.

The Jets’ defensive efforts were more obvious. Brees threw for 382 yards, including 230 in the first half. But the Jets intercepted him twice in the first half, which led to a field goal and touchdown. Safety Dawan Landry’s tip created the first pick, by linebacker Demario Davis, and cornerback Antonio Cromartie collected the second — signs of progress for a secondary that looked awful in last week’s 49-9 loss at Cincinnati. Add to that, the Saints were held to just 41 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.2 yards per carry).

The defense’s strength remains its front, which was often able to pressure Brees with just four rushers. More so than last year, "now we have the ability to get to the quarterback without selling out and blitzing all the time," said linebacker Calvin Pace, who had one of the Jets’ two sacks. These pressuring situations free more coverage defenders, and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson regards such moments as "time for us to make our money."

Coples — a prodigious, second-year rush outside linebacker who often lines up along the line — earned his paycheck yesterday. He did not sack Brees, but led the Jets with three quarterback hurries, and had perhaps his best game as a professional.

Fittingly, he was the last Jet to hit Brees, on the last-gasp, fourth-and-19 play from the Saints’ 10-yard line, when the shovel pass went nowhere. Coples had already suffocated a Saints drive with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter, with the Jets up 26-17, when he tackled tight end Josh Hill for a loss of 8 yards on fourth-and-1 from the Jets’ 36.

Coples aligned on the right edge. He prepared himself to contain a pitch, or rush Brees if he faked a handoff and threw. When Brees gave the end-around to Hill, Coples was in perfect position to help swing the Jets’ season upward again, and to make his next thought a reality.

"When he handed it off, my eyes just got big," Coples said. "I knew I was going to run right through him."

Back_to_Top

NEW YORK POST

Jets report card (Brian Costello) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/jets-report-card-24/

OFFENSE

It was a Ground-and-Pound throwback day for the Jets with the team rushing for 198 yards and committing no turnovers, both keys in the win. RB Chris Ivory (18 rushes, 139 yards, 1 TD) ran with a purpose and broke some huge runs, none bigger than the 52-yarder when the Jets were backed up to

Daily Clips Cont.

23 | P a g e

their goal line. QB Geno Smith (8-of-19, 115 yards, 1 rushing TD) did not have a big game, but it was a clean game. The offensive line protected Smith and opened up some huge holes.

GRADE: A-

DEFENSE

The unit had a few early hiccups, but the defense got to Drew Brees, sacking him twice and pressuring him all day. More importantly, the group held up in the fourth quarter when it looked as if the Saints might rally to steal the win. Demario Davis and Antonio Cromartie both came up with turnovers that led to points and Muhammad Wilkerson was his usual unstoppable self. Quinton Coples (3 quarterback hits) had his best game as a pro, including a huge fourth-down stop.

GRADE: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS

Nick Folk remained perfect with four more field goals. He is now 23-for-23 this season. The coverage units played well also and punter Ryan Quigley pinned the Saints inside the 20 twice, including their final drive.

GRADE: A

COACHING

Rex Ryan has mastered the bounce-back win. Now he just has to figure out how to get a few in a row out of his team. Marty Mornhinweg had a strong game. He got Ivory going, knowing the Saints run defense was suspect and found ways to incorporate guys such as Zach Sudfeld and Greg Salas, who were playing due to injuries to starters. Mornhiweg did not ask Smith to do too much and it paid off. Ryan and Dennis Thurman found a way to get pressure on Brees and, after some early success for Jimmy Graham, contained the Saints wide array of weapons.

Back_to_Top

Beating his twin was special for Rex Ryan (Brian Costello) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/beating-his-twin-was-special-for-rex-ryan/

Jets coach Rex Ryan continued his dominance over his twin brother, Saints defensive coordinator Rob, with Sunday’s win over the Saints.

Rex and Rob have met five times in the NFL and Rex is 5-0 against his brother. The 26-20 win over the Saints was Rex’s third over his brother since he became the Jets coach.

“All right, beat my brother again,” Rex joked as he opened his postgame press conference.

Rex admitted this win was special for him.

“There’s a little extra,” Rex said. “But again, at the end of the day, now you realize your bro just took a loss. That’s a tough thing. There’s no question. I pull for them every single week except one. I’ve mentioned it before: I always look at their score. I can’t tell you another game. There’s not one game I could tell you how it went today. But if the Saints were playing, I would have known.”

Rex and Rob posed for photos before the game with their father, Buddy, the longtime NFL coach.

Daily Clips Cont.

24 | P a g e

Rob’s defense had no answer for the Jets’ rushing attack and it made the difference in the game. The two brothers embraced on the field after the game.

***

Injuries were a problem Sunday, and one, especially, could be significant. WR Jeremy Kerley left the game in the first half with an elbow injury that appeared to be serious. Ryan did not have an update after the game on Kerley’s status, but tests will be done Monday and the fear is Kerley could be lost for a significant period of time.

S Antonio Allen suffered a concussion in the game and LB Calvin Pace also left the game with an injury. Pace said he just got banged up and is fine.

***

WR Stephen Hill did not have a catch in the game. He was thrown to just once. Over the team’s last six games, Hill has just 10 catches and no catches of more than 25 yards. While he did not contribute with a catch, Hill did throw some great blocks in the game.

***

Rookie CB Dee Milliner bounced back from a terrible game against the Bengals with a solid performance. Milliner got burned once by Nick Toon, who dropped the pass, but outside of that, he played well.

Ryan has predicted Milliner will be the league’s top rookie cornerback by the end of the year.

“You guys see what I’m talking about with Dee Milliner? I think he was a little better today,” Ryan said. “The kid played his butt off. He’s going to be there. If you want to bet against me on a defensive player, go for it.”

***

WR Josh Cribbs contributed in a variety of ways. He completed a 25-yard pass to TE Zach Sudfeld, had a 42-yard kickoff return and a 9-yard run for a first down.

“We’re so versatile on offense right now, teams better watch out,’’ Cribbs said.

***

S Josh Bush said the referee did not tell him why he was flagged for roughing the passer in the fourth quarter. It appeared Bush’s hit was clean. … Saints RB Darren Sproles left the game in the first quarter with a concussion. … WR Marques Colston was inactive for the Saints. … TE Jeff Cumberland was inactive for the Jets.

Back_to_Top

No wind in sails for Drew Brees, Saints (Bart Hubbuch) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/no-wind-in-sails-for-drew-brees-saints/

A week after getting obliterated by Andy Dalton, the Jets battered and flustered Drew Brees.

Go figure.

While the Saints’ star quarterback doesn’t always play as well on the road as he does in the cozy Superdome in New Orleans, that didn’t make Brees’ struggles Sunday or the resulting 26-20 loss to the Jets any less of a head-scratcher.

Daily Clips Cont.

25 | P a g e

A relentless Jets pass rush, creative coverages from Rex Ryan and the swirling wind at MetLife Stadium combined to take their toll on Brees, who a week after throwing five TD passes in a home win over the Bills was rendered ordinary after a red-hot start.

Brees completed 30-of-51 passes for 382 yards and two scores (both to matchup nightmare Jimmy Graham), but the bulk of that production came in the game’s first 20 minutes, and he ended up tying his season-high with two interceptions.

Once the Jets’ secondary got its bearings against New Orleans’ spread passing attack and their front seven turned up the heat, Brees and the Saints were left mostly to spin their wheels en route to falling to 6-2.

“There were times we may have shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, but credit to [the Jets],” said Brees, who was sacked just twice but harried all day. “They got a lot of pressure and kind of got us off our rhythm.”

It wasn’t entirely a surprise Brees could be made to look human in a game played in the elements, considering he began the day with a 126.1 career passer rating at home but a mere 87.1 rating on the road.

Even so, it still had the look of a long day for the Jets after they were torched for five TD passes by Dalton in a 49-9 loss to the Bengals the week before and Brees got off to a fast start Sunday.

Brees sizzled at the outset despite the 48-degree weather, connecting on 12 of his first 18 passes for 148 yards. And by early in the second quarter, he had thrown two TDs — both to Graham, who finished with nine catches for 116 yards — and the Saints were up 14-6.

But a sideline interception by Antonio Cromartie just before halftime that enabled the Jets to take a 20-14 lead into the break shifted the momentum and began Brees’ downhill run.

“That was a real critical turnover,” Brees said of Cromartie’s play. “We were on our way to go down in a two-minute situation and hopefully get a field goal or more, and instead that flips around and they get a touchdown. That was a huge play.”

Brees wasn’t helped by crucial injuries, nine penalties and some wacky play-calling by Payton, either.

Not only did the Saints lose big-play running back Darren Sproles in the first half to a concussion, but Payton also hurt his team with a bizarre decision midway through the fourth quarter to try an end-around to a backup tight end on fourth-and-1 from the Jets’ 36.

Quinton Coples stuffed that play for an 8-yard loss, keeping a 26-17 lead in place at the time and seeming to take a lot of what little fight was left in Brees and the Saints.

“My hats off to them,” Brees said of the Jets. “They played very, very well on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense.”

Back_to_Top

Playoffs a real possibility for Jets (Steve Serby) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/playoffs-a-real-possibility-for-jets/

When your defense stands up to Drew Brees and suffocates him with JetLife Stadium on its feet and the game on the line at the end, when you know you have just played the way contenders are supposed to play, when you can feel the belief mushrooming and exploding around you, on the field and in the locker

Daily Clips Cont.

26 | P a g e

room, when you have gifted Rex Ryan another victory over his twin Rob — oh brother — it is so difficult for you not to dream.

An impossible dream at the start of the season. The biggest possible dream now.

“I think this team can go pretty far,” Josh Cribbs said. “I don’t want to count our eggs before they hatch, but week by week, we’re creating a monster. And everybody’s going to see it. We’re beating teams that we shouldn’t, that people think that we can’t, and what we got to do is, we got to win the games we’re supposed to, and we go to shock people on the games that they think we can’t win. All the ingredients are here.”

To do what?

“To go all the way,” Cribbs said.

“Our goal is to win the Super Bowl. That’s every one of ours goal, from the lowest person to the highest person on this team, is to win a Super Bowl. But we got to take it game by game. Week by week.”

Rex Ryan will remember this as much more than another day when he beat Rob, the defensive coordinator of the Saints, for the fifth time in five NFL tries, with their dad Buddy Ryan in the house, if it proves to be the launching pad for a season no one saw coming.

The naysayers who have been laughing at the Jets since 2011 assuredly will laugh at any Super Bowl talk coming from them now. The Jets will continue to use it as fuel.

“We think we’re an elite team. That’s how we’re thinking, man,” Sheldon Richardson said.

A jubilant, defiant Rex Ryan began his press conference this way: “Oh I beat my brother again, um …”

He already had reminded his Jets of that sibling matter, after congratulating his team for its pride and fight and toughness and heart.

“And guess what — I got to whip my brother’s ass again,” Rex added.

