New York Jets 27; Waahington Redskins 14

Team effort lifts Jets over Redskins 27-14

NFL.com wire reports

LANDOVER, Md. (Aug. 19, 2006) -- If Derrick Blaylock can have another game or two like this, the New York Jets might stop trying to find another running back.

As for the Washington Redskins? Well, suffice it to say that coach Joe Gibbs was agitated and terse, sounding as if he'd just lost by four touchdowns to Dallas in Week 6 of the regular season.

Blaylock made a promising bid to win a starting job, rushing for 46 yards on 10 carries in the Jets' 27-14 victory over the Redskins. He punished what is supposed one of the league's best run defenses with four consecutive carries for 27 yards to start New York's opening drive.

"I feel real good. I felt good about getting the holes, hitting the holes, and seeing the way everybody performed," Blaylock said. "It felt good tonight."

Rookie Brad Smith ran 61 yards for a touchdown on a double reverse, and fellow fourth-round draft pick Leon Washington returned a kickoff 87 yards for a score. Reggie Newhouse added a fourth-quarter touchdown catch as the Jets showed some all-around improvement after last week's 16-3 loss to Tampa Bay.


Leon Washington had six carries for 17 yards to go along with this punt return for a touchdown.
The Jets entered the game trying to sort out two marquee positions. Three quarterbacks got a chance to make a case for the No. 1 job, but none made the kind of statement that would put them ahead of favorite Chad Pennington, who missed the game due to a family illness.

Patrick Ramsey, acquired from the Redskins in the offseason, got the start in his return to his old home stadium. His performance wasn't bad but it was hardly inspiring -- he went 6 for 9 for 33 yards, was sacked twice and didn't have a completion for longer than 9 yards. Ramsey was on the field for one score, but it was the one-play drive that consisted of Smith's long TD run.

"I do feel like we took a step," Ramsey said. "But there are plenty of things that we can clean up."

Brooks Bollinger entered midway through the second quarter and seemed at times to do as much running as throwing. He completed 10 of 16 passes for 69 yards and ran five times for 35 yards. He led a 23-play, 76-yard drive that took nearly 12 minutes and resulted in a field goal in the third quarter.

Second-round pick Kellen Clemens played the fourth quarter and threw the first touchdown pass of the game, a 5-yard toss snagged nicely by NFL Europe product Newhouse, son of former Dallas fullback Robert Newhouse.

With Curtis Martin's career in doubt because of a knee injury -- and after last week's attempted trade for Lee Suggs fell through -- the Jets are left with Blaylock, Washington and Cedric Houston in the mix at running back.

Washington, playing the part of the second quarter and all of the third, ran for 17 yards on six carries. Houston ran for 53 yards on 14 carries in the fourth, when the stands were half-empty and the starters long gone.

The Redskins wanted to see something from their starting offense after last week's 19-3 loss to Cincinnati, but new assistant coach Al Saunders' attack generated only three first downs in three drives with starting quarterback Mark Brunell. The first-team defense was embarrassed by Smith's reverse and allowed 145 yards rushing in the first half.

"I'm concerned all the way across the board," Gibbs said in a postgame news conference that lasted less than three minutes. "I think it's not playing, and me not coaching. When we show up and do stuff like that at home, I take it real serious. I think our players do, too. We're going to do something about it. It's hard for me to find something where I thought we played well."

Jason Campbell, competing with Todd Collins for the No. 2 job, threw an interception in his first drive, but made a nice 20-yard completion under pressure on his next drive to set up Washington's first score, a 1-yard run by Rock Cartwright. Collins, playing the fourth quarter, recovered from a miserable outing last week and went 12 for 18 for 114 yards with one touchdown and an interception.

Redskins defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin left the game in the first quarter with a sprained right knee. Griffin was able to jog off the field, and Gibbs said it was "just a bump -- nothing serious." Backup tight end Robert Johnson injured his left ankle in the third quarter; X-rays were negative.

The Redskins were already playing without three key starters: running back Clinton Portis (shoulder), cornerback Shawn Springs (abdomen) and defensive end Phillip Daniels (back).

In addition to quarterback and running back, the Jets might want to think about starting some competition at punter. Ben Graham, the only punter on the preseason roster, produced a 7-yard shank on his first attempt, then later launched an 8-yarder at the end of a bizarre play. Graham at first looked as if he were going to run the ball on a fake, then, just before reaching the line of scrimmage, he booted the ball diagonally well into the stands.