With no rust to shake off, the former Nugget has picked up right where he left off last season. After three games, Anthony is averaging 25.7 points per game. That is one tenth of a point more than his 2010-11 numbers. In his ninth NBA season, the Syracuse product has led his team to the playoffs each year and is also a three-time All-Star.

When then-general manager Donnie Walsh acquired Anthony, he joined Amar’e Stoudemire in the frontcourt and teamed with him to form a bona fide one-two punch. But in today’s NBA, it seems that three superstars are required to challenge for a championship.

Enter Tyson Chandler. The 7’1”, 225-pound center who came to the Knicks from Dallas in a trade after the lockout was lifted fills out the trifecta. Mike D’Antoni recognized that immediately when addressing the media at the press conference announcing the deal.

“Tyson will be the anchor to our defense,” the Knicks head coach said. “The trio of Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson makes one of the most formidable frontlines in the entire league.”

With the Eastern Conference loaded with ‘Big Three’ teams in the aforementioned Celtics (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen) and the defending conference champion Miami Heat (Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh), the Knicks needed to add an impact player to the mix to put them in elite territory.

But even with Chandler on board, Anthony is the main focus on the hardwood for the Knicks. They will need him to be there every night, as Stoudemire has had injury problems throughout his entire career.

And it seems as if Anthony knew that while awaiting the start of the season.

Photo by Jim Leary

Such is the case with Mark Sanchez, the third-year starter for Gang Green. He has brought the team to two consecutive AFC Championship games and still has to deal with the boo bids in the stands and newspapers alike.

“Of course you hear them,” Sanchez said about the boos coming from the crowd at MetLife Stadium. “You hear a lot of stuff.”

Fortunately for him, there were cheers at the conclusion of the 28-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills. If not for a near-last minute touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes, the story would have been different.

“I felt good,” Sanchez added, referring to the game-winning drive. “We’ve been in this situation before. We rep it all the time in practice. The game’s on the line; we have to win and we made plays to do it.”

By throwing his fourth touchdown pass of the day (to three different receivers), Sanchez now has eight game-winning drives to his credit since becoming a Jet. While his statistics may not always be the envy of fantasy football players everywhere, Sanchez has found his niche in making the big plays when it counts most.

” We always say that he’s at his best in big moments, and you certainly can’t get a bigger moment than we had (then),” said Jets head coach Rex Ryan. “That’s who he is. He’s a stud. Sanchize. He’s done it before. I think he’s had more fourth quarter comebacks than any other quarterback in the league. That speaks enough about Mark.”

By winning against Buffalo, the Jets were able to maintain a possible playoff berth at 6-5. While still far from a slam dunk to make the postseason, it would have been nearly impossible if they had dropped the Bills game.

“You have to win,” Ryan said matter-of-factly. “You have to beat those AFC teams. We have to look forward. Any time that we spend dwelling on what’s happened is not productive.”

Because they have lost both games to the New England Patriots, the Jets only hope of getting into the playoffs is via a Wildcard spot. That means that they will have to once again win on the road to reach their goal of winning the Super Bowl. That will certainly not be an easy task, just as it wasn’t the last two campaigns. But it gets harder each year and the regular season has been an inconsistent struggle for Ryan’s squad.

But they still have a pulse thanks to the late-game heroics by the quarterback. And he isn’t even called Broadway Joe.

 Photo by Bill Menzel

The brash talk that has been a constant for Rex Ryan and his wards was mocked throughout the season by all the critics, but he (and they) have backed everything up. What’s wrong with having the balls to say that you expect to win the Super Bowl? Any head coach that breaks training camp and tells even his closest friends that his team is mediocre and will not win anything has given up before the coin toss. Give Ryan credit for being so forthcoming, even when it seemed to be blowing up in his face.

That would have been Week 13 and 14, when the Jets dropped two divisional games in a row and looked abysmal in doing so. The 45-3 Monday Night dismantling at Foxboro was followed up by a 10-6 home loss to the Miami Dolphins that had ‘hangover’ written all over it. Things could have gone south but the Jets went into Pittsburgh and came away with a improbable 22-17 victory over the favored Steelers. They clinched a wild card playoff berth a week later, even though they dropped a road game to the Bears.

The second season has been good to the Ryan-led Jets, with them making it to the AFC Championship game for the second consecutive year. Mark Sanchez has four road playoff wins under his belt already in just two seasons in the NFL and can make it five if he and his teammates can pull off another ‘impossible.’