His players wanted this one for themselves, for their fans, and for him.

“It’s a great thing that we were able to win for our head coach,” Cribbs said.

Oh, brother, did Chris Ivory (18 carries, 139 yards) run it down the throat of the team that discarded him. “A punch-in-the-mouth type back,” Rex said.

On a punch-you-in-the-face type team.

“They were arguing on their side of the ball. They were trying to figure out why we were kicking their butt,” Willie Colon said. “We just knew if we kept plugging away at it, they were going to crack.”

Oh, brother, did flawless Nick Folk (four more field goals) resemble Lou (The Toe) Groza again.

Oh, brother, did Dee Milliner finally play like a No. 1 draft choice.

Oh, brother, did Geno Smith take care of the ball on a day when he was asked only to take care of the ball.

 Oh, brother, did Marty Mornhinweg torment Rob Ryan.

 Oh, brother, did it help when Darren Sproles (concussion) was forced out early.

Oh, brother, did Gang Green (10 points that came off of Demario Davis and Antonio Cromartie interceptions) hound Brees.

Daily Clips Cont.

27 | P a g e

“We knew he’s a short quarterback, and we knew also he’s an elite quarterback. Get him off his mark, that would get him rattled,” Muhammad Wilkerson said.

Oh, brother, did Quinton Coples make a clutch play for an 8-yard loss on a reverse to Jason Hill fourth-and-1 at the NYJ 36 midway through the fourth quarter.

“At the end of the day, I can’t let anybody get outside of me, whether it’s the running back, or the reverse that it was,” Coples said

Oh, brother, did Gang Green want to close this one out.

“This is why we get paid,” Wilkerson said in the huddle. “This is why we love this game.”

I asked Rex how nerve-wracking it was for him when Brees took over at his own 19 with 1:58 remaining.

“Not even worried at all.” He rolled his eyes and everyone laughed. “You know, like, ‘Drew Brees, like great. Can we put the backup in?’

“I will say this: was I confident in our guys? Absolutely. Absolutely I was confident in our guys to get it done. But a little nervous? Yes.”

Maybe the teams that play these roller-coaster Jets should be a little nervous.

Back_to_Top

No-name receivers rally Jets (Mark Cannizzaro) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/no-name-receivers-rally-jets/

Someone named Greg Salas, wearing No. 17 in the home green-and-white, led the Jets in receiving Sunday with two catches for 57 yards — highlighted by a 44-yard catch-and-run that set up a critical insurance field goal — in the Jets’ 26-20 upset victory over the Saints at MetLife Stadium.

Jets right guard Willie Colon, whose locker in the team’s Florham Park, N.J., training facility is adjacent to Salas’ stall, said after the game he had no idea what his name was.

“Number 17, I don’t know his name even though he sits next to me, he made some nice catches for us,’’ Colon said. “I know he’s my locker mate, I just don’t know his name. I have to introduce myself to him.’’

This was symbolic of how and why the Jets beat the favored, high-powered Saints. They did it with little-known role players barely recognized even by the most ardent of fantasy football nerds, filling in for injured players — introducing themselves.

Salas, who’s with his fourth team since he was drafted by the Rams in 2011 and was signed this season off the Eagles practice squad, made his Jets debut Sunday and made a difference when starting receiver Jeremy Kerley left the game in the first half with an elbow injury.

Then there is 6-foot-7 tight end Zach Sudfeld, whom the Jets signed a day after the Patriots released him a few weeks ago. He caught two passes for 46 yards, including a 25-yard catch of a pass from Josh Cribbs out of the wildcat formation that led to a first-half field goal.

“I don’t know if we ever connected in practice before on all the times we’ve run that play,’’ Sudfeld said.

“I didn’t throw it to him one time in practice,’’ Cribbs said.

Daily Clips Cont.

28 | P a g e

Cribbs, whom the Jets signed off the street the same day they signed Salas, threw that 25-yard pass to Sudfeld, ran three times for 12 yards out of the wildcat, caught two passes and returned five kickoffs for an average of 26.8 yards. Not bad for a player no team wanted just a few weeks ago.

Add to this mix-and-match David Nelson, who was signed a month ago and caught a pass for 19 yards Sunday, and what you have is a fascinating hodgepodge of receivers who are saving a Jets team that entered the season with what was perceived as some of the worst skill position talent in the league.

The Jets were already without their top receiver, Santonio Holmes (hamstring), their two top tight ends, Kellen Winslow (suspended) and Jeff Cumberland (concussion) before they lost Kerley.

Of the Jets’ nine completions for 140 yards in the game, seven for 128 yards came from players not on the team in training camp.

“I credit the GM [John Idzik]’’ Cribbs said. “He saw a puzzle being made and he went out and got the pieces to the puzzle that would fit. We have a lot to play for. We have guys coming off the street like myself. I was not on a team for six weeks, and I have a lot to prove. Now you got Salas coming off the practice squad proving himself. Nelson has really been showing up. We’re hungry.

“That’s what our GM did. He went out and got guys that are hungry.’’

Nelson, the former Bills receiver who missed all last season with a knee injury and has been a godsend to the Jets’ depleted receiving corps, called the role of the role players Sunday “a huge testament to the character’’ of the team.

“I don’t think most people knew who 86 [Nelson] or 17 [Salas] or 82 [Sudfeld] are,’’ Nelson joked. “But that’s what this league is. Every year, you have teams that have injuries and it’s guys who come in that can make or break the season.’’

Back_to_Top

Kicker is arguably the Jets’ MVP this season (Bart Hubbuch) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/kicker-is-arguably-the-jets-mvp-this-season/

The Jets always seem to be trying to replace Nick Folk, but the veteran kicker is arguably their MVP so far this season.

Folk was automatic yet again Sunday, converting all four of his field-goal tries and providing the difference in a 26-20 upset of the Saints at MetLife Stadium.

Not that the Jets should have been surprised. With his season-high four field goals (from 39, 21, 47 and 45 yards), Folk is now 23-for-23 and on track to become just the fifth kicker in NFL history with a minimum of 17 attempts to convert 100 percent in a single year.

Not bad for someone who has had to face offseason or training-camp competition to keep his job seemingly every year since signing with the Jets in 2010.

“You’re talking about ‘Folk Hero?’ ” Rex Ryan said with a grin after another clutch effort from the former Cowboys draft pick. “Guys, how about that year? Geez. It’s not that it’s a given, but it’s like, ‘Go ahead, Folk Hero — knock it through. Let’s go and then get that kickoff coverage ready.’ ”

Not only has Folk been a given this year, but he’s also on the cusp of owning the Jets’ record book. The four field goals Sunday left Folk just two shy of breaking Jay Feely’s franchise record of 24 consecutive successful attempts, set from 2008-09.

Daily Clips Cont.

29 | P a g e

In truth, Folk only has been perfect technically this season. He missed in overtime against the Patriots three games ago, but was given a second chance — that he converted — thanks to a controversial pushing penalty on New England.

As a result, Folk hasn’t officially missed since going 3-for-4 against Buffalo in the Jets’ season finale last year.

There weren’t any do-or-die moments Sunday to resemble the ending of the Patriots game, but it wasn’t a cakewalk, either — not on a 48-degree day with MetLife Stadium’s typically swirling winds.

But Folk came through every time, enabling the Jets to pull off the upset despite an offense that sputtered a few too many times.

“I’ve been around some really good kickers in my day,” Ryan said. “But the year Nick is having is absolutely phenomenal.”

Maybe even phenomenal enough to avoid another fight for his job in training camp next year.

Back_to_Top

Jets Blitz: Ivory kills former team (Mark Cannizzaro) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/jets-blitz-ivory-kills-former-team/

HERO: Former Saints running back Chris Ivory, playing his first season with the Jets, gashed his old team for 139 rushing yards on 18 carries and his first TD as a Jet. Ivory, known more a plodding runner, smacked the Saints defense for runs of 52, 30 and 27 yards. He was the heartbeat of the Jets’ offense.

UNSUNG HERO: Geno Smith. The Jets quarterback had very modest numbers — 8-of-19 for 115 yards — but he did not turn the ball over and managed the game perfectly, running (6-for-18 yards) when he needed to (including a terrific cut-back 3-yard TD run that gave the Jets a 20-14 lead).

ZERO: Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. He hardly looked like the defensive guru he is reputed to be while his defense was being punched in the gut by the Jets running game for 198 yards, two TDs and a 5.5-yard average. Ryan’s inability to make Geno Smith beat his team by throwing the ball was the difference in the game. He was outcoached by his brother again. Rex is now 5-0 against Rob as NFL coaches.

KEY NUMBERS: 8, 116, 2. Those were the statistics for Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (8 catches 116 yards, 2 TDs), but in the end the Jets’ defense survived his early dominance. The Jets used at least seven players to cover Graham at one time or another.

QUOTE: “We’re so versatile on offense right now, teams better watch out.’’ – Jets receiver Josh Cribbs

Back_to_Top

Jets stun Saints, head to bye at 5-4 (Brian Costello) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/jets-improbably-knock-off-saints/

The Jets were supposed to be dead by now. The focus now was supposed to be on coach Rex Ryan’s job security, the plan for 2014 and playing out the string.

One problem: no one told the Jets.

Daily Clips Cont.

30 | P a g e

Gang Green pulled off another stunner Sunday in a 26-20 victory over the Saints at MetLife Stadium to improve to 5-4 entering their bye week. The Jets have beaten two of the best teams in football — the Patriots and Saints — over the last three weeks.

Believe it or not, the playoffs are a real possibility as November begins. The Jets would hold the second wild card if the season ended now. While there is still a long way to go, this is no longer about rebuilding but making a run.

“That’s up to us,” linebacker Calvin Pace said. “If we can go out and play 60-minute ball games then we can go to the playoffs. If we come out like the bad Jets, then obviously we won’t make it. We just have to be consistent, man.”

Consistency is the key for a Jets team that has alternated wins and losses all season. Sunday’s game was another up in the up-and-down season. One week after getting embarrassed by the Bengals, the Jets delivered a convincing win over the Saints.

The Jets used the formula that made them so successful in Ryan’s first two years with the Jets — running the ball for 198 yards, forcing two turnovers from Drew Brees and not asking rookie quarterback Geno Smith to do too much. Smith finished 8-of-19 for 115 yards. He rushed for one touchdown and had no turnovers.

The Jets defense frustrated Brees, who still threw for 382 yards. The Jets front pressured Brees all day, led by the rush of Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson and Quinton Coples. Brees threw two interception — one to Demario Davis and one to Antonio Cromartie — that led to 10 Jets points.

On offense, the Jets leaned on running back Chris Ivory, dealt by the Saints to the Jets in April. Ivory ran for 139 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against his former team.

The 6-2 Saints had Jets fans holding their breath as they made a few comeback bids in the fourth quarter, but the Jets answered every one.

Now, a team that was expected to win three or four games by some prognosticators is 5-4 and in the thick of the playoff chase.

