Notes from the Jets 29-20 victory over the Vikings

On Monday night the New York Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings 29-20, moving Gang Green to 4-1, and first place in the AFC East.  The game was far from pretty, as the offense and defense struggled at times, but a win is a win, and the Jets have now won 4 in a row.

Before we go into the notes from the game, I have to give a major hats off to the fans that weathered the elements last night.  The conditions were miserable and it was awesome to see the amount of fans that made it to the end.

1) Tomlinson continues to shine- Another solid performance by LaDainian Tomlinson who had 94 yards rushing.  It is obvious that LT has become the Jets number one back, and he is more than embracing the role.

2) Folk saves the day- While the New York Jets offense struggled to get in the endzone, kicker Nick Folk kept putting points on the board.  Folk was 5/5 including a 53-yarder.

3) Pace erupts- Calvin Pace returned from injury to rack up 1.5 sacks.  Pace along with Jason Taylor did a good job early on getting pressure on Brett Favre.

4) Jets make mistake with Revis- Darrelle Revis returned to the lineup on Monday night, but clearly was not himself.  Considering the weather conditions and the nature of Darrelle’s injury, the Jets would have been better off keeping the All-Pro out one more week.  Revis commented after the game that his hamstring was swollen, which is never a good sign.

5) Offense struggles- The high flying Jets offense struggled on Monday night, especially when it came to getting in the endzone.  Some of the struggles could be attributed to the weather, but overall the Jets were just out of sync.  Mark Sanchez did not throw any interceptions, but was far from sharp, and his receivers did not help much dropping several passes.  In addition the play calling was suspect at times, especially when the Jets were trying to run out the clock with the lead.

6) Defense bends but does not break- The Jets defense did an excellent job containing running back Adrian Peterson holding the star to 88 yards.  In terms of pass defense it was a tale of two halves.  The Jets pass defense started out strong stifling the Vikings offense, but struggled in the second half giving up 233 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The Vikings made several halftime adjustments that kept the Jets on their heels, but to the defense’s credit they made big plays when it counted, including Dwight Lowery’s pick six that ended the game.

7) Take the win- All in all the Jets found a way to win the game Monday night, which is something they struggled to do last season.  Gang Green was due for a struggle and the team found a way to battle through it.  Next up for the Jets is the Denver Broncos, which will be no easy task especially out in Colorado.

Tyson Rauch

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