Surely the Steelers will be the favorites in the game on Sunday and should be. They are playing at home and took care of the big and bad Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round. Down by 14 points at halftime, Pittsburgh turned it around and made the Ravens pay for their turnovers.

So why are we finally going to pick the Jets? It seems as if it is destiny for them to continue this crazy ride all the way to the Super Bowl on February 6 in North Texas. Sanchez threw for three touchdowns against the Pats and had zero picks. The Jets defense stifled Tom Brady and the rest of the New England offense, sacking the perennial All-Pro quarterback five times, and the ground attack that was so essential at Indy was once again on track. Shonne Greene put the dagger in with a late rushing score (76 yards on 17 carries in all) and LaDanian Tomlinson added 43 yards on 10 carries and scored the team’s first touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Sanchez.

Defensive end Sean Ellis had two of the five sacks and linebacker David Harris had nine tackles and an interception. Once again, cornerback Darrelle Revis shut down a team’s top wideout, this time it being Deon Branch.

By beating two quality teams in the Colts and number one seeded Patriots, the Jets have proved that they belong. Now the underdogs will spend another week talking about the game to come and more than likely have the skill to back them up.

Photo: Bill Menzel

The third Sunday in the young NFL season commenced last night with a thrilling affair that resulted in the New York Jets barely hanging on to beat the Dolphins, 31-23, in Miami. Quarterback Mark Sanchez threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns, two to tight end Dustin Keller and one to wideout Braylon Edwards.

By winning their second consecutive game, the Jets now sit atop the AFC East in a three-way tie with the ‘Fins and New England Patriots, all at 2-1. If Miami had won, they would have been 2 1/2 games ahead of New York with the tie breaker. The Jets did themselves a big favor by beating another divisional opponent, something that may come into play later in the year for postseason berths.

PATRIOTS – 38, Bills – 30

New England won a shootout at home against the Buffalo Bills, 38-30, who also released Trent Edwards today. He had started the first two games of the season at quarterback for the Bills before being benched in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick and now the team is reeling and winless after three games. Perhaps new head coach Chan Gailey set the precedent for a bad season by chastising fans at training camp for booing the team. The situation is a mess up in western New York.

Colts – 27, BRONCOS – 13

Another division looking tight is the AFC South, with Houston, Indianapolis and Tennessee all at 2-1. The Colts left Denver 1-2 after a convincing 27-13 win over the Broncos. The Horseshoes are clicking on a  cylinders the past two weeks and will be a factor all year long.

Titans – 29, GIANTS – 10

The Titans went into the Meadowlands Stadium and embarrassed the Giants, 29-10. Chris Johnson ran for 125 yards while Big Blue shot themselves in the foot with three turnovers (two inside the Tennessee 6-yard line), committed five personal fouls and missed two field goal attempts. The Titans imporved to 2-1 while New York fell to 1-2.

That makes it two ugly loses in a row for Tom Coughlin’s bunch and the wheels could be coming off really soon for the G-Men. Brandon Jacobs followed up the helmet throwing incident in Indy last Sunday night with 17 yards on 4 carries and starting OT Kareem McKenzie was benched after committing two of the personal fouls.

Cowboys – 27, TEXANS – 13

Two teams that had been winless broke into the column on the left with season-salvaging victories. The Dallas Cowboys (1-2) showed up in Houston and took down their interstate rival Texans, 27-13, while Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings picked on the hapless Detroit Lions and won going away, 24-10. No telling what would have been the headlines had either one or both of these 2009 playoff teams started off 0-3.

Quarterback Tony Romo had three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) to silence the 71,000-plus in attendance. The Texans fell to 2-1 and need to shake this one off as a loss to a non-divisional opponent, regardless of where they play.

VIKINGS – 24, Lions – 10

With a passing attack slowed down by injuries and the age of the quarterback, Minnesota got off the schneid by hnding the ball to Adrian Peterson, who rushed for 160 yards and two scores. For Detroit (0-3), Shaun Hill went 29-for-43, 237 yards and one touchdown in place of the injured Matthew Stafford.

Falcons – 27, SAINTS – 24 (OT)

The defending Super Bowl champions appear as if they may be suffering from a Super Bowl hangover after all. They looked shaky in their opening win versus Minnesota and now lost a divisional game against their rival. A missed 29-yard field goal attempt by Garret Hartley in the extra session spurned on the Falcons, who drove down the field and won it when Matt Bryant connected from 46 yards out with under two minutes to go before a tie would have been declared. Both teams are now 2-1.

