options EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - There are only two undefeated teams in the NFL and both have the distinction of being quarterbacked by players from the Philadelphia area.
With Penn Charter's Matt Ryan leading the way, the Atlanta Falcons are 5-0. On Monday, Houston, guided by West Chester East High graduate Matt Schaub, also improved to 5-0 with a harder-than-expected 23-17 win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
The injury-depleted Jets made the game much more competitive than expected.
Even though Houston is receiving rave reviews, the Texans have not beaten a team that now owns a winning record. The Jets (2-3) played with much more enthusiasm than Houston, which lost standout linebacker Brian Cushing for the game with a knee injury early in the second quarter.
Joe McKnight's 100-yard kickoff return late in the third quarter got the Jets to within 20-14.
The teams then traded field goals, with Nick Folk cutting Houston's lead to 23-17 on a 21-yard field goal with 11 minutes, 58 seconds left.
The Jets took over from their own 16-yard line with 3:28 left.
Houston finally took control when a high Mark Sanchez pass off Jeff Cumberland's hands deflected to Kareem Jackson, who made a 4-yard return of the interception to the Jets' 42-yard line with 1:51 left.
The Jets had only one timeout at that point.
Schaub (14 of 28, 209 yards, one touchdown and one interception) had his moments, such as when he led the Texans on an eight-play, 85-yard drive on the game's first series. That drive was capped by a 34-yard touchdown pass to Owen Daniels. However, neither Schaub nor the Texans could sustain a consistent effort.
Workhorse back Arian Foster bailed out a struggling Houston offense, finishing with 152 yards on 29 carries.
The Jets offense was playing without three of its key receiving options. Leading receiver Santonio Holmes is out for the year after suffering a Lisfranc injury to his left foot in last week's 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Wide receiver Stephen Hill and tight end Justin Keller were both out with hamstring injuries.
New York's starting wide receivers were Chaz Schilens and Jeremy Kerley, and the starting tight end was Cumberland - not exactly household names, even in the metropolitan New York area.
Some of the loudest cheers were for Tim Tebow, who appeared in seven plays from scrimmage. His big plays were a 3-yard run for a first down as the up-man on a fake punt in the first half and a 15-yard run in the fourth quarter that set up a Jets field goal.
Houston led by 17-7 at the half, but the score could have been closer had Sanchez not thrown an interception that was returned 86 yards to the Jets 9-yard line by Bruce McClain. That set up a 27-yard field goal by Shayne Graham as time expired in the first half.
Contact Marc Narducci at mnarducci@phillynews.com. Follow
Source : philly[dot]com
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