“Anybody that made those predictions about this team did not know this team,” Ryan said. “I know one thing: we get everything they have from our players, period. I don’t know if it’s good enough or whatever, but I know what we get from our guys and they care about each other a great deal and they care about our fans. … We know we’re a better team than people thought.”

The Saints hit a few big plays early on. Brees and tight end Jimmy Graham connected for a 51-yard touchdown over Jets safety Jaiquawn Jarrett that put New Orleans up 7-3. Brees struck again in the second quarter when he found Robert Meachem for a 60-yard pass after Cromartie tripped while covering him. Cromartie was then victimized by Graham on a 10-yard touchdown that gave the Saints a 14-6 lead.

The Jets offense kept up with the Saints, though, thanks to Ivory. He broke a 52-yard run early in the second quarter that set up a Nick Folk field goal. He kept running hard and scored a 3-yard touchdown a few minutes later. Ivory downplayed facing his former team, but his teammates said you could see a difference in Ivory this week.

“Chris is a beast,” Pace said. “I think he had a little extra motivation today playing against his old team. He fits what we do. It was a pleasure to see him go out there and put a beating on his old team like he did.”

Daily Clips Cont.

31 | P a g e

Cromartie gained a measure of redemption for his earlier gaffes when he picked off a Brees pass that bounced off Saints receiver Nick Toon’s hands with 2:12 left in the half. Four plays later, Smith ran in from the 3 and the Jets took a 20-14 lead.

Folk stretched the lead to 26-17 early in the fourth quarter and the crowd at MetLife Stadium waited for the Saints to make their run. Brees took the Saints to the Jets’ 36 with about 8 minutes left in the game. After Jed Collins dropped a third-and-1 pass, Saints coach Sean Payton made a strange play call. On fourth-and-1 he called for an end around to tight end Josh Hill. Coples sniffed it out and tackled Hill for an 8-yard loss to give the Jets the ball back.

The Saints would cut the Jets lead to 26-20 after a Garrett Hartley 43-yard field goal with just over three minutes left. But the Jets defense stopped Brees and the Saints once again with under two minutes to go to seal the win.

The Jets now get the bye week to get healthy and figure out how to string some wins together. It starts in two weeks in Buffalo against the Bills.

“Right now all eyes are on Buffalo and how we respond to that,” guard Willie Colon said. “We’re going into the month of November and December where good teams take off and if we want to be contenders, we’ve got to take off.”

Back_to_Top

Chris Ivory carries Jets on his back (Mike Vaccaro) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/chris-ivory-carries-jets-on-his-back/

Sometimes, a football game doesn’t turn on a spectacular catch, or a crunching hit, or a zig-zaggy punt return. Sometimes, it’s smaller than that, it’s subtler than that, it’s less about flash and more about flush.

Sometimes, what it takes is a 6-foot-even, 220-pound running back like Chris Ivory to power his way through the defensive line, keep both hands on the ball, keep his legs grinding, and maybe give a defensive back — in this instance, Saints’ cornerback Keenan Lewis — a ride for a few yards.

Twenty-one yards later, a genuine MetLife folk hero was born.

Twenty-one yards later, the Jets had a new look on this game. And maybe on their season.

It was early, yes, the Jets’ second possession of the game. It ultimately yielded only a field goal. The Saints would take a lead. All of that would happen. And yet when the Jets looked back from the splendid perspective of a 26-20 victory Sunday, their signature win of a surprising, satisfying season, the image they talked about was of Chris Ivory, human Brinks truck, giving Keenan Lewis a lift.

Giving them one, too.

“A play like that … it just kills their game,” Josh Cribbs said, smiling, shaking his head, nodding at Ivory across the dressing room. “Sometimes, a guy plays in a zone. And he can take you there with him.”

Said coach Rex Ryan: “We know, if he’s healthy, this young man has the ability to be a punch-you-in-the-face kind of back. Any time your big back makes plays like that, it energizes everyone. He has speed, he has vision, he runs with power …”

What he doesn’t have is much of a desire to talk about himself, a refreshing departure from the look-at-me culture that generally rules the sport. Later, he would add a businesslike yet entirely critical 52-yard

Daily Clips Cont.

32 | P a g e

rumble when the Jets were backed up to their own goal line, denied more only because of a fine play by New Orleans’ Kenny Vaccaro (because that’s how the Vaccaros roll).

In all, Ivory would pile up 139 hard yards on 18 punishing carries, and even at a time when passing rules the roost in the NFL, every time Ivory touched the ball it sent a jolt through 76,957 at MetLife Stadium. All of this against the team that exchanged him for a fourth-round pick, the 106th selection in the draft.

That player, tight end Dion Sims — flipped to the Dolphins — presently has two catches for 5 yards on the season. The NFL can be a cold place. In other sports, when you get traded, it’s at least (usually) for someone you’ve heard of. In the NFL, you can get swapped for a lotto ticket.

“To say there’s nothing special going against your old team?” said Ryan, inching ever so slowly back to his old pithy self as the wins add up. “Yeah, right.”

Ivory didn’t want to dance. All week he insisted there were no hard feelings on his end, that facing the Saints was no more meaningful for him than Bills, Browns or Bengals. For most of yesterday, he held true to that position.

“Was this special?” he was asked.

“The win?” he asked in reply. “Yes, that was special.”

“How about who you beat?”

He paused. Smiled. And did his best to keep the smile from widening when he said “No.” But the smile widened anyway, allowing you to draw your own conclusions.

And you know what? As far as the Jets were concerned, it mattered not at all why Ivory stepped up with his best game of the year, just that he did, especially as hard as the Jets had been punched in the mouth last week in Cincinnati. Just that he kept bulling his way through the line, kept ferrying Saints along his path for a few extra steps here and a few extra yards there.

The Jets just finished a five-game stretch — at Atlanta, home to Pittsburgh and New England, at Cincinnati, home to New Orleans — where it wasn’t impossible or remotely unfair to wonder if they might be staring at an 0-5 sink hole. Instead they went 3-2, get a bye next week, and there isn’t a single game left on the schedule that qualifies as unwinnable.

It has been a season of pleasant surprises. And Ivory is the latest. Acquired five days after Darrelle Revis was dealt to Tampa Bay, his arrival wasn’t going to provide any kind of equal-time solace for the disenchanted. He is no island. But Sunday, he was a hell of a fine towing service. The Jets will take it.

Back_to_Top

Quinton Coples gets his breakout game (Mark Cannizzaro) New York Post November 3, 2013

http://nypost.com/2013/11/03/quinton-coples-gets-his-breakout-game/

The Jets were clinging to a tenuous nine-point lead on the high-powered Saints, and they were trying to bleed away the fourth quarter to preserve an upset victory when a defensive play had to be made.

The Saints, with quarterback Drew Brees and an offense capable of scoring a lot of points in a little time, had a fourth-and-1 from the Jets 36-yard line and a play had to be made.

It came from maligned linebacker Quinton Coples, the 2012 first-round draft pick who the Jets have been waiting patiently to fulfill his potential.

Daily Clips Cont.

33 | P a g e

The Saints dialed up a curious end-around play for their lumbering 6-foot-5, 229-pound rookie tight end Josh Hill and Coples, who did not bite on a fake, was there to stuff Hill for an 8-yard loss to give the Jets the ball back with 7:49 remaining in their 26-20 win at MetLife Stadium.

“I was thinking [Brees] was going to pull it down and throw the ball and when he handed it off my eyes got big, because I knew I was going to run right into him,’’ Coples said.

“Just a great play,’’ Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “We’re always on him because he has all the ability in the world. When you see the play, the vision he had on the play, to pick up on the reverse coming around. … It was a huge play. That’s a turnover on downs. I’m just proud of the play he made down there.’’

Coples, who was slowed by an ankle injury earlier this season and has struggled to be the impact player he has been expected to become, had his best game as a pro, with three quarterback hurries, a batted pass and that huge tackle on fourth down, called it “one of my best games.’’

“ ‘Q’ has the ability to be dominant; it’s just up to him,’’ linebacker Calvin Pace said.

“He definitely had a breakout game. We expect that from him every week,’’ defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson said. “We know what type of player ‘Q’ is. He’s going to keep getting better.’’

The fourth-down stop was Coples at his best.

“It was fourth down, everyone was playing power left and ‘Q’ did his job as the back-side cut-back guy,’’ Jets linebacker David Harris said. “He didn’t get fooled. He stayed at home and had a huge stop for us. That was huge for us. He had a great game.’’

Fittingly, it was Coples’ fourth-and-19 pressure on Brees that ended the Saints’ final, desperate offensive possession with 1:21 remaining.

“He’s finally hitting his groove,’’ rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said. “First you have to shake the rust off and then you get something called your groove.’’

The Jets now hope Coples stays in that groove.

Back_to_Top

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

NY Jets revive playoff hopes with stunning win over Saints (Seth Walder) New York Daily News November 3, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/jets-smother-saints-back-playoff-picture-article-1.1505402

Rex and Rob Ryan may be twins, but their defenses looked nothing alike on Sunday.

Rex’s Jets had to wait seven arduous days to prove they were better than they looked in their 40-point loss to the Bengals last week. And when they got their chance, they stunned Drew Brees and the Saints to jump into the second wild-card spot in the AFC.

It was an old school Rex Ryan win: ground and pound complemented by strong defense, and it earned the Jets a 26-20 victory at home Sunday.

“Beat my brother again,” said Rex Ryan, who improved to 5-0 against Rob — the Saints’ defensive coordinator — in the NFL and 3-0 as head coach of the Jets. He was in a cheerful mood after pulling out a win that few expected after the 49-9 debacle against the Bengals last week.

Daily Clips Cont.

34 | P a g e

“We dropped an egg in Cincinnati, it was embarrassing,” said Willie Colon. “Having a chance to come out there and be efficient and do what the game plan called for us to do and get it done is huge for us.”

A large part of that was Chris Ivory. Six months after the Saints (6-2) traded Ivory, the running back got redemption. He barreled over opponents, breaking out several big runs on the way to a 139-yard performance that included a key second-quarter TD after the Saints had taken a 14-6 lead.

If the season ended now, the Jets would squeak into the playoffs as the second wild card team. That’s quite the turnaround for a team many considered one of the worst in the NFL before the year began. Calvin Pace, at least, still believes most aren’t buying the Jets. “Not too many,” Pace said. “We’re always the underdog… It’s cool. It motivates us.”

“We know we’re not going to be the Kansas City Chiefs to the public,” Austin Howard said. “But we know what we have within this team. We might not have the most well-known guys in the NFL, but we have a lot of guys that can make a lot of plays.”

Rex Ryan didn’t want to talk about the playoffs, but nine games into the season, it’s looking more and more like a possibility.

“If we can go out and play 60-minute ballgames, then, yeah, we can go to the playoffs,” Pace said. “If we come out the like Bad Jets, then obviously we won’t make it.”

