Yesterday I pointed out that the Jets' playoff hopes could be determined over the next four weeks. With games against the Raiders, Chiefs, Bills and Rams, a 6-3 record seemed imminently attainable for New York. And it still is, but the now three-win, three-loss Jets will have to go on a three-game winning streak after losing in overtime to the Raiders this afternoon.
Sunday in Oakland, the score was tied 3-3 at half, and the first touchdown didn't come until midway through the third quarter when JaMarcus Russell found Javon Walker for an eight-yard touchdown pass and a 10-3 Raiders lead. Jets running back Leon Washington would even the score a quarter later, on an 11-yard run, but Oakland would take a 13-10 lead with 2:56 to go in regulation.
Favre would throw his second interception of the game three plays later, but the Raiders would go three-and-out, taking only 31 seconds off the clock. New York would then use 81 of the remaining 84 seconds to run 10 plays, drive 61 yards, and leave Jay Feely with a 52-yard field goal attempt to send the game to overtime. The snap and hold were good, but Feely would hit the crossbar with the kick. Too bad Raiders interim head coach Tom Cable called timeout, presumably in an effort to freeze Feely. Unsurprisingly, he would stripe the re-kick.
During extra time, both teams sputtered, and when it looked like a tie was a real possibility 11 minutes in, Russell hit Walker and Zach Miller on 16 and 27-yard pass plays, which eventually set up a Sebastian Janikowski 57-yarder to win it. It never should have come to that, and now the Jets are two games behind the Bills in the AFC East, and more importantly, they must find a way to put this Raiders loss behind them.
