SCORING

FINAL	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
N.Y. Jets	7	6	8	10	31
Detroit	0	7	7	0	14

Scoring
1st Quarter
NYJ	TD	SANTANA MOSS 10 YD PASS FROM CHAD PENNINGTON (JOHN HALL KICK), 9:43 Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards in 6:16 Key Plays:   M. Jones interception in the end zone   Pennington 11-yard pass to Coles on 3rd-and-7 to New York 34   Pennington 6-yard pass to Coles on 3rd-and-2 to New York 48 NY JETS 7-0
2nd Quarter
NYJ	TD	WAYNE CHREBET 15 YD PASS FROM CHAD PENNINGTON (PAT BLOCKED), 0:47 Drive: 7 plays, 77 yards in 4:47 Key Plays:   Martin 9-yard run to New York 38   Martin 25-yard run to Detroit 47   Pennington 14-yard pass to Coles to Detroit 33 NY JETS 13-0
DET	TD	BILL SCHROEDER 37 YD PASS FROM JOEY HARRINGTON (JASON HANSON KICK), 4:06 Drive: 6 plays, 78 yards in 3:19 Key Plays:   Stewart 15-yard run to Detroit 37 NY JETS 13-7
3rd Quarter
DET	TD	BILL SCHROEDER 7 YD PASS FROM JOEY HARRINGTON (JASON HANSON KICK), 7:49 Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 4:32 Key Plays:   Stewart 9-yard run to Detroit 29   15-yard roughing the passer penalty on Jets' Darling on 3rd-and-14 to Detroit 49 DETROIT 14-13
NYJ	TD	WAYNE CHREBET 4 YD PASS FROM CHAD PENNINGTON (CHAD PENNINGTON PASS TO LAVERANUES COLES FOR TWO-POINT CONVERSION), 14:23 Drive: 12 plays, 66 yards in 6:34 Key Plays:   Pennington 16-yard pass to Coles on 3rd-and-8 to Detroit 48   Pennington 10-yard pass to Jordan to Detroit 38   Pennington 21-yard pass to Coles to Detroit 15 NY JETS 21-14
4th Quarter
NYJ	FG	JOHN HALL 22 YD, 3:47 Drive: 7 plays, 43 yards in 3:32 Key Plays:   Pennington 23-yard pass to Chrebet to Detroit 24 NY JETS 24-14
NYJ	TD	ANTHONY BECHT 1 YD PASS FROM CHAD PENNINGTON (JOHN HALL KICK), 11:34 Drive: 10 plays, 77 yards in 6:26 Key Plays:   Pennington 31-yard pass to Coles to Detroit 44   Pennington 19-yard pass to Martin on 3rd-and-4 to Detroit 19 NY JETS 31-14

Statistics

Passing
N.Y. Jets Att Cmp Yds Td Int Pennington, Chad 26 21 229 4 1	Detroit Att Cmp Yds Td Int Harrington, Joey 30 15 171 2 1

Rushing
N.Y. Jets Att Yds Martin, Curtis 22 112 Jordan, LaMont 11 63 Moss, Santana 1 13 Pennington, Chad 5 1	Detroit Att Yds Stewart, James 16 93 Schlesinger, Cory 2 11 Cason, Aveion 2 4

Receiving
N.Y. Jets Rec Yds Coles, Laveranues 7 114 Chrebet, Wayne 4 46 Martin, Curtis 4 28 Moss, Santana 2 15 Jordan, LaMont 1 10 Anderson, Richie 1 8 Becht, Anthony 2 8	Detroit Rec Yds Schroeder, Bill 3 57 Schlesinger, Cory 2 43 Cason, Aveion 2 17 Ricks, Mikhael 2 17 Crowell, Germane 3 15 Hakim, Az-Zahir 1 14 Stewart, James 2 8

Tackles-Assists-Sacks (unofficial)
N.Y. Jets T A S Garnes, Sam 5 0 0 Jones, Marvin 4 3 0 Cowart, Sam 4 1 0 Abraham, John 4 0 0 Mickens, Ray 2 0 0 Robinson, Damien 2 0 0 Beasley, Aaron 2 0 0 Ellis, Shaun 2 0 0 Lewis, Mo 2 1 0 Evans, Josh 1 1 0 Reed, James 1 0 0 McGraw, Jon 1 0 0	Detroit T A S Lyght, Todd 7 0 0 Harris, Corey 5 3 0 Claiborne, Chris 5 1 1 Green, Barrett 5 3 0 Davis, Eric 4 1 0 Curry, Donte' 3 3 0 Rogers, Shaun 3 3 0 Elliss, Luther 2 0 0 Cash, Chris 2 1 0 Edwards, Kalimba 2 1 0 Pritchett, Kelvin 2 1 0 Gooch, Jeff 1 1 0 Goodman, Andre 1 1 0 Walker, Bracy 1 1 0 Hall, James 0 2 0 Porcher, Robert 0 2 0

Interceptions
N.Y. Jets INT Yards Jones, Marvin 1 0	Detroit INT Yards Lyght, Todd 1 0

Officials

Referee- Johnny Grier, Umpire- Carl Paganelli, Head linesman- James Wilson, Line judge- Jeff Bergman, Field judge- Eddy Powers, Side judge- Larry Rose, Back judge- Scott Green