Bengals – 20, PANTHERS – 7

Jimmy Clausen got his first NFL start at quarterback for Carolina but could not get them in the win column. The former Notre Dame star threw for 188 yards and no scores while Cincy QB Carson Palmer sealed the game with a fourth quarter toss to Credric Benson.

At 0-3, the John Fox watch may be on in Charlotte. The Bengals improved to 2-1.

Steelers – 38, BUCCANEERS – 13

Using their third different starting quarterback since the pre-season while awaiting Ben Roethlisberger’s four-game suspension to run out, one would figure that Pittsburgh would be in big trouble. But exactly the opposite is true as they won again to start off 3-0.

Byron Leftwich was hurt in the summer, so Dennis Dixon took over. But he, too, became injured last week so enter Charlie Batch. The veteran had not started a game in nearly three years but led the way with three touchdown passes.

For Tampa Bay (1-2), their struggles continue as Josh Freeman gains some valuable experience in his first season as the starting quarterback.

RAVENS – 24, Browns – 17

Eric Mangini must be nervous every time his telephone rings after another poor performance by the Browns. Head honcho Mike Holmgren cannot have liked what he saw, especially with Anquan Boldin catching three strikes from Joey Flacco for scores.

Baltimore upped their record to 2-1 and bounced back after a bad game last week in Cincinnati.

CHIEFS – 31, 49ers – 10

Two of the season’s early surprises met yesterday at Arrowhead Stadium and followed suit. Kansas City is now 3-0 and San Fran still winless following the lopsided outcome. No one expected Kaycee to contend and many expected the Niners to challenge for the NC West, but that’s why they play the games.

Matt Cassel caught the 49ers off guard on a fake end around and threw a 45-yard strike to Dwayne Bowe for one of three scores on the day for the former Patriot quarterback.

RAMS – 30, Redskins – 16

Snapping a 14-game losing streak is not an easy task, but St. Louis made it look that way by dismissing Washington at the RCA Dome. Overall number one draft pick Sam Bradford threw for 235 yards and a touchdown while back-up running back Kenneth Darby put the Rams (1-2) ahead for good in the third quarter after starter Steven Jackson was injured.

Washington (1-2) has lost two straight after beating Dallas in the opening Sunday night game of the season.

Eagles – 28, JAGUARS – 3

The resurgence of Michael Vick continued as the former Falcon franchise player had four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in a blowout win over  hapless Jacksonville. Philadelphia (2-1) won for the second straight time with Vick under center and apparently do not miss Donovan McNabb one bit.

David Garrard had a miserable day for the 1-2 Jags by going 13-for-30, 105 yards, no touchdowns and a pick. This team will be picking high in next year’s draft.

CARDINALS – 24, Raiders – 23

Arizona escaped with a narrow one-point win over Oakland when Sebastian Janokowski was wide left on the last play of the game from 32 yards out. The kicker also missed two other attempts during the game and his team dropped to 1-2. Things are not well in northern California and head coach Tom Cable may be in trouble if the Silver and Black do not turn it around soon.

For the 2-1 Cards, Derek Anderson had two touchdown passes and LaRod Stephens – Howling had a 102-yard opening kickoff return. Although they played sloppy at times, Arizona walks away with a win when a loss would have been a tough pill to swallow at home versus a sub par opponent.

SEAHAWKS – 27, Chargers – 20

Little Leon Washington came up big yesterday in the Pacific north west with two kickoff returns for touchdowns. The former Jet special teams standout took the opening kick of the third quarter 101 yards and Seattle was on their way, leading 17-0 at that point.

But San Diego came back and tied the game 20-20 with 6:39 remaining in the contest. But Washington took the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to the house to put the ‘Hawks in front for good and improve their record to 2-1.

At 1-2, the Chargers are a bit of a disappointment so far, having also lost to divisional foe Kansas City in the matinee on the Monday night affair in Week One.

Photo by William J. Hauser

No matter how much it hurts the residents of Cleveland, ‘The King’ was ready to return if he could have convinced Bosh to come to town. The Cavalier organization was already going through changes with the firing of head coach Mike Brown and the hiring of Byron Scott. If Bosh shunned James’ invitation to take the same offer from Wade to come to South Beach, then that speaks volumes about the state of the organization.

