First Place New York Jets Finding Ways to Continue Winning

The New York Jets currently have a 4-1 record attached to their names and a win in Denver next week can make it 5-1 before a well-deserved bye week.

The rest of the NFL should be scared of the Jets especially after their latest victory, a 29-20 defeat of the Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings. The Jets were not dominant in any facet of the game, yet were still able to find a way to get the win. It is an aspect that was not found last season, but thus far this season has been there every step of the way.

The first game of the season, a Monday night affair with the Baltimore Ravens, saw the Jets offense rendered helpless against one of the best defenses in the league. Fortunately for the Jets, their defense was also up for the challenge and held the Ravens offense to a minimum amount of points.

The defense knew the offense could not do much and almost won the game by themselves by only allowing 10 points. It wasn't good enough as the Jets fell by the score 10-9. Next up were the Patriots and it was the Jets offense, led by Mark Sanchez, who took control of the game.

Sanchez threw for three touchdown passes, out-dueling his nemesis Tom Brady, en route to a 28-14 victory. Against the Dolphins it was more of the same as the defense turned Chad Henne into a modern-day Dan Marino.

He shredded the New York defense for over 300 yards, but it was once again Sanchez who stepped up to the plate and saved the day for the Jets. Another three touchdown passes and some clutch running from a rejuvenated LaDainian Tomlinson equaled up to another Jets victory.

After two consecutive wins over two top-tier teams in the NFL, the Jets faced what most analysts considered a trap game against the lowly Buffalo Bills. The bad news for the Bills was both the defense and offense came to play. 

The defense didn't allow an inch of room for quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw nor allow their three-headed running back tandem room to run. The offense of the Jets, however, seemingly gained ground at will en route to a 38-14 thrashing. In fact the score could have been worse than what the final score indicated.

Finally during the Minnesota game Monday night the Jets offense was not sharp. Whether it was due to the inclement weather or just a case of not being on their game, it seemed they could not sustain drives even when given good field position. Sanchez was particularly off his game, not even completing over 50 percent of his passes.

Good thing for the Jets, the defense kept the Vikings out of scoring range throughout the first half letting the Jets build a 12-0 lead. Then as if struck by magic, Favre showed what he was capable of by driving the Vikings to three consecutive touchdowns.

The game then came down to the Jets defense making a stand and they did just that. Dwight Lowery made the crucial interception of Favre and took it to the end zone, securing the victory.

Even when things don't go as planned the Jets are resilient enough to still achieve victory. That is a scary thing for the rest of the NFL.