EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Curtis Martin stood on the sideline wearing all black, appropriate for this Jets season. Somehow, the guys still wearing green and white delivered for New York.
Martin missed his first game since 1998 with a sore right knee, and the Jets sent out their third-string quarterback and third-string running back to face Oakland on Sunday. Cedric Houston and Brooks Bollinger played with the heart and soul of their durable team leader, who was relegated to watching from a most unusual spot.
Bollinger threw for one touchdown and set a team record for yards rushing by a quarterback, Houston scored the first touchdown of his career and John Abraham had two sacks that caused fumbles, helping the Jets break a seven-game losing streak and win 26-10.
Marques Tuiasosopo, starting in place of an ineffective Kerry Collins, struggled mightily, throwing two interceptions while losing two fumbles and was sacked six times. Former Jets back LaMont Jordan, the understudy to Martin for four years, also failed to deliver many big plays for the Raiders (4-9), finishing with 49 yards on 14 carries.
Houston had 74 yards on 28 carries and the 2-yard score. Bollinger showed his scrambling skills, gaining 56 yards, eclipsing the old mark of 53 set by Richard Todd on Dec. 14, 1980 against New Orleans. He also was 14-of-26 for 119 yards.
The 32-year-old Martin, one season removed from the NFL rushing title, became the seventh key offensive player to go down for the season when the Jets (3-10) said he would have surgery on his troublesome knee this week.
Recommended for you
Martin, known for his ability to play through pain, initially hurt his knee against Miami in Week 2. He last missed a game on Oct. 11, 1998, when he sat out against St. Louis with a thigh injury. In all, he has missed five regular-season games.
Including playoff games, Martin had started 126 straight. With his season over, Martin failed in his quest to become the first player in NFL history to start a career with 11 straight 1,000 yard seasons. He finished with 735 yards.
Somehow, the Jets went on without him — although a victory might disappoint fans hoping for a high draft pick and a shot at Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. Mike Nugent kicked four field goals (33, 20, 35, 21), and Abraham helped swing momentum with his two big second-half plays. With New York leading 9-3, Abraham sacked Tuiasosopo, forced the fumble and recovered. The Jets settled for a field goal when they failed to punch it in on third-and-2 from the Raiders 3.
On the first play of the next possession, Abraham did it again, and James Reed recovered the fumble. The Jets converted that turnover into a touchdown, when Bollinger threw a 4-yard score to Justin McCareins in the corner of the end zone.
Oakland finally scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, when Tuiasosopo threw 20 yards for Jerry Porter. After the Jets punted, the Raiders got the ball at their own 44 but any hope of a comeback was quickly wiped away when Tuiasosopo was sacked on three straight plays.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.