Bosh apparently did not see the same upside in Cleveland as he did in Miami and you can even take it a step further by making an assumption that he felt Wade was a better teammate than James. There was no guarantee that James would join them with the Heat when Bosh agreed to sign.

Speaking of that, Bosh deciding on Miami played a big part in Wade not signing with his hometown Bulls. The Chicago native was torn apart by not coming home, but ultimately chose to stay in Florida once Bosh told him his intentions.

Weighing his options, James had to see the grass greener on the southern side of the street. Without Bosh, Cleveland did not look as rosy. And although the Knicks signed Amar’e Stoudemire to a five-year, $100-million contract trying to lure him, James must have felt that New York was still years away from contending for a championship. Chicago? Perhaps if Wade had signed there, but James would still have been playing in Michael Jordan’s shadow forever.

When it was all said and done, James choosing Miami should not have come as a surprise, and it didn’t if you read our article posted earlier in the day of “The Decision.” What did cause some shock is that it was Bosh, and not James, who played the biggest part in free agency.

Numerous sources around the league, including Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine, have cited that James will indeed make Miami his choice. It is merely a formality at this point.

The first real clue came on Wednesday when Wade and Bosh announced live on ESPN SportsCenter that they had decided on Miami. Both were coy when asked about LeBron joining them in South Beach and said that ‘The King’ needed to make up his own mind. But it was the way they seemed extra giddy about it, their own mega-millions contracts notwithstanding.

So what does this mean for the teams that were left at the altar? It is most disastrous to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a franchise that was less than an afterthought before James came around. Things could have been much different is James was able to convince Bosh to come to Ohio, but the former Raptor did not want to play for the Cavs and his move to Miami set the wheels in motion for James to go south. Now the Cavs have to regroup with not much to show for the offseason with the exception of new head coach Byron Scott, an upgrade over the dismissed Mike James.

The Knicks have been shooting for James for the past two seasons and president Donnie Walsh’s salary cap clearing was geared for just that. Their signing of Amar’e Stoudemire does not have the same effect without James and they will once again be a team in search of a star player. Another part of this move is that Stoudemire just happens to play the same position as David Lee, who is an automatic double-double and the Knicks most consistent player the past two years.

The Bulls were a team that appeared to be in a great position only a few days ago, but it all blew up in their faces. Wade had notified the Heat that his family situation would play a part in his decision and his children reside in Chicago. If he had decided to go to his hometown, then James was said to be very attracted to the Windy City. Their consolation prize? Carlos Boozer, not exactly someone to light it up every night.

Two other teams that did get some of LeBron’s time to court him were the Nets and Clippers, but neither had a legitimate shot at the top free agent in NBA history.

How interesting is it that Bosh – and not James – became the key free agent this summer that dictated where others signed?

Back then, with the Cold War in full effect and the Red Menace stalking the free world, the group of youngsters wearing the red, white and blue had more than just a medal at stake. The 4-3 win over the Soviet Union was akin to David killing Goliath. The Russians were the world power in hockey and a year earlier, had beaten the NHL All-Stars two games to one in the Challenge Cup at Madison Square Garden. Then just a few days before the Olympics began, they drubbed the US hockey team 10-2 at the same venue.

Both teams had played exceptionally well leading up to the semi-final game. The Americans were surprising everyone with wins versus Czechoslovakia and West Germany while the USSR was doing what was expected of them. The game itself was not even deemed important enough at the time to be shown on live television, with most figuring that the Russians would win in a cake walk. But by the time ABC showed it on tape delay a few hours later, the majority of the country was already aware of the shocking upset.

Just how did they pull it off? Many point to the decision to pull starting goaltender Vladislav Tretiak, who was the top minder on the planet, after he let up a soft goal at the end of the first period to let the US get level at 1-1. Many suspected that the decision came from high above, something that head coach Viktor Tikhonov later suggested.

“I don’t think that I should have been replaced in that game,” Tretiak wrote in his autobiography. “I had made so many mistakes already, I was confident my play would only improve. (Back-up gaoltender Vladimir Myshkin) is an excellent goalie, but he wasn’t prepared for the struggle, he wasn’t ‘tuned in’ to the Americans.”

