Cowboys vs. Jets: Special Team Wins on Special Night

First week of the 2011 NFL season.  Sunday Night Football: JetLife Stadium, er, I mean MetLife stadium was packed, filled with almost 80,000 people.  It was loud.  It was crazy.  The stadium filled with both Jets and Cowboys fans, but no matter who their allegiance was to, it was a night that we came together as one.

The date: 9/11/11.  A decade after our nation's tragedy.

You could feel it in the air.  It was filled with pride and honor.  Proud to be part of this country; proud to be a New Yorker.

The Jets wanted this W badly, for New York.  Rex Ryan wanted this win badly, for New York. And on this night filled with mistakes and turnovers, both teams underachieving—far from perfect football—the New York Jets rallied back from a double-digit deficit to deliver.  The Jets came back to defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 27-24.

With less than a minute left and Romo and the Cowboys driving down field for a chance to win the game, All-world Darrelle Revis came up huge, intercepting a Tony Romo pass and running back to Dallas' 34. 

It seemed like Romo wanted to play pitch-and-catch with Revis, the way he lobbed it to him.  A few plays, where the offense stalled as it did throughout most of the game, Nick Folk came up huge, making a 50-yard FG (I couldn't believe it). 

It must have felt good for Folk to kick the winning FG against his former team.  Dallas had cut him a few years back for his inconsistency.

The New York Jets special teams came through in a huge way tonight.  First—and key—was when Joe McKnight ran up the middle, untouched, and blocked punter McBriar's kick, then Isiah Trufant recovered the blocked punt and returned it 18 yards for the touchdown—tying the game.  Then, Folk's 50-yarder to get the Jets ahead by three.

What a way to end the game.  What a way to get the win.

A few notes on the Jets side:

• Mark Sanchez still needs to build some rapport with his receivers.  He wasn't as accurate as he needed to be, although he did throw over 300 yards and two TDs
• The O-Line was suspect as it allowed a few sacks and a lot of QB pressures.  Sanchez looked scared out there.
• The Jets defense did not generate much of a pass rush—a concern going into this season.
• Rookie DE Muhammad Wilkerson wasn't impressive in his debut—still needs a lot of work to do.
• Jets' secondary which is usually good for them, wasn't too good tonight.  Romo was slowly picking them apart throughout the game, until Jets' secondary came up big in the last minutes of the game. And some of them forgot how to tackle.  Oh and Antonio Cromartie, well, no comment...
• Run defense and the linebackers didn't look too impressive either, unable to contain Felix Jones and Dallas' offense for most of the game.
• Plaxico Burress was quiet for the early part of the night but decided to make a guest appearance towards the end of the game and ended up with four receptions for 72 yards and a TD.
• Jets "ground-and-pound" was appalling.  Both Greene and Tomlinson rushed for a combined 42 yards.
• Jets offense still very slow at the start of the game.  It wasn't until the latter part of the game that they woke up and decided to put some points on the board.

It was an exciting game overall, but it should not have come down to last-minute heroics—something it seems like the Jets love to do—to determine the outcome of the game.