Jay Feely and a stingy New York defense answering the call, the Jets
didn't need a lot from Kellen Clemens to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
for their third straight win.
Jones rushed for 99 yards and two
touchdowns, Feely kicked four field goals, and the NFL's second-ranked
defense intercepted rookie Josh Freeman three times while holding the
sputtering Bucs to 135 yards in a 26-3 victory Sunday.
Filling in for injured rookie
quarterback Mark Sanchez, Clemens completed 12 of 23 passes for just
111 yards. Receiver Brad Smith had the Jets' longest completion of the
day — 27 yards — when he threw to Eric Smith on a fake punt play.
The Jets (7-6) climbed over .500 for
the first time since beating Oakland to improve to 4-3 on Oct. 25. The
Bucs (1-12) lost for the third straight week to a backup quarterback,
with Freeman continuing to experience the growing pains of a young
passer.
Freeman was intercepted five times
during a 16-6 loss to Carolina last week. He was 14-of-33 for 93 yards
and was sacked three times by the Jets, who got interceptions from David
Harris, Darrelle Revis and Kerry Rhodes.
Revis returned his fourth-quarter
pick 54 yards to the Bucs 7, setting up Jones' second TD on the next
play. Jones also scored on a 33-yard run that put New York up 16-0 in
the second quarter.
Feely kicked first-half field goals of 40, 24, 49 and 49 yards.
Tampa Bay finished with 135 yards
total offense, all but 15 of it coming after halftime. The Bucs didn't
manage a first down until the middle of the third quarter, and that
came on a penalty.
The Jets led 19-0 at the break, and the Bucs were fortunate to be that close.
Sione Pouha forced a fumble that New
York's defense was unable to recover inside Tampa Bay's 10 late in the
first quarter, and Clemens overthrew a wide-open Jerricho Cotchery in
the end zone before settling for the shortest of Feely's field goals.
When Freeman kneeled to end the
first half, drawing boos from the announced crowd of 62,731 that
included a large number of Jets fans, it left the Bucs with minus-1 net
yards in the second quarter.
Tampa Bay was limited to 19 yards
during the opening half of a 24-0 loss to the New York Giants on Sept.
27. And even when Freeman was given better field position to work with
in the third quarter, he had difficulty getting anything going against
the league's No. 1-ranked pass defense.
The Bucs had zero first downs until
New York's Bart Scott was penalized for unnecessary roughness after the
Jets sacked Freeman on third down to stop a possession at the Tampa Bay
41. Earnest Graham's 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 gave Tampa Bay a first
down at the Jets 30, setting up Connor Barth's 43-yard field goal.
Sanchez sprained the posterior
cruciate ligament in his right knee against Buffalo in the Jets' last
game. Clemens played extensively for the first time since 2007, when he
made the first eight starts of his career.