At the end of the second period, the Soviets clearly dominated but only had a slim 3-2 advantage. Mark Johnson scored his second goal of the game on a power play to knot things up and team captain Mike Eruzione scored the eventual game-winner with 10 minutes left in the contest. For once, youth was an advantage over experience with the faster US squad able to beat the veteran Soviets to the puck and hang on for dear life.

Even in the waning seconds, the game was still in the balance. This set up the most memorable call in sports history when television announcer Al Micheals said, “You’ve got 10 seconds; the countdown going on right now. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

Lake Placid was a microcosm of an entire nation that Friday, and when the US beat Finland two days later by a score of 4-2 to win the gold medal, it seemed like a formality.

The changes that have taken place since then in the world and in hockey are immeasurable. A few players from that Russian team ended up in the NHL once the wall of communism fell, an unfathomable thought at the time. With the continued complaints that other nations were sending professionals to compete against collegiate-level players, some genius made the decision to put together ‘Dream Teams.’

Sure, the first one with the NBA players (plus Christian Laetenner, who was still in college in 1992) was fun to see, but the novelty wore thin after that. Having regular season teammates go against each other in the Olympics takes some of the excitement out of it and winning does not have the same importance.

Playing for your country does have a different aura to it than anything else, but for a millionaire who already has a Stanley Cup to his name, this break in the middle of the season may be more of a distraction and hindrance than anything else.

There is no way to top the accomplishments of the 1980 team. Having the NHL players even try is comical.

We certainly are right in that mix, having predicted that the Indianapolis Colts would not only win their second championship in four years, but do so easily. Boy, were we wrong. Drew Brees (32 for 39, 288 yards, two touchdowns) led the New Orleans Saints to their first title and was named the game MVP in the 31-17 victory. When his team needed a strong drive, he delivered. Neither Brees nor Saints head coach Sean Payton panicked when they trailed 10-0 in the first quarter and they stayed with an agressive game plan.

They went for it on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line in the second quarter (one in which they dominated) and came up short, but that didn’t stop them from going for a little trickery and recovering an onside kick to start the third quarter. The ensuing drive led to a touchdown and put New Orleans ahead, 13-10.

“We talked about it at halftime and it’s really a credit to every one of these players here,” said Payton. “There’s not enough room on this stage for all of them, but they carried out this play and I’m just proud. I’m proud of this team.”

The Colts answered with a 76-yard drive that culminated in a 4-yard burst into the end zone by running back Joseph Addai. No one could have surmised at the time that the 17-13 lead they now held would have been their last of the night.

Garrett Hartley hit a 47-yard field goal to cut the deficit to one and then in the fourth quarter, Brees went 7-for-7 on the drive of the game. He hit tight end Jeremy Shockey for a 2-yard scoring pass and then made it 24-17 by completing another pass on the two-point conversion.

Manning (31 for 45, 333 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception) took over with 5:42 remaining in the contest and was taking the underneath routes that the Saints defense was giving him. When he tried to go downfield, he was picked off by Tracy Porter, who brought it back 74 yards and the exclamation point.

When the scoreboard showed the final score, Bourbon Street exploded like 10 combined Mardi Gras parades. An unlikely turnover by arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the game sealed the deal, and pinpoint accuracy by his adversary led to that.

Photo By Bill Menzel

Sorry, pal. I’ve got some harsh news for you. This is football and you get paid to play the games on your schedule, regardless of what the other head coach decides to do with his personnel. Sure, if Peyton Manning didn’t get pulled in Week 16, we may not be having this conversation right now. But it wasn’t as if the Jets were getting their asses handed to them when the just-named 2009 NFL MVP went to the bench in favor of an overwhelmed Lance Painter.

Rex Ryan’s crew was only trailing by five points when Manning took off his helmet and replaced with a baseball cap and ultimately a frown that was caught by all the cameras. He was seeing the Colts’ undefeated season go up in smoke, but could have he been thinking ahead and that he wanted no part of seeing a hot team with a swarming defense coming back at them in the playoffs?

If The Colts would have put the Jets away, their home loss the week before to Atlanta would have been their legacy. But instead, their pulse was getting better and they had their sights set on a Cincinnati Bengals team who had the opportunity to not only end the Jets’ season, but clinch the third seed in the AFC because of the Patriots’ loss earlier in the day on the final Sunday.