Not only did the defense get back on the right track Sunday, but the Jets won the turnover battle, a rarity this season. They picked off Brees twice and could have had a few more had a couple penalties and tipped balls fallen their way.

“Well it was outstanding, if you can say it was outstanding after a guy throws for 382 yards against you,” Ryan said. “Really, it was, we made some big plays.”

Geno Smith was largely invisible, which was just fine for the Jets. The most important thing the young quarterback did Sunday was not turn the ball over, as he finished 8-for-19 for 115 yards.

“I think not having so many negative plays and negative yardage, I think that’s something that really helped us today,” Smith said.

Smith’s day did include a 3-yard rushing TD in the second quarter on a read-option play where he juked Cameron Jordan before easily scoring, putting the Jets ahead to stay just before halftime.

“It was a read play. It was actually Nick’s (Mangold) idea,” said Smith. “He saw something on the D-line so he relayed it to Marty (Mornhinweg) and Marty relayed it to me and then (I) had an opportunity to score there before the half and kind of tried to stretch the play.”

The Jets were leading for the entire second half, but at the end, the Saints were handed one last chance to come back. Brees took the ball back at his own 19 with 1:58 left. But Rex’s defense held strong again, forcing four incompletions to end the game.

“I wasn’t worried at all,” Ryan said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “The guy (Brees) is sick, he makes great throws. I will say this, was I confident in our guys? Absolutely. Absolutely, I was confident in our guys to get it done. But a little nervous? Yes.”

Back_to_Top

Changed Rex Ryan much more reserved with NY Jets success this season (Gary Myers) New York Daily News November 3, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/myers-reserved-rex-cooling-jets-article-1.1505732

Daily Clips Cont.

35 | P a g e

In the last three weeks, the Jets have defeated Tom Brady and Drew Brees – future Hall of Fame quarterbacks of legitimate Super Bowl contenders — and in the good old days, that would have been enough to inspire Rex Ryan to start guaranteeing championships.

But in between beating the Patriots and Saints, the Jets lost by 40 to the Bengals, so even with the Jets at 5-4 and now in sole possession of the AFC’s No. 2 wild-card spot as they head into their bye week, Ryan was reluctant to acknowledge that the Jets have legitimized themselves as serious playoff contenders.

“I don’t know,” he said Sunday. “We got a long way to go.”

In the good old days of 2009-10, Ryan’s trash- talking would have set the standard for his players. Not anymore. It wasn’t the Bengals loss that held him back. This is just the new subdued Rex and it’s working.

“We have no time to start talking about the playoffs,” guard Willie Colon said. “Right now, we have to put our foot on the pedal and we have to start winning some away games. We showed a lot of people in the league that we are worthy, but are we really contenders? We haven’t proven that yet.”

Did this game send a message to the rest of the league?

“We thought we did that against the Pats, we walk into Cincinnati and get our heads rolled over to us,” he said. “I’m no fool. I’m not going to be the dummy. We’ve got to respect every opponent and got to come out with just enough fight and intensity that we did today to start stacking wins.”

The Jets continued their win-one lose-one pattern with Sunday’s 26-20 victory over the Saints by rushing for 198 yards, holding the Saints to 41 yards on the ground, picking off Brees twice, sacking him twice, hitting him six times, confusing him enough to make him call all three of his first-half timeouts in the first quarter and then stuffing a bizarre fourth-and-1 tight end reverse call by Sean Payton in a key fourth-down sequence.

Now let’s see what happens when the Jets go to Buffalo in two weeks, then to Baltimore. Will they get humiliated like they did in Cincinnati or will beating the Saints, a team that many before Sunday’s game were predicting would be back at MetLife for Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2, give this team enough confidence to make a playoff run?

“We got a shot, most definitely got a shot,” rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said. “Most definitely we’re a playoff team, just got to keep consistent both sides of the ball.”

Call that youthful exuberance. Colon, who had the benefit of perspective that comes with experience, wasn’t ready to proclaim that the Jets will be playing in January.

“We haven’t stacked wins,” Colon said. “Good teams stack wins. Until we start stacking wins and be efficient in that regard, we’re just a team trying to get into the show.”

It’s November and the Jets are in it, so they have already exceeded expectations. I thought they were a 5-11 or 6-10 team, but Ryan has done a terrific job. He found a formula Sunday that he used in 2009 and 2010, his first two years with the Jets when they went to the AFC title game: Run the ball and play good defense and keep the young quarterback out of trouble. Geno Smith was just 8-of-19 for 115 yards but didn’t turn it over and had a nice 3-yard TD run. Chris Ivory ran through his former team for 139 yards, including a 52-yard run from his own 2 that led to a long field goal drive, and even though Brees threw for 382 yards, he was constantly pressured and could have had five interceptions. As he walked to the Saints team bus, I asked Brees if he thought the Jets look like playoff contenders.

Daily Clips Cont.

36 | P a g e

“We’re only at the midway point of the season,” he said. “So what does that make them, 5-4? They’ve won some big games, they beat us, they beat New England, beat Atlanta, that’s a tough place to play on Monday night. With a great defense — they can rush the passer and defend the run — a great run game, and a quarterback who can make some plays, you got a chance.”

That’s a pretty good endorsement from one of the best players in the NFL. The Saints went 2-2 against the AFC East and the Jets held them to their lowest point total in those games. New Orleans scored 38 against the Dolphins, 27 against the Patriots and 35 against the Bills.

If the season ended right now, the Jets would be the AFC’s sixth seed. But there are almost two months to go as the marathon transitions into a sprint.

“We’re just in the heap of it right now,” Colon said. “We have to come out in Buffalo and win. Bottom line, we can’t drop an egg and have an embarrassing performance like we had in Cincinnati.”

It sounds like the Jets have to prove to themselves that they are playoff contenders. “Prove to us and the rest of the league,” Colon said.

The only trash-talking Ryan did came about 15 minutes after he gave his twin brother Rob, the Saints’ defensive coordinator, a big hug at midfield at the end of the game. Their dad Buddy was at MetLife to see Rex go 5-0 against Rob, 3-0 as a head coach.

“I beat my brother again,” Rex smiled.

That allowed him to retain family bragging rights and keep the Jets relevant the last two months of the season.

Back_to_Top

NY Jets defense steps up big, quiets Saints high-powered offense (Seth Walder) New York Daily News November 3, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/saints-marching-jets-article-1.1505722

Rex Ryan doesn’t think you should bet against him when it comes to defense, and at least on Sunday, he was right. Ryan’s defense not only bested his brother’s, but it kept Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in check in the Jets’ 26-20 win.

With the Saints virtually abandoning the run and therefore neutralizing the best part of the Jets’ defense, Gang Green got strong play from its pass rush and was good enough in the secondary to keep the Saints to just 20 points. The defensive front continually harassed Brees. Though the Jets only sacked him twice (Muhammad Wilkerson and Calvin Pace), he was hit six other times.

Rookie Sheldon Richardson, who often has a unique way of describing situations, said the team could feel the back-to-back sacks in the third quarter coming.

“Guy’s chili really started getting hot,” Richardson said. Whatever that means, it was good for Gang Green.

The pass rush was able to get to Brees because the secondary largely held its own.

“We played good,” said Antonio Cromartie. “We gave up some throws, but overall, man, I think we attacked the ball pretty well.”

The effort included two interceptions (Demario Davis and Cromartie) and several other passes that nearly went their way.

Daily Clips Cont.

37 | P a g e

“We’ve been waiting all year to create some turnovers. We got two today and had another one called back on a penalty,” Ryan said. “We had a couple other ones that I felt we had a shot at, which is a great sign for us.”

In the second quarter, Cromartie tripped and gave up a 60-yard pass to Robert Meachem. Shortly thereafter he surrendered a 10-yard touchdown to Jimmy Graham.

“Honestly, the first throw to Meachem, I got pushed and fell, so not a point of getting beat, just understanding I’ve got to stay on my feet,” Cromartie said. “Jimmy Graham just did a heck of a job of fighting back to the outside with me. That’s a play I’ve got to make.”

Graham had previously burned Jaiquawn Jarrett for a 51-yard touchdown in the first quarter. But the secondary showed some drastic improvement from last week’s 49-9 thrashing by the Bengals. Rookie Dee Milliner, who has been benched twice this season, bounced back after Ryan expressed confidence in him all week. “By the way, you guys see what I am talking about with Dee Milliner? I think he was a little better today,” said Ryan. “OK? The kid played his butt off. Like I said, he’s going to be there. He’s going to be there. But if you want to bet against me on a defensive player, go for it.”

“I think it was his best game,” Cromartie said of the rookie cornerback.

Back_to_Top

Nick Folk remains perfect on season for NY Jets New York Daily News November 3, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/jets-insider-miss-folk-23-for-23-article-1.1505714

Rex Ryan’s favorite pun, Folk Hero, has gotten a little tired. It seems the coach brings it out after almost every game, but then again, it’s completely deserved: Nick Folk is a perfect 23 for 23 in field goal attempts this season.

On Sunday, the kicker was at it again, connecting on all four of his attempts at MetLife Stadium with the winds swirling. The four field goals were instrumental in the Jets’ 26-20 win over the Saints. Folk connected from 39, 21, 47 and 45 yards.

“You’re talking about Folk Hero? Guys, how about that year? Geez,” said Ryan. “It’s not that it’s a given, but it’s like ‘Go ahead, Folk Hero. Knock it through.’ ”

“I’ve been around some really good kickers in my day, but the year he is having is absolutely phenomenal.”

Folk is now one field goal shy of tying Jay Feely’s franchise record for consecutive field goals.

DOWN & OUT

The Jets lost Jeremy Kerley to injury in the second quarter, and the team fears the wide receiver suffered an elbow subluxation, the Daily News learned. The Jets were already banged up at the skill positions with Santonio Holmes and Jeff Cumberland both missing Sunday’s game.

Safety Antonio Allen (head) and linebacker Garrett McIntyre (knee) also were knocked out of the game.

CATCHING ON FAST

Greg Salas put in a strong performance in his Jets debut. With Kerley knocked out of the game, Salas stepped in and actually ended up as the team’s leading receiver with 57 yards on two receptions, including a 44-yard screen pass.

Daily Clips Cont.

38 | P a g e

Salas was claimed off the Eagles’ practice squad several weeks ago, and Willie Colon said he didn’t even know the receiver’s name even though they sit near each other in the locker room.

EARLY KO

Saints dynamic running back Darren Sproles was knocked out of the game in the first quarter after suffering a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Allen. Marques Colston, another Saints weapon, was inactive.

‘O’ BABY!

Ryan threw a lot of credit to his offensive coordinator, Marty Mornhinweg. “I think it’s clear that Marty Mornhinweg should be the offensive assistant coach of the year. That’s obvious,” said Ryan. “The job that he and his staff have done is tremendous.”

