Recap: Reggie Bush Kills Clock, Jets' Hopes to Secure Lions Win

OK, quick quiz:

Reggie Bush is best known for:
A) Returning USC to its glory days during a Heisman-winning run, then dragging the storied program through the mud when it turned out he was paid only slightly less as a Trojan than head coach Pete Carroll
B) Leading essentially everyone on the planet to call out Houston Texans' management for selecting DE Mario Williams over Bush in the 2006 NFL Draft, then repeatedly shutting them all up over most of the past decade with his underwhelming play
C) Maintaining a relationship with Kim Kardashian for far more than 72 days without getting a deal for his own reality show, although he’ll surely be a prime subject of the currently-in-development ESPN 30-for-30 flick about the USC shenanigans with a working title of "And You Thought Goldman Sachs Was Shady?"
D) All of the above. Tough one, right?

In his nine years in the NFL, Bush has never been known as anything even resembling a workhorse back. Yet he was exactly that when the Detroit Lions needed him to be yesterday. After Jets RB Chris Johnson scored on a 35-yard run during which the Lions defenders were apparently all shot with tranquilizer darts from an enterprising New York fan, narrowing Detroit’s lead to 24-17, Bush carried the ball a half dozen times on the ensuing two drives to preserve a win in a game that, given the Jets seemingly endless period of offensive ineptitude, should’ve never been in doubt.

He certainly wasn’t perfect, very possibly giving the ball up at the end of one run, but the refs ruled him down, confirming the call after a Jets challenge. But, unlike the Jets, Bush did what he had to when he had to.

After a promising 6-minute plus game-opening drive that ended with their usual red zone mess, the Jets put the first points on the board Sunday at MetLife Stadium with a short Nick Folk field goal. They didn’t get another first down, though, until there were just 10 seconds left in the first half. During that drought, their best offensive performer by far was punter Ryan Quigley, who boomed one 50-plus yard kick after another.

As opposed to Bush, James Ihedigbo (yes, I pasted that in, didn’t trust myself to spell it correctly), Jeremy Ross and Darius Slay aren’t well-known for anything. Yet they made decisive plays for the Lions in a contest where the visitors were essentially without their best player, receiver Calvin Johnson, who was hobbled by a bad ankle.

Ihedigbo and Slay took advantage of Jets QB Geno Smith’s two biggest flaws: respectively, the lack of a sixth sense that alerts the elite QBs about oncoming pass rushers (resulting in a fumble) and a propensity to force throws he should never make (making for an interception by what looked like a wide-open Slay). Ross, meanwhile, made two Jets DBs -- Calvin Pryor and Antonio Allen -- look awful on a 59-yard TD reception. Without Megatron, Detroit’s Golden Tate (eight catches for 116 yards) and Eric Ebron also stepped up, exposing a Charmin-like softness in the middle of the field where they were able to exploit overmatched Jets linebackers.

But somehow, despite all that, the Jets were in the game until the last few minutes, when, after all this time, Bush not only met but exceeded expectations.

Pete Zwiebach writes about the Jets for NBCNewYork.com. Zwiebach lives in New York City with his wife and two kids, who without fail manage to block his view of the TV whenever a game-changing play occurs.  

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