Outside of running back Cedric Benson, the Bengals played their starters into the third quarter and were getting their clocks cleaned. Quarterback Carson Palmer went 1-for-11 for zero yards and the team had 72 yards total offense. Say whatever you want to try to justify that and it is impossible to do. The Jets made the playoffs as the AFC’s fifth seed courtesy of their 37-0 whitewashing on Sunday Night Football.

Momentum at this time of the year can go a long way and by basically shutting it down, both the Bengals and Colts made critical mistakes. We all know that it carried over to Saturday’s AFC Wild Card game, when the Jets ousted Cincinnati by a score of 24-14. Even when the Bengals were up 7-0, the game was being controlled by the Jets. Palmer’s accuracy was horrendous and he overthrew his receivers regularly. If it weren’t for Benson’s performance and a drop in the end zone by Braylon Edwards, the difference would have been even wider.

Now the Jets must travel to San Diego to face the red-hot Chargers, winners of 11 straight. This match-up was the result of the Baltimore Ravens knocking off the higher-seeded Patriots in New England.

It’s been a wild ride for the Jets, but all they need to do is keep playing a tight defense and effectively grind it out on the ground. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has been efficient and has stayed away from throwing the interceptions that were killing him just a few short weeks ago.

Can the Jets beat a team like the Chargers? Well, we didn’t think they would even still be around so let’s not sell them short just yet. Yes, the Bolts do have a very potent offense but their defense leaves a lot to be desired and could be exposed by some shrewd play calling. We already know that the Jets can run the ball, so if they are able to opne things up a bit with not only Sanchez but also Brad Smith (in the Jets formation of the Wildcat, called the “Tiger”), this game may be a close one

If the underdogs prevail again in the AFC this upcoming weekend, the Jets will actually host the conference championship versus Baltimore - perhaps the most unlikely scenario of all.

Photo by William J. Hauser

Although they still have a long way to go, the Jets (5-6) can at least think about the playoffs if not talk about them. But that word didn’t even come up after the game. “This was a great team win,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “It feels good to say that. It’s been a while.”

The team’s much-maligned secondary stepped up on this day with four interceptions and sent 76,381 fans home happy. It all began on the Panthers’ opening drive, one in which they converted three third down plays. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme then tried to hit Steve Smith on a slant that would have gone for a big gain, but there was apparent miscommunication and the wideout had yet to turn in. The ball caromed off his heel up in the air and right into the hands of Darrelle Revis, who returned it 67 yards for the Jets first defensive touchdown of the season.

“The great ones are lucky,” joked Ryan.

After trading field goals, the Jets capitalized on Delhomme’s third pick of the day when Kerry Rhodes – who was removed from the starting line-up this week in favor of Eric Smith – pulled down the floater and brought it back to the Carolina 38-yard line.

“The message was sent to me by Coach and now I’m moving on,” said Rhodes, who also had another interception and received a game ball. The Jets extended their lead to 14-3 when Thomas Jones (25 carries for 75 yards, 1 touchdown) plunged into the end zone from three yards out.

The big talk all week leading up to this game was that Ryan was going to take a more active role in the offense to try to cut down on the mistakes of his rookie quarterback. A more conservative game plan seem to benefit Mark Sanchez, who completed 13 out of 17 for 154 yards and one interception, but the USC product was not totally satisfied with his performance.

“I was playing smart on offense and we still gave up a couple of turnovers,” he said. “They (the coaches) were telling me in the meetings, ‘If you take a sack, that’s OK. Just don’t lose the ball.’”

Ryan added, “I thought he did a great job. He really managed the game well and had some nice runs. When in doubt, he checked the ball down.”

At one point in the third quarter, Sanchez was shaken up with an apparent knee injury and missed the majority of one series, but returned the next one. “He said he was good to go,” Ryan said. “I was just anxious to get him back in there.” Sanchez had the knee checked out by the team’s medical staff after the game and said that there was nothing abnormal found.

The Jets sealed the win with a 47-yard field goal by Feeley with 3:39 left to make the score 17-6. The big play on the drive was a 16-yard completion to converted running back Danny Woodhead on third down to move the chains.

“Coach put me in a great situation, Mark put the ball on me and the line did a great job so I just had to make the catch,” the wide receiver humbly said.

The Jets do not have much time to enjoy this win due to the Thursday night affair against the Bills in Toronto. “This is a short week for us, so we can enjoy it for about five hours,” said Ryan.

Better to enjoy the victory than wallow in another loss.

Photo by William J. Hauser