FAMILY AFFAIR

Buddy Ryan, attended the coaching battle between his two sons, and was on the field with them before the game.

Back_to_Top

Chris Ivory difference-maker for NY Jets against Saints (Manish Mehta) New York Daily News November 3, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/mehta-ivory-marches-saints-article-1.1505710

Chris Ivory sounded nothing like a man who had exacted revenge on a team that gave up on him six months ago. He had his hands behind his back, his voice barely above a whisper, as he retraced his 18-carry, 138-yard explosion that keyed the Jets’ 26-20 upset win over the Saints on Sunday.

Ivory runs like a robot gone haywire, looking to slam his 6-0, 222-pound frame into anybody at any time, a punishing running back who would have made the ground-and-pound Jets of yesteryear proud. He runs with purpose. He runs with anger.

“It was special,” Ivory said with a smile.

He said little else, leaving his new teammates to reveal how much it meant for him to beat a team that traded him to the Jets for a fourth-round pick during the draft. On a day when Geno Smith was nothing more than a caretaker, Ivory proved why he should be the dynamic offensive piece for a 5-4 team that has become a legitimate playoff contender entering the final two months of the season.

“(Ivory) has the ability to be a punch-you-in-the-face type back,” Rex Ryan said. “He’s got speed, he’s got vision and he runs with power.”

Ivory toiled in obscurity for the better part of three seasons in New Orleans, a fourth-stringer who crawled out of the shadows to flash some brilliance only when injuries to others thrust him into the spotlight.

He was undrafted … and an afterthought. The Saints decided they preferred to keep three other backs (Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram) over the undrafted Ivory. So, they dumped him in the offseason.

Ivory made them pay on a day when Rex Ryan’s team continued to ride their season-long see-saw into the bye week. He said that he didn’t have additional motivation to show the Saints that they had made a mistake. He said that his performance didn’t mean more against his former team.

Daily Clips Cont.

39 | P a g e

“He just wants the ball … no matter who we play,” Ryan said. “To say that you’re going against your old team and there’s nothing special there … yeah, right. There always is. You want to have a good showing against your old team … and clearly he did.”

Ivory ripped off runs of 27, 52 and 30 yards to highlight a 198-yard afternoon on the ground for Marty Mornhinweg’s offense. Ivory has played a starring role in the Jets’ past two wins. His 34-carry, 104-yard effort two weeks ago buoyed Ryan’s team in an overtime victory over the Patriots before he ripped off 7.7 yards per carry against the Saints.

Ivory has come alive after a lackluster first six weeks marked by a lack of carries and a hamstring injury.

“Every time he’s getting the keys to the car,” right guard Willie Colon said, “he’s driven it right through defenses.”

Ivory has proven in two of the last three weeks that he can be Smith’s best friend and be the workhorse back that he’s always believed he can be.

Ivory wasted little time making a difference against New Orleans. He carried cornerback Keenan Lewis on his back for what seemed like an eternity on a 27-yard pickup on his second carry of the game.

“I thought I was going to be able to throw him off me,” Ivory said.

He didn’t. But it didn’t matter. Ivory set the tone early that he wasn’t messing around. His biggest play came early in the second quarter with a 52-yard burst with the Jets backed up on their own 2-yard line.

“It swung momentum and it swung field position,” wide receiver David Nelson said. “We needed something. We needed a big play. You can’t put words to how big that play was. It gave Chris confidence. It gave our offensive line confidence. It gives our coaching staff confidence that we can run the ball.”

Said Ryan: “It energizes everybody.”

Ivory’s 3-yard touchdown late in the first half drew the Jets to within 14-13 before a turnover on the ensuing Saints drive helped Ryan’s team take a 20-14 halftime it wouldn’t relinquish. When it was over, Ivory’s teammates were tossing out superlatives from every direction.

Outside linebacker Calvin Pace: “Chris is a beast.”

Right tackle Austin Howard: “You see the focus in his face.”

Defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson: “He had that go-go juice.”

Ivory insisted it didn’t really mean that much more when peppered with questions inside a circle of reporters. He just carved up the Saints. He made them look silly. He had Saints defenders bickering at each other after every big run. He embarrassed them.

Fifteen minutes later, I walked up to Ivory and told him that I wasn’t buying it. Surely, he was out to prove a point and let everyone on Sean Peyton’s sideline know that they had made a big mistake.

He laughed a hearty laugh and walked away.

Back_to_Top

Lost engagement ring found by wife of Saints owner, returned to Newsday reporter New York Daily News November 3, 2013

Daily Clips Cont.

40 | P a g e

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/wife-saints-owner-finds-engagement-ring-newsday-reporter-article-1.1505792

The wife of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson found a newspaper reporter’s engagement ring after the team’s 26-20 loss to the Jets.

Gayle Benson was in the women’s restroom in the MetLife Stadium press box Sunday when she spotted the ring on a counter.

She gave it to stadium security and later found out it belonged to Newsday’s Jets beat writer Kimberley Martin. Martin had removed the ring to wash her hands and forgot to put it back on.

A relieved Martin, engaged to Bergen Record sportswriter Jeff Roberts, was “incredibly grateful” when told the ring had been recovered.

"I am so happy she has her ring," Benson told Newsday. "So happy I saw it on the counter. I suspected it was an engagement ring. Very beautiful."

Back_to_Top

NEW YORK TIMES

Error-Free Jets Outrun Saints (Ben Shpigel) New York Times November 3, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/sports/football/running-free-and-playing-error-free-jets-smack-down-saints.html?ref=football&_r=0

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It has been like this for the Jets every week for the last two months, whether on the banks of the Ohio River or in a dome in Atlanta or in a Boston suburb, so on Sunday, it had to be that way again: They walked into a stadium and, for three hours, transformed it into one of the most interesting places in town.

The Jets did not complete a pass in the fourth quarter. Their top three receivers were not part of the team in September. They committed several penalties that tested Coach Rex Ryan’s patience. Their unpredictability captivates and exasperates. Accept it, move on and await the pleasures — or the disappointment — still to come.

For now, and for the next two weeks, there is only joy, pure and unadulterated joy. The kind of joy welcomed by a group, humbled last week in Cincinnati, that returned to MetLife Stadium to dismiss the New Orleans Saints with a 26-20 victory that established them as a promising playoff contender in the A.F.C.

Their last two victories have come against New Orleans and New England, two of the league’s standard-bearers, and that has to count for something. What, exactly, they do not know. They think they know. Or rather, they hope they know.

“We’re an elite team,” defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson said. “That’s how we all think.”

The Jets entertained questions about the playoffs after Sunday’s win because it is now November, and it is no longer early. And, because it does seem possible that they could make a playoff run — as much as it did not last week — now that they have navigated a treacherous schedule to emerge 5-4, holders of the A.F.C.’s second wild-card berth as they head into their bye week.

Daily Clips Cont.

41 | P a g e

There are better teams in the N.F.L., and certainly there are worse. But no team offers as much reason on a weekly basis to postpone all those household chores, find the nearest television and tune in — and to prepare to be amazed or discouraged or flabbergasted, often within a few minutes. On Sunday, the Jets turned a 14-6 second-quarter deficit into a 20-14 halftime lead by scoring twice in 2 minutes 2 seconds.

Last week’s Jets were a bumbling outfit with a porous pass defense and a middling offense and a quarterback who needed to stop throwing passes to the other team. This week’s Jets were a fearsome bunch with a snarling defense and a battering ram for a running back and a quarterback who stopped throwing passes to the other team.

That is how it has been in this seesaw of a season, and so it was again Sunday. Owners of one of the N.F.L.’s worst turnover margins (minus 12) entering Sunday, the Jets did not commit a turnover — and, by extension, neither did their rookie quarterback Geno Smith — while converting two Drew Brees interceptions into 10 points. Chris Ivory gashed his former team’s defense — a unit coordinated by Ryan’s twin, Rob — for runs of 27 and 30 and 52 yards, and 139 of the Jets’ 198 rushing yards in an effort that elicited superlatives from across the locker room. A beast, Calvin Pace called him.

“You could see it in his eyes,” receiver David Nelson said of Ivory.

Nelson, who caught one pass but provided instrumental downfield blocking for Ivory, was one of those players who, when October dawned, did not have a Jets playbook. Neither did Zach Sudfeld, who caught two passes for 46 yards, or Greg Salas, who caught two for 57. The craziness of it all came up during a break in play in the second half, when Nelson asked both men what they had been doing four weeks ago. On the practice squad in Philadelphia, Salas said. Playing for the Patriots, Sudfeld said. They asked Nelson, who, laughing, said that he had been on the couch. Josh Cribbs, who returned kickoffs, operated the Wildcat formation and even threw a pass caught by Sudfeld, was not part of the conversation, or else he could have chimed in that, he, too, had been out of the league.

Their performances Sunday — with Santonio Holmes injured; Jeremy Kerley hurt during the game (elbow); and two tight ends, Kellen Winslow and Jeff Cumberland, unavailable — doubled as endorsement of General Manager John Idzik’s in-season moves and the offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg’s ability to deploy them with aplomb. In reality, though, all Mornhinweg had to do Sunday was order Smith, who was 8 for 19 for 115 yards and ran for the Jets’ go-ahead touchdown, to hand off the ball to Ivory.

His 27-yard run, on the first play of the Jets’ second series, was symbolic. He slashed through the right side and, for the last 10 yards or so, lugged cornerback Keenan Lewis — who ran out of the Saints’ tunnel before the game with his arms extended, as if flying, apparently mocking the Jets — on his back.

“Keenan is a light guy, so I didn’t really notice it much,” Ivory said.

Ivory did notice when he scored the Jets’ first touchdown, flinging the ball against the back wall. And he did notice when the Jets kept giving him the ball, 18 times in all, for 7.7 yards a carry, each burst fulfilling the Jets’ belief that they could run, would run on Rob Ryan’s defense.

Before the game, the Ryans spent about 10 minutes posing for photographs on the field — with each other; with their father, Buddy, the former longtime coach; with other players. Afterward, Rob steamed through the Saints’ locker room. Afterward, Rex strode to the lectern and, for his opening statement, said, “All right, I beat my brother again.”

Daily Clips Cont.

42 | P a g e

Ryan is 5-0 against Rob-coached defenses in the N.F.L., this win being in doubt for much of the first half. Brees capitalized on a few blunders — a slip by Antonio Cromartie, Jaiquawn Jarrett in man coverage on the 6-foot-7 Jimmy Graham — to throw two touchdowns to Graham.

But the Jets minimized his presence in the second half, generating huge pressure on Brees. The secondary played tighter coverage, giving the Jets’ defensive line time to harass Brees.

“We have to come out with this same conviction every Sunday,” Pace said.

Their next opportunity comes in two weeks, against the A.F.C. East rival Buffalo. That is when they can prove they can win two straight games. That is when they can boost their playoff standing. That is when Ralph Wilson Stadium becomes one of the most interesting places in western New York.

