PHILADELPHIA — His teammates call Santonio Holmes “Tone,” a nickname that was appropriate last night because the Jets wide receiver set the tone for one of the Jets worst performances of the season.
Sure there was plenty of blame to go around for the 45-19 debacle Gag Green authored against the Eagles at the Linc. The defense couldn’t stop quarterback Michael Vick or running back LeSean McCoy when it counted and the offensive line couldn’t protect Mark Sanchez.
But it was Holmes who put the Jets in an early hole by handing the Eagles their first 14 points and then embarrassing himself by drawing a taunting flag for a touchdown celebration when his team was fighting to get back in the game. Holmes wears a “C” on his jersey for being one of the Jets captains. Yesterday, it might as well have stood for clown.
PHOTOS: EAGLES ROUT JETS, 45-19
Sanchez called Holmes’ play “uncharacteristic.” Rex Ryan said he was “disappointed.”
Even Holmes knows he’s better than what he put on tape yesterday. “It’s probably one of the most inconsistent games that I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Holmes said after the Jets saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
His nightmare day began on the Jets opening series when on second-and-14 from his 36, Sanchez fired a short pass to Holmes, who promptly fumbled the football after being hit by safety Kurt Coleman. Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker scooped up the ball and returned it 47 yards for the first score of the game.
“I thought I had control of it until I hit the ground,” Holmes said. “But, the replay revealed that I didn’t. It was a turnover by me, a costly mistake by a veteran receiver.”
It was the worst kind of start for the Jets. The last thing they needed was to give the home crowd something to cheer about and the Eagles a reason to believe. It all happened on that one play.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Holmes ruined the Jets chances for their first score and facilitated the Eagles second touchdown minutes later. With 6:01 left in the first quarter and the Jets deep in Eagles territory, Sanchez looked for Holmes again, throwing him another short pass inside the Eagles 10-yard-line. It was a pass Holmes should have caught. Instead, the ball went through his hands and into the grasp of defensive back Asante Samuel, who caught it at the Eagles 4 and returned it 19 yards to end the Jets threat. The Eagles cashed the turnover into their second touchdown, moving 77 yards in 7 plays to take a 14-0 lead.
“I think I was trying to play fast,” Holmes said, adding, “I was trying to get out of there and spin move real fast and get up field; took my eyes off the ball.”
It would be 28-0, Philly, before the Jets would answer with a field goal. And hopes of a comeback were raised when Sanchez threw a perfect pass over the Eagles defense that Holmes caught for 25-yard touchdown. The Jets would trail 28-10, but Holmes acted like he was up 28-10.
In a look-at-me move he put the football on the ground, stepped on it, and raised his arms in the air and flapped them like, well, like an Eagle. An official dropped a penalty flag at his feet for taunting, a penalty enforced on the ensuing kickoff.
“Being a vet, you can’t do silly things like that, that cost our team 15 yards on special teams and give them field position the way that they’ve been playing,” he said. “I just can’t do that.”
Yes, Holmes said all the right things after the game. But real leaders do the right things during the game. He’ll get a chance to set the “Tone” again when the Giants meet the Jets on Christmas Eve.