THE Steelers let the game lay there and lay there, and there wasn’t much Kellen Clemens was doing about it, frankly.
Clemens did make some key plays early in the game. He connected on a flea-flicker to Laveraneus Coles to the 2-yard-line on the second play of the game to help the Jets grab a 7-0 lead. He also went up top to Jericho Cotchery to draw an interference call on Ike Taylor which led to a field goal and a 10-0 lead.
Nevertheless, Clemens – who got a reprieve on a Steelers penalty on a quarterback fumble through the end zone before the Jets took a 13-7 lead just before the half – often looked like a quarterback making his third career start against the NFL’s best defense.
Clemens’ first attempt to answer Jeff Reed’s go-ahead fourth-quarter field goal had ended in two plays, on a brutally underthrown interception by DeShea Townsend. The second failed with Clemens missing Justin McCareins badly on fourth-and-five at the Pittsburgh 41.
When the Jets got one last chance from their 14 with 2:23 to go, what reason was there to believe that this drive was going anywhere, either?
“Kellen was so cool, smiling, having a great time being the usual leader he is every day,” said McCareins. “Through the ups and downs he had stayed the same, always encouraging all of us.”
Somehow, out of 1-8, out of so many fourth quarters lost, the Jets believed. Chris Baker made a remarkable one-handed catch for 10 yards on the first play. Clemens hit McCareins for 12, drew a Bryant McFadden interference call on McCareins, scrambled for 15 yards to the Pittsburgh 30 before finding McCareins open again for 10.
The underutilized, the all-but waived, the seemingly overmatched, were making magic together. When Baker caught a ball over the middle and made a Steeler miss, the Jets were at the 5 so quickly they even had time to take too much time, a delay penalty after the Steelers confused Clemens at the line. Mike Nugent kicked the game into overtime, then got it done, 19-16, after Leon Washington ran back a punt 33 yards.
This time, McCareins had made the catches he didn’t in Baltimore, when Clemens could have brought the Jets back in his first start. This time, the defense got the overtime stop – a seventh sack of Roethlisberger – that it couldn’t after Clemens had driven the Jets 52 yards to force OT against Washington.
This time, a lot of guys made plays on both sides of the ball they hadn’t in weeks, whatever Clemens had to do with it not mattering as much as the perception that he did. After the first quarter, he mostly threw the same short outs that lost Chad Pennington’s job.
“The skilled guys are making plays, the offensive line is given me time and credit goes to the defense for giving us opportunities,” said Clemens.
He almost thanked everybody in Burns, Ore., too, not that it would have taken more time than that two-minute drive, when he needed 5-for-7 to finish 14-for-31 for 162 yards, 56 on the flea flicker.
“Pittsburgh is aggressive and we saw an opportunity to take a shot early,” Clemens said. “I’d like to think the safeties had to be wary of trick plays.”
The Steelers didn’t look affected. They actually made Clemens look lost, which can happen when so many fans are cheering up the visitors’ defense, you have to use a silent count in your own stadium.
“Weird,” said Baker, and it looked typically like just another game the Jets would play just well enough to lose when suddenly Clemens found his rhythm.
“He showed good poise in Baltimore,” said Eric Mangini. “He’s able to make a mistake, move on, focus on the next play.
“That’s so important when you are in a situation like this today.”
It’s also important when you are in 2-8 situation like this year. We don’t know how good the kid is going to be, but we already know he won’t be rattled.