Back_to_Top

Saints’ High-Octane Offense Sputters (Nate Taylor) New York Times November 3, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/sports/football/saints-high-octane-offense-sputters.html?ref=football

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Quarterback Drew Brees understands that the cadence of the New Orleans Saints’ offense is precious, not just for each individual play, but for the course of an entire game. When the offense is in rhythm, the team scores a plethora of points, and opponents are left helpless.

That did not happen Sunday.

In the Saints’ 26-20 loss to the Jets, Brees and his offensive teammates spent much of the game becoming discombobulated. And disorganized. And disconnected. Their mental mistakes led to nine penalties. Their physical faults led to two turnovers.

The Saints were looking to extend their 14-13 lead late in the second quarter when the usually composed Brees threw his second interception of the game. The pass was high for receiver Nick Toon, who was a second late in turning his head for the ball. Toon tipped it in the air, and Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie made an acrobatic interception as Jets fans roared.

Brees, who came into the game with only five interceptions this season, knew the ramifications of the error the moment it occurred. He did not need to see the Jets’ touchdown less than two minutes later to confirm what he was thinking: His offense was in trouble.

“I felt like we were on our way to go down in a two-minute situation and, hopefully, get a field goal,” Brees said. “Instead, that flips around, and they go down and get a touchdown. We could have gone into halftime with momentum, and obviously, the way the game ended, it was a huge play.”

The Saints’ usually high-scoring offense sputtered from that moment on, often once they crossed midfield in the second half. Yet the harsh reality for the Saints was that their offense had to be altered after the second play of the game. Running back Darren Sproles, one of their most versatile players, sustained a concussion after being tackled by David Harris after a 2-yard catch.

New Orleans Coach Sean Payton said the loss of Sproles eliminated a good amount of the offense’s game plan.

Right guard Jahri Evans agreed.

“A guy like that goes down, and he’s just so vital,” he said of Sproles. “We still had a chance to have some good plays. We just didn’t execute.”

Daily Clips Cont.

43 | P a g e

The most success the Saints had was when Brees was able to find tight end Jimmy Graham being defended by only one Jets player. Of Brees’s 382 passing yards, 116 were recorded by Graham, who scored both the Saints’ touchdowns.

But New Orleans struggled on third down — converting only three of 11 opportunities — once the Jets used zone coverage to put multiple defenders around Graham. The Jets also blitzed more: Brees was sacked by Muhammad Wilkerson and Calvin Pace on consecutive plays in the second half.

“I thought our protection and penalties hurt us,” Payton said.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Payton gambled by not kicking a field goal in order to leave his offense on the field for a fourth-and-1 play from the Jets’ 36. On the previous play, Saints fullback Jed Collins dropped a pass that would have been enough for a first down.

The fourth-down play was just as bad. Payton called a reverse, with Brees handing the ball to the rookie tight end Josh Hill. The bizarre play resulted in an 8-yard loss and another turnover. Hill said it was the first time he been called upon to be the ball carrier on a reverse.

“That’s something we talked about the last three days,” Brees said. “We felt like that was the right time to do it, with everybody selling out for the interior run. You’re looking for a big play. It’s unfortunate it didn’t work. It’s one of those plays that are all or nothing.”

Brees still had a chance to lead the Saints to a comeback. After all the penalties, interceptions and crucial drops, he was given the ball with a little less than two minutes remaining in the game. But a holding penalty on a completion that went for 16 yards pushed the Saints to their own 9. They did not gain another yard.

“You walk out of this game and say, ‘These penalties hurt us,’ ” Brees said. “We felt like opportunities were there.”

Back_to_Top

ESPN NEW YORK

Jets' unsung Folk hero good as gold (Ian O’Connor) ESPN New York November 3, 2013

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/9923151/new-york-jets-unsung-hero-nick-folk-good-gold?ex_cid=espnapi_public

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- In the hunt for reasons why the New York Jets are 5-4 instead of the expected 2-7, it is easy to fly right by Nick Folk, if only because football coaches from Pop Warner on up are conditioned to do two things:

Protect the quarterback, and ignore the kicker.

Drive past any high school field in the fall and you'll see coaches running bone-jarring tackling drills between practice dummies and cones, and coaches on sleds barking at linemen to hit and drive, all while the kickers and punters are off to the side, working unsupervised on their non-contact craft.

This is why a majority of NFL veterans and die-hard fans don't see the likes of Nick Folk as real players, even if Folk is real enough to be the very best player the New York Jets employ.

"I don't get upset when people don't consider us players," Folk said after he scored 14 points in an improbable 26-20 victory over the New Orleans Saints. "They have a right to their own opinion. But I

Daily Clips Cont.

44 | P a g e

would just challenge them to go do it with the game on the line. You've got a 40-yard field goal, no time left, wind swirling, you have no idea which way the wind's blowing.

"Just go out there and try to make that field goal."

As it turned out Sunday, Folk didn't have to hit the kind of dramatic endgame winner he nailed to beat Tampa Bay (48 yards), Atlanta (43) and New England (42), not when a ferocious Jets defense got in Drew Brees' face enough to make life miserable for his fast-breaking offense.

Chris Ivory was quite the sight as he pounded away for 139 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, his dreads bouncing off him like would-be tacklers, and Geno Smith accounted for the one scoring play with his feet he couldn't make with his right arm. In fact, Rex Ryan and offensive coordinator Mary Mornhinweg did everything possible to minimize the role the rookie played in the game. (There go those football coaches again, protecting the quarterback.)

They were able to do that because of Nick Folk, 4-for-4 on the day, 23-for-23 on the season. Folk made kicks of 39, 21, 47 and 45 yards while his counterpart, Garrett Hartley, missed an early 43-yarder that established an unsettling tone for his Saints.

A 43-yarder the Nick Folk of 2013 would've made in his deepest sleep.

The Jets keep this man on a one-year contract, mind you, at a base wage of $715,000. He was given a lavish signing bonus of $65,000, and was asked in camp to beat out Billy Cundiff a year after he was asked to beat out Josh Brown.

This is the man most responsible for saving the Jets' season, the 178th player chosen (by the Dallas Cowboys) in the 2007 draft.

"I've been around some really good kickers in my day," Rex Ryan said, "but the year he's having has been absolutely phenomenal."

Truth is, so much went down inside MetLife Stadium that it would've been easy to lose Folk in the chaos. Rex Ryan was beating up on brother Rob, again. The Jets were running receivers out there that even Rex had barely heard of, never mind Rob, while a wideout on Rob's side, Nick Toon, son of Jets great Al Toon, all but gifted his father's former team 14 points.

On the other side of the ball, Quinton Coples delivered a crucial fourth-and-1 stop in the fourth quarter when Saints coach Sean Payton, who won a Super Bowl with an onside kick to open the second half, got too cute on an end-around handoff to a third-string tight end.

But even on a day when Hartley kicked one through from 55 yards out, Folk was the ultimate difference-maker in the second half, the Jet who twice turned it into a two-possession game from long distance, once on his 47-yarder into the wind.

"I personally enjoy the pressure," Folk said. "I was always the last guy to take penalties in soccer when I was growing up. I relish that role. I want to embrace the pressure and make it a part of me and use it to help me make the kick."

Nick has a brother who kicked at the University of Washington, and another who played soccer at UCLA. His father was a semi-pro soccer player, his mother a college ice hockey player, and his uncle an All-American pole vaulter at Harvard.

"A lot of people think we play for life and death, and we don't," Nick Folk said. "I also have a bunch of family members who are surgeons, and they play with life and death every day. So this is still a game to me, and I just try to go have fun and do my part."

Daily Clips Cont.

45 | P a g e

His part? It's only been the biggest part of what could become a big New York story. Given that a closer in baseball is, in Folk's words, "the closest thing to what we do," it's fitting that the kicker has been to Ryan what Mariano Rivera was to Joe Torre and Joe Girardi.

Automatic.

"You have to have an aura to be able to do that," Folk said. "You have to be able to want to do it. Not everyone wants pressure like that on the line."

Folk is one pure swing of his right foot away from tying Jay Feely's franchise record of consecutive field goals made (Mike Vanderjagt holds the league record at 42 in a row), and from inching away from his second-half slumps of the past. Granted a reprieve in the New England game, when an illegal Patriots push nullified his missed 56-yarder, Folk said the idea of pitching a perfect game across 16 weeks "is the farthest thing from my mind." But he didn't discount his chances of pulling it off, either.

"You need everything to work in your favor," Folk said, "but yeah, it can be done."

And why not? Nick Folk is the best player on his team, after all.

"If someone wanted to say that or write that, fine," he said. "But I'm not going to say I am."

His actions have spoken louder than his words, anyway. The New York Jets might be 2-7 without Nick Folk, a kicker who right now is as real a football player as you'll find in the NFL.

Back_to_Top

Up-and-down Jets are playoff contenders (Rich Cimini) ESPN New York November 3, 2013

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/30648/up-and-down-jets-are-playoff-contenders?ex_cid=espnapi_public

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The NFL lives by the principle, "On any given Sunday." Not the New York Jets. For them, it's, "Every other Sunday."

Every other Sunday, the Jets are an elite football team. They're 5-0 in odd weeks, having defeated a couple of the best teams in the league. They did it Sunday, beating up the New Orleans Saints, 26-20, at MetLife Stadium.

Everybody knows how the Jets play in even-numbered weeks -- they stink -- but it's time to recognize the reality of the situation: They're a legitimate playoff contender.

You have to say it slowly to believe it, but there's no denying it anymore. The Jets are starting to think it, too.

"Most definitely," rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said. "If we stay consistent like this, we'll be a tough team to deal with. We have spurts where we show we're a playoff team."

A few lockers away from Richardson stood linebacker Calvin Pace, the oldest player on the team not named David Garrard. Pace, 32, isn't one for hyperbole, so his words carry more weight than Richardson's. Pace, too, believes this team has a realistic chance to do what no one thought possible in the preseason, when the Jets were 32nd in the Week 1 ESPN.com Power Rankings.

"We're a little inconsistent, but obviously we can beat anybody," Pace said. "We just have to put today's effort into the rest of the season and carry us into playing in the postseason. If we bring our A-game, we're hard to beat."

Daily Clips Cont.

46 | P a g e

The brought their A-game only seven days after an F performance in Cincinnati. The revived defense, shredded by Andy Dalton last week, limited the high-powered Saints to only two field goals in the second half. Drew Brees got his yards (382) and threw a couple of touchdowns, but he was rattled at times, throwing two interceptions and taking two sacks and several hits.

The Jets played superb defense and amassed 198 yards on the ground, led by Chris Ivory's season-high 139. It's the formula that worked in 2009, and it can work again for the Jets, who turned Geno Smith into a Sanchez-ian game manager. Smith completed only eight passes, eight stinking passes. It was Mark Sanchez, circa 2009.

