SAN DIEGO – Brett Favre has had a lot of magical memories on “Monday Night Football.”
Last night, Favre’s 24th appearance on the iconic NFL showcase, was not one of them.
The 38-year-old Jets quarterback looked his age in last night’s 48-29 Chargers shellacking of the Jets at Qualcomm Stadium.
Actually, in throwing two first-half interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, Favre might have looked a bit older than 38 – particularly as he limped through the locker room with sore left ankle he injured in the second half.
Based on how gingerly he was moving around after the game, Favre, who’s started a record 256 regular-season games, had the look of a player who’s going to be hurting for a few days.
“I rolled my ankle early in the third quarter,” Favre said. “I’m sure it’ll feel terrible tonight. But we just did some X-rays on it and I think they’re OK.”
Favre (30-for-42, 271 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) credited the Chargers defense with showing some new looks.
“There are no excuses from my end,” Favre said. “I made numerous, numerous mistakes. Made some plays but made too many mistakes.”
In his defense, however, Favre didn’t get a lot of help from his supporting cast, which was abysmal in too many areas with three first-half turnovers.
In addition to Favre’s two INTs was a fumble by RB Thomas Jones in the first half that led to a Chargers’ TD.
So, after the feel-good “Summer of Brett” and the opening-week victory in Miami, the Jets have hit their first mini-crisis.
They sit uncomfortably at 1-2, already two games behind the 3-0 Bills in the AFC East, and they have the improved 2-1 Cardinals coming to Giants Stadium on Sunday in what truly is a must-win.
Should they stagger into the bye week at 1-3, the Jets would be putting their playoff hopes in early peril.
It all started so well for the Jets, who were given an early gift by Chargers QB Phillip Rivers when he was picked off by David Barrett, who returned it 25 yards for a TD and a quick 7-0 Jets’ lead.
As quickly as the Jets struck, though, the Chargers unleashed a series of counterpunches and turned the game ugly.
The Chargers (1-2) answered the Barrett pick with a 36-yard Nate Kaeding FG to cut it to 7-3 on their next possession.
Then Jones, who contended after the game that he thought he was down on the play despite no whistle being blown, was stripped by Chargers LB Tim Dobbins.
Five plays later, Rivers connected with FB Mike Tolbert on a 1-yard scoring pass to give the Chargers a 10-7 lead.
The Jets’ next possession ended when Favre was picked off by Antonio Cromartie, who returned it 52 yards for a 17-7 lead 12 seconds into the second.
Seconds later, Washington returned the kickoff 94 yards to the San Diego 5-yard line, leading to a 3-yard Favre scoring pass to Laveranues Coles to cut the San Diego lead to 17-14.
The next play was a risky onsides kickoff attempt by the Jets that failed when Wallace Wright couldn’t handle the ball and it bounced right into the arms of San Diego’s Marques Harris.
That gave the potent Chargers’ offense the ball at the Jets’ 40.
From there, they made short work of the short field and the sagging Jets defense, taking a 24-14 lead on a 27-yard Rivers scoring pass to Chris Chambers with 11:17 still remaining in the first half.
On the play, the nearest Jets CB appeared to be somewhere in Tijuana. Want more?
Favre, on the Jets’ next possession, threw a pass about 10 yards over Jerricho Cotchery’s reach and into the arms of Chargers safety Eric Weddle.
That – the Jets’ third turnover of the half – led to a 6-yard Rivers scoring pass to Gates, who beat rookie Dwight Lowery for a 31-14 lead.
That capped a mercurial 31-7 scoring run by the Chargers that made that Barrett INT return for a TD seem like it took place sometime last week.
“I stressed to the team that you can’t play this way, with turnovers and the self-inflicted wounds, and expect to win games – especially on the road,” coach Eric Mangini said.
Chargers 48 Jets 29