Before yesterday, Sept. 23 was the last time the Jets tasted victory. Fifty-five days had passed since their only win of the season, which came against the Dolphins, who are now 0-10.
So to say they were hungry for a win would be a significant understatement. They were bordering on starvation.
That’s why, when Mike Nugent’s 38-yard field goal barely scraped over the crossbar with 9:57 remaining in overtime to deliver the Jets a stunning 19-16 win over the heavily-favored Steelers at Giants Stadium, players emptied from the Jets’ sideline to swarm Nugent as if they’d just won the Super Bowl.
The win ended a six-game slide for the Jets, who are now 2-8 having sent the Steelers to 7-3.
“That was a heavy load off of us,” safety Kerry Rhodes said.
“There was a lot of pent-up frustration that was let go,” linebacker Matt Chatham said.
This was a long time coming for the Jets, who’ve been one of the biggest disappointments of the season.
It was well earned, as their defense, which has been steamrolled by opposing running backs all season, stepped up and stymied Ben Roethisberger, Willie Parker and the Steelers.
The Jets, who entered the game with nine sacks all season, sacked Roethlisberger seven times. Entering the game, Roethisberger had been sacked nine times in nine games.
“We took it to them,” said defensive end Shaun Ellis, who had two sacks and threw off the Pittsburgh offense by playing some linebacker.
“We just let loose, let it go,” Rhodes said. “We wanted to be aggressive on both sides of the ball. In these situations, you don’t have much to lose, so we went out there and played with a chip on our shoulder.”
Nose tackle Dewayne Robertson, who for a lot of this season has been pushed around like a 98-pound weakling, had 2½ sacks and was very active in stopping Willie Parker (52 yards on 25 carries).
Thomas Jones rushed for 117 yards, becoming the first player to run for more than 100 yards on the Steelers’ defense in 35 games and only the second to do it in the last 60 games.
The Steelers entered the game with such dominant statistics, ranked No. 1 in the NFL in fewest points allowed, total defense, run defense and pass defense, to name only a few, common sense told you the Jets had little chance to win this game.
Yet, across the board, the Jets played so well you couldn’t help but wonder aloud, “Where has this been all year?”
When Nugent’s field goal went through, nothing else mattered.
“Me and Shaun were over there on the sideline on a knee holding hands like little kids watching the kick,” Rhodes said.
For Nugent, who had sent the game into overtime by kicking a 28-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining in regulation, the game winner was the first of his career in overtime.
“He’s our special teams captain,” linebacker David Bowens said. “We love him.”
Nugent’s game winner was set up by a 33-yard punt return by Leon Washington.
Earlier, the Jets punched the physical Steelers in the mouth first, taking a quick 7-0 lead on a Kellen Clemens (14-31, 162 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) one-yard scoring pass to tight end Chris Baker. That came after a 56-yard flea flicker from Clemens to Laveranues Coles staggered the Steelers’ defense.
The Jets made it 10-0 on the first of Nugent’s four field goals, but the Steelers crept back to tie it at 13-13 and took a 16-13 lead on a Jeff Reed field goal with 8:41 remaining in the game.
At that point, it looked as if the Jets were again going to be foiled by fourth-quarter failure. They appeared to be en route to losing a fourth game this season after having built a double-digit lead. In their last game, the Jets couldn’t hold a 17-3 lead to the Redskins and lost in overtime.
“The fourth quarter has been our nemesis,” Ellis said. “As hard as we’ve been working, it was good to have some kind of reward. Enough was enough.”