Their defense is capable of carrying the team over the final seven games, because it's good, and the Jets don't face any top-15 offenses the rest of the way. They're done with the Brees/Brady portion of the schedule, meaning they should be able to camouflage the holes in their secondary.

"We think we're an elite team. That's how we're thinking," Richardson said. "We just have to stay consistent on both sides of the ball."

That has eluded them, as they've yet to compile a winning streak. They're on the Geno-coaster -- up and down, up and down. If the Jets ever win two straight, they'll be calling themselves a dynasty. But you know what? In the watered-down AFC, where five teams appear playoff locks, the Jets are ahead of the pack for the sixth slot, the second wild-card berth.

Almost every team deals with inconsistency. If the Jets can manage theirs better than the other teams, they can slide into the playoffs. Any team that can beat the New England Patriots and Saints in back-to-back home games can't be dismissed.

"Yeah, but that's up to us," Pace said of the playoff possibility. "If we go out and play 60-minute ballgames, yeah, we can go to the playoffs. If we come out like the Bad Jets, obviously we won't make it."

There's something about this team you have to admire: It's resilient. On Sunday, the Jets' four top receivers were players who arrived after opening day -- Greg Salas, Zach Sudfeld, Josh Cribbs and David Nelson. How many fantasy teams do you think they're on?

"We know we're not going to be the Kansas City Chiefs to the public, meaning we might not have a lot of well-known guys," tackle Austin Howard said. "But we have guys who can make plays. We have depth."

On Sunday, they turned to Ivory, whom Rex Ryan aptly described as "punch-you-in-the-face type of back." The Saints (6-2) left with a few black eyes. Because he's relatively fresh, only 92 carries, Ivory will be a big factor down the stretch. His downhill running style will prove beneficial as the weather gets colder. He could be the '09 version of Shonn Greene, a late-season spark.

Ryan didn't want to be drawn into any playoff talk, noting, "Clearly, we have to fix a lot of things. But, hey, I know one thing: We've got a group that's willing."

And a group that's maddening. A week ago, the team's erratic personality wanted to make Ryan scream. On Sunday, he joked about it as he enters the Week 10 bye. Referring to the win-one, lose-one track record, Ryan cracked, "We're going to lose to the bye week, there's no question in my mind."

Back_to_Top

Not just another game for Chris Ivory (Jane McManus) ESPN New York November 3, 2013

Daily Clips Cont.

47 | P a g e

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/30606/ivory-nabs-139-yards-vs-old-team?ex_cid=espnapi_public

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- All week, Chris Ivory's new New York Jets teammates could sense that he was more intense than usual. The Jets running back, acquired this offseason after three years with New Orleans, is a naturally quiet guy, but that’s just on the surface.

“You could tell this was different, that it wasn't just another regular season game for him,” wide receiver David Nelson said. “He's not very talkative, but you could see the way he was running, the way he was paying attention. I'm not saying he doesn't always pay attention, but you could see the look in his eyes.”

Maybe that’s why Jets coach Rex Ryan named Ivory a captain for the game, and picked him as the last man out of the tunnel. And once he ran out, Ivory just kept running. Later, he couldn’t help but crack a smile when asked about his performance -- 139 rushing yards on 18 carries and a touchdown -- in New York's 26-20 victory against the New Orleans Saints.

“It’s my old team,” Ivory said, and he smiled in a way that conveyed some pride. “I’m not satisfied. I’m happy but I don’t think you can ever get too satisfied with your performance. Hopefully we can continue to do that and make the playoffs.”

The Jets can consider the playoffs a possibility now that they are 5-4 heading into their bye week. The Jets tend to do well when the running game is humming, and that started during the second offensive series against the Saints when Ivory reeled off a 27- yard run.

“I know it meant a lot to him,” kick returner Josh Cribbs said, “because he’s making them kick themselves in the butt like ‘Aw, look at him he’s running all over us.’ Everybody wants to do good against their old team.”

Ivory nearly equaled his career high of 158 yards with the Saints against Tampa Bay in 2010. But there weren’t a lot of games like that. Ivory was in a logjam of four running backs in a passing offense in New Orleans. Ultimately, New York may have been a good landing spot. The Jets were willing to pay him, and Ivory signed a three-year, $6 million contract in April.

“We know if he’s healthy, this young man has the ability to be a punch-you-in-the-face type of back,” Ryan said.

And his health has been the knock on Ivory, who came into training camp with a hamstring injury and has other injuries along the way. But he seems to have gotten beyond that. After the game, Ivory got a chance to shake hands with his old teammates.

“It was all love after,” Ivory said. “We had a tight bond over there. Over there three years, you’re going to have a pretty good bond. Definitely had a lot of congratulations going on.”

And he spoke to his old coach, Sean Payton.

“He congratulated me and told me I handled everything well,” Ivory said. “It was good.”

And perhaps that closes a chapter for Ivory, who has an opportunity to be more productive alongside Bilal Powell with the Jets. Clearly, Ivory is looking forward and his performance might have been a reminder to his old team, but it puts his new team in a good spot heading into the bye.

“It’s huge, but at the same time, he’s a Jet now,” Colon said. “It doesn’t matter what (the Saints) feel like, it’s what we do. And he stood up for us in a major way.”

Back_to_Top

Geno Smith manages Jets to a win (Matt Ehalt)

Daily Clips Cont.

48 | P a g e

ESPN New York November 3, 2013

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/30595/geno-manages-jets-to-win?ex_cid=espnapi_public

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Jets didn't need much from Geno Smith to win Sunday.

Smith completed just 8 of 19 passes for 115 yards and rushed for one touchdown in the Jets' 26-20 win over the Saints. While he avoided throwing an interception for just the second time this season, his 115 passing yards were his fewest of the year. The 19 pass attempts were also a season low for the rookie.

"I think I did a pretty good job today of managing situations. Not trying to force the ball, knowing when to tuck the ball and run, knowing when to get the ball out of my hands versus the pressure look, or even throw it away," Smith said. "I think not having so many negative plays and negative yardage, I think that's something that really helped us today because many times we were able to flip field position with punts and it helped our defense out going up against a really good offense."

The Saints entered Sunday's game porous against the run as they were ranked 20th, but they were stout against the pass as they were ranked ninth. Not surprisingly, the Jets favored a methodical, ground-and-pound plan Sunday, taking the ball out of their rookie's hands.

Smith started slow, completing just 2 of 6 passes for six yards in the first quarter, and never got on track. His longest play was a 44-yard screen pass to Greg Salas at the beginning of the third quarter, but Salas did almost all of the work to turn that play into a big gain. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Smith's eight completions traveled a total of seven yards downfield.

The rookie's best stretch of play came after the two-minute warning in the first half with the Jets ahead 14-13. Smith completed passes of 13 yards and 21 yards to Salas and Zach Sudfeld, and capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to put the Jets ahead, 20-14. On his touchdown run, Smith used a nice shake move to elude Cameron Jordan. It was his third rushing touchdown of the season.

"It was designed," Smith said. "I think it was one of those plays going into the half that really elevated us because not only did we get some points but we gained some momentum."

In the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Smith threw just two passes, both of which fell incomplete. Both attempts came on third down, with the Jets giving Smith the chance to extend their drives and keep Drew Brees off the field, but Smith wasn't able to make the plays.

"I think our running game was working for us all game and we lean on our offensive line, especially in those situations. You want to run the ball and you want to make those guys stop you," Smith said of the conservative calls. "Looking back on it I think it was the right play call because of just the way we were running the ball all game."

Despite his up-and-down play this season, Smith has the Jets at 5-4 heading into their bye week, and in prime position for a playoff spot. He has simple plans for the upcoming week off.

"Studying," Smith said. "Studying."

Back_to_Top

WALL STREET JOURNAL

Jets' Seesaw Season Continues With Win Over Saints (Stu Woo) Wall Street Journal November 3, 2013

Daily Clips Cont.

49 | P a g e

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303482504579176101781076462

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—In the week leading up to Sunday's game against New Orleans, Jets head coach Rex Ryan conceded that his mistake-riddled team, which was fresh off a 40-point loss in Cincinnati, wasn't great.

The errors remain, and the Jets aren't great—yet. But after upsetting the Saints, 26-20, at MetLife Stadium, it's clear that this squad is talented, unpredictable and immensely fun to follow.

The often-fragile Jets' pass defense rebounded after a few early breakdowns, intercepting New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees twice to set up an offense that relied on the shiftiness of its rushers, who gained 198 yards, and the dependability of kicker Nick Folk, who made all four of his field-goal attempts to remain perfect on the season.

"We didn't know how we'd win it and all that, but all I know is that I have a team that believes and will fight to the end," said Ryan. He added that he gained extra satisfaction by beating his twin brother, Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

The Jets improved to 5-4 with the win, continuing their pattern of losing a game and then winning one. But this victory is far more momentous: It makes the playoffs a realistic possibility.

The Jets have endured their schedule's toughest stretch, going 2-1 against championship-contenders New England, Cincinnati and New Orleans in consecutive games. Now they enter their bye week, and a slew of easier opponents await them afterward. Of their seven remaining games, only one, at Carolina, is against a team that currently holds a winning record.

They will also welcome back tight end Kellen Winslow—who led the team in receptions before the league suspended him four games for violating its performance-enhancing-drug policy—when they visit Buffalo in two weeks. Top wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who has a hamstring injury, and tight end Jeff Cumberland, recovering from a concussion, could also return.

The players aren't ready to make playoff guarantees, as Ryan did earlier in his tenure with the Jets, but they've rediscovered the pluck that disappeared in the week after their 49-9 loss in Cincinnati.

"When we're firing on all cylinders—offense, defense and special teams—I don't think we can be beaten," said kick returner and receiver Josh Cribbs.

The Saints entered the game with a 6-1 record and the league's fourth-leading passer in quarterback Drew Brees. But Brees made an early mistake when he tried to squeeze a pass to Benjamin Watson. Jets safety Dawan Landry deflected it and batted it toward linebacker Demario Davis, who made the interception at the New Orleans 48. Five plays later, Folk's 39-yard kick gave the Jets a 3-0 lead.

But on the Saints' next two drives, which sandwiched another Folk field goal, Brees attacked the Jets' shaky secondary. He hit Jimmy Graham for a 51-yard touchdown pass. Then, in the second quarter, he found receiver Robert Meachem for 60 yards before throwing a 10-yard touchdown to Graham, giving the Saints a 14-6 lead.

Cribbs returned the ensuing kickoff to the New York 39. Jets quarterback Geno Smith later hit receiver David Nelson for a 19-yard pass before running back Chris Ivory scored on a three-yard run.

Brees had the ball back with three minutes left in the half, but a pass bounced off receiver Nick Toon's hands and into those of Cromartie, who skimmed his feet across the artificial turf before landing out of bounds at the New Orleans 39. Smith, who was 8-for-19 for 115 yards and no touchdowns or turnovers, completed two passes before zigzagging for a three-yard touchdown run. The extra point gave the Jets a 20-14 halftime lead.

Daily Clips Cont.

50 | P a g e

The teams traded third-quarter field goals. The Jets took a 26-17 lead early in the fourth-quarter after Ivory, who finished with 139 rushing yards, set up a Folk field goal with a 30-yard run.

On the ensuing drive, the Saints got the ball to the New York 36. Facing a fourth-and-one, Brees faked a handoff to his running back and then gave the ball to tight-end Josh Hill in the backfield. But Jets linebacker Quinton Coples had spotted the fake handoff and was waiting for Hill.

"My eyes just got big because I knew I was going to run right through him," Coples said.

The Jets would hold the Saints to a field goal on the next possession. Then, after the offense ran time off the clock, the Jets forced the Saints to turn the ball over on downs, with the help of a holding penalty that nullified a 16-yard reception.

For the first time in a season full of last-minute wins, Smith took a knee and burned the clock for the victory.

Back_to_Top

NJ.COM

After benching last week, Dee Milliner responds with best performance of his rookie year (Kristian Dyer) NJ.com November 3, 2013

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/11/after_benching_last_week_dee_milliner_responds_with_best_performance_of_his_rookie_year.html

EAST RUTHERFORD -- Dee Milliner didn't want to talk about it after the game. He wanted to deflect to his teammates and the play of the entire defense.

But in the New York Jets' 26-20 win over the New Orleans Saints, Milliner answered his critics with a solid performance. He wanted to let his play speak for itself.

Milliner smiled when asked about the criticism he heard all week from fans and in the media -- that the first-round pick has been a bust -- especially after he was benched last Sunday for the second time in his young NFL career and one rating system listed him as the third-worst defensive back in the league.

But during the week, Milliner responded to the criticism and put in what head coach Rex Ryan said was his best slate of practice to date.

The rookie took it from the practice field to the playing field: Milliner had a nice pass breakup in the second quarter, made four tackles and limited the big mistakes in the Jets' big win.

"First off, my teammates are always behind me when I have a bad or a good game. They kept me up this week after I played a bad game," Milliner said. "I just wanted to go out there, have fun, playing Jets football. Just going out there playing, not sitting back [or] hesitating."

What Milliner showed was a better set of instincts in what was the most decisive performance of his career. The Jets expected Milliner, taken No. 9 overall, to step in opposite Antonio Cromartie and be an impact player.

Instead, he's routinely been outmuscled and has been caught in the wrong coverage. Against the Saints, he didn't have a perfect performance but he showed potential and solid coverage skills.

Most importantly, he played without hesitation.

Daily Clips Cont.

51 | P a g e

"After last week, I told everybody that I thought I let the team down after giving up the balls over my head and giving up the touchdown," Milliner said. "Not playing the way I was supposed to be playing. I wanted to back out there, have fun, compete, play, try to get back to Jets football and have fun when I'm out there."

Back_to_Top

With four field goals, Nick Folk continues perfect kicking season (Kristian Dyer) NJ.com November 3, 2013

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2013/11/with_four_field_goals_nick_folk_continues_perfect_kicking_season.html

EAST RUTHERFORD -- The perfect season continues for New York Jets kicker Nick Folk, who made all four of his field-goal attempts in a 26-20 win Sunday over the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium.

Now having made the first 23 attempts of this season, Folk has gone from a giant question mark in preseason to one of the most reliable parts of the offense. Included in his effort Sunday was a 47-yard field goal into the wind in the third quarter to give the Jets a 23-13 lead, en route to a shocking victory the Jets will savor as they head into their bye week.

Folk teased about the streak, saying that “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“The only kick that matters is the next kick, that’s the way I’m looking at this whole season. All I can worry about is that next kick, which happens in two weeks,” Folk told NJ.com. “Now we can take the break, 5-4 and enjoy this time off.”

Folk is just one field goal from Jay Feely’s franchise record for consecutive field goals made.

Over the past three years with the Jets, Folk has traditionally started well, then hit a midseason slump. This offseason, he spoke with several other kickers around the league to adjust his work in practice to better preserve his leg. The result is a perfect start and a continued strong leg on kickoffs as well.

Last year, Folk would have kicked three times a week during practice and probably hit roughly 110 balls in kickoff and field-goal scenarios. Last week, he hit roughly 65 balls, and that number will come down this upcoming week after the bye, he said.

The result is a kicker who is hitting the ball consistently, who can make an effort like that important 47-yard field goal in the third quarter.

“I just aim down the middle unless I have to aim somewhere else,” Folk said. “But today I just kind of put the ball down the middle. The 47-yarder ... I just told myself to hit a clean ball. – the wind was kind of humming a bit. I just hit a clean ball and it went right down the middle.”

Back_to_Top

USA TODAY

Ryan bowl comes down to Rex beating Saints offense (Tom Pelissero) USA Today November 3, 2013

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/11/03/jets-saints-week-9-rex-rob-ryan/3423179/

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was never going to be Rex Ryan vs. Rob Ryan at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. It was going to be Rex Ryan vs. Sean Payton. And on this day, Rex won.

Daily Clips Cont.

52 | P a g e

Time and again, the New York Jets defense made the plays it needed against the powerful New Orleans Saints offense, harassing Drew Brees into two interceptions and making a pair of fourth-down stops late to seal a 26-20 victory one week after a humiliating loss at the Cincinnati Bengals.

"He stepped up," Jets defensive end Quinton Coples told USA TODAY Sports of Ryan, who stayed unbeaten in five NFL matchups as coach or coordinator against his brother, Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. "We were embarrassed as a unit, as a team. He takes pride in winning. We wanted to make sure that we came out here, executed and did things the right way."

The Jets actually gave up more yards (407-402) to the Saints than they did to the Bengals, whose 49-9 runaway a week ago was aided by a pair of late pick-sixes thrown by Geno Smith.

But this was a Saints attack with the normally unflappable Brees at quarterback and coordinated by Payton — as bright an offensive mind as there is in the NFL — that mustered only two touchdowns in 12 possessions.

The Saints took two delay of game penalties and burned three timeouts in the first quarter as Payton and Brees tried to diagnose what was happening on the other side of the ball.

"The way they do their personnel groupings and all that — I never wanted (Payton) to dictate what we did," Rex Ryan said. "And that's kind of how we played the game."

The Jets played it well enough to improve to 5-4, which would be good for the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs if they began tomorrow — a remarkable spot for a team widely projected to be among the league's worst after last season's 6-10 finish.

The recipe is reminiscent of the teams Ryan guided to AFC title games after the 2009 and 2010 seasons, too. Make plays with an aggressive defense. Grind clock with the running game. Keep the pressure minimal on a young quarterback — now Smith in place of Mark Sanchez.

Chris Ivory had 139 of the Jets' 198 yards on 18 carries against the Saints, who jettisoned him in April for a fourth-round draft pick. Josh Cribbs provided a spark in the Wildcat. And Smith avoided throwing the Jets out of the game, completing 8 of 19 passes for 115 yards, no turnovers and just one egregious heave into triple coverage.

"They certainly were the better team today," said Payton, whose Saints (6-2) now lead the NFC South by just one game over the surging Carolina Panthers. "The game really got one-dimensional, and part of that is on me."

The loss of speedy halfback Darren Sproles to a concussion early didn't help the Saints, who surely hoped to test the Jets' linebackers in coverage. Star tight end Jimmy Graham isn't totally healthy either, though he did score twice as New Orleans took a 14-6 lead before halftime.

The Saints had drops, including two costly ones by Nick Toon. They took seven penalties — none at a worse time than center Brian de la Puente's hold that wiped out a 16-yard strike from Brees to Toon that would have put New Orleans at its 35-yard line with about 1:40 to play.

But there were plenty of other occasions Brees couldn't get the ball out on schedule because of rushers in his lap, and that's how the game ended — a left-handed flip with Coples about to deliver a blow that fell well short on fourth-and-19.

"We dialed up some pressures," said Jets defensive lineman Mohammad Wilkerson, who had a sack and two of the Saints' six QB hits. "But at the end of the day, we knew those guys couldn't hold us up front one-on-one, and we got after them."

Daily Clips Cont.

53 | P a g e

They also were prepared for Payton's creative scheme. The biggest play of the game may have been a failed misdirection handoff to Saints tight end Josh Hill, who ran directly into Coples for an 8-yard loss on fourth-and-1 midway through the fourth quarter.

New Orleans got the ball back, drove for a field goal and regained possession with 3:01 to go — only for the penalty to back them up and the Jets' pass rush to seal the deal. Brees threw for 382 yards but had the two picks, plus several more wayward balls the Jets nearly hauled in.

"We knew certain tendencies that they had in what they did," Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie said. "We understand if they line up in certain ways, the ball's going to try to go deep. We just played football the best way we knew how."

In his news media conference, Ryan cracked jokes about the game's storyline ("beating my brother again"), his thoughts on Brees getting the ball for a final drive ("Can we put the backup in?") and the Jets' failure so far to win consecutive games ("We're going to lose to the bye week.")

After two trying seasons, Ryan finally can afford to have some fun again. The schedule from here looks favorable, too, with only one game against a team that has a winning record — the Panthers on Dec. 15. They've already split with the AFC East-leading New England Patriots.

Is the way the Jets played Sunday evidence they're ready to get back to playing in January?

"I don't know," Ryan said. "We've got a long way to go here. Clearly, we've got to fix a lot of things still.

"But hey, I know one thing — we've got a group that's willing. There is no doubt. And that's the toughest thing."

SUNDAY’S SPORTS TRANSACTIONS

Associated Press November 3, 2013

http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Sunday-s-Sports-Transactions-4952235.php

BASEBALL American League DETROIT TIGERS — Named Brad Ausmus manager and agreed to terms with him on a three-year contract. Agreed to terms with bench coach Gene Lamont on a two-year contract. FOOTBALL National Football League MIAMI DOLPHINS_Suspended G Richie Incognito for misconduct related to the treatment of teammate Jonathan Martin. HOCKEY National Hockey League DETROIT RED WINGS — Recalled D Adam Almquist from Grand Rapids (AHL). MINNESOTA WILD — Recalled F Carson McMillan from Iowa (AHL). MONTREAL CANADIENS — Assigned F Mike Blunden to Hamilton (AHL). Recalled F Martin St. Pierre from Hamilton. PHOENIX COYOTES — Assigned D Brandon Gormley to Portland (AHL). WASHINGTON CAPITALS — Re-assigned D Dmitry Orlov to Hershey (AHL). WINNIPEG JETS — Recalled D Zach Redmond from St. John's (AHL). Reassigned D Ben Chiarot and Julian Melchiori to St. John's. Central Hockey League

Daily Clips Cont.

54 | P a g e

QUAD CITY MALLARDS — Announced D Corbin Baldwin was recalled by Iowa (AHL). TULSA OILERS — Signed F Blair Macaulay and D Scott Macaula.

Back_to_Top