Attendance - Time

61,720; 2:54

Team Statistics	N.Y. Jets	Detroit
First downs	26	13
Rushing	9	4
Passing	16	6
Penalty	1	3
3rd-Down Efficiency	8-11	4-12
4th-Down Efficiency	0-0	0-2
Total Net Yards	408	279
Total Plays	66	50
Average Gains	6.2	5.6
Net Yards Rushing	189	108
Rushes	39	20
Average Per Rush	4.8	5.4
Net Yards Passing	219	171
Completed-Attempted	21-26	15-30
Yards Per Pass	8.4	5.7
Sacked-Yards Lost	1-10	0-0
Had Intercepted	1	1
Punts-Average	2-45	4-40.8
Return Yardage	26	0
Punts-Returns	1-13	1-0
Kickoffs-Returns	3-74	6-160
Interceptions-Returns	1-13	1-0
Penalties-Yards	4-45	5-47
Fumbles-Lost	0-0	0-0
Time Of Possession	38:44	21:16

News: 11/18/02

The focus of the remainder of the Lions' season hinged on Sunday's game against the New York Jets.
   A victory over a quality team, and coming in you could have labeled the Jets as such, would have given people a reason to believe there has indeed been improvement with this team that won twice a season ago.
   A loss, especially after last Sunday's embarrassment in Green Bay, and the thought would have been where is this team going, if anywhere. And, more important, have President Matt Millen and Coach Marty Mornhinweg done enough to warrant sticking around after the season?
   From here on, the focus should be on the latter. A 31-14 loss to the Jets at Ford Field not only proved that the Lions aren't ready to turn the corner en route to becoming respectable, it also exposed them.
   For sure, there's no further reason for optimism.
   "It seems like we get to that point where maybe we can make a move and turn the corner, but we're never able to go over the hump," Lions cornerback Todd Lyght said. "We're never able to put games back to back. That's the mark of a good team."
   To say the least, M & M's tenure has been a huge disappointment. When they arrived, many had faith that they would be able to turn around this underachieving franchise by now.
   Although they entered the game with three straight home victories, the Lions' overall numbers are horrible. They are 5-21, including 13 straight losses on the road.
   Worse, in two years, the Lions have had just one quality victory -- over the New Orleans Saints, 26-21, at home in Week 4. Other than that, they have managed victories only against hapless Minnesota, woeful Chicago and dreadful Dallas twice.
   The Lions had a chance here to defeat a team on the move. The Jets blew out the Chargers two weeks ago in San Diego and won a huge game at home last Sunday night against the Dolphins to get back into the playoff picture.
   "This could have said something, definitely," Lyght said. "The Jets have been playing a lot better the last couple weeks and coming on strong.
   "For us to drop the game the way we did is very discouraging."
   It's only fitting that the Lions and Jets met when it came time to take a long look at the Lions' progress.
   The Lions and Jets were 9-7 and out of the playoffs in 2000. Both hired new coaches after that season. In fact, Jets Coach Herman Edwards was supposed to come here for an interview. But Millen decided on Mornhinweg and Edwards made it here.
   These teams were just about at the same point two years ago. Since then, however, the Jets have excelled and the Lions have been terrible.
   In Edwards' first season, the Jets were 10-6, including a 7-1 record on the road, and made the playoffs. With their victory Sunday, the Jets (5-5) have won three in a row and are in the thick of the playoff race.
   "We both came in here with things on the line," Lions' linebacker Barrett Green said. "And I thought we had the advantage being at home.
   "We didn't get it done. That's the most disappointing thing."
   It's impossible to look at the Jets and not be green with envy. The Lions are simply green and still not ready for prime time.

RECAP:

The New York Jets are beginning to emerge from the huge hole they dug for themselves.

Chad Pennington threw a career-high four touchdowns -- two to Wayne Chrebet -- as the Jets scored the last 18 points to beat the Detroit Lions 31-14.

The Jets (5-5) have won three straight and four of five to save their season after a 1-4 start.

"The big thing about a month ago was to get back to .500 as soon as possible, and hopefully we would have enough games left to make a run for the playoffs," Chrebet said. "We did it pretty quickly. This is a big win for us. Everybody thought this was a trap game coming in here against a team with a losing record."

The Lions (3-7) had won three in a row at Ford Field and four straight against the Jets.

Since 1997, the Jets have won an NFL-best 27 games on the road and are 9-3 as visitors under coach Herman Edwards, who does not want his team to be content with its turnaround.

"We are really fortunate and we know that," Edwards said. "We dug ourselves a deep, deep hole, and we can't make the mistake of thinking we are out of it. We've given ourselves a chance, but it doesn't matter unless we keep playing like this."

New York led 13-0 after its first two possessions but fell behind 14-13 midway through the third quarter after Joey Harrington threw TD passes of 37 and 7 yards to Bill Schroeder.

The Jets went ahead for good late in the third quarter on Pennington's second TD pass to Chrebet, on third down from the 4. The play capped a 66-yard, 12-play drive after New York gained just 45 yards on its previous four possessions.

Laveranues Coles, completely uncovered, caught the 2-point conversion to give New York a 21-14 lead.

Jets QB Chad Pennington completed 21 of 26 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns.

"It was crucial for our offense to take control of the game and to really put the stamp on it," Pennington said.

John Hall's 22-yard kick on the Jets' next possession made it 24-14, and a 1-yard TD pass to Anthony Becht made it a blowout.

"Defensively, we didn't play good," said Detroit's Todd Lyght, who had an interception. "First down, third down, it didn't matter. We were inconsistent, and we weren't able to get off the field."

The Lions lost seven yards -- including penalties -- on three possessions after taking the lead.

The Jets have given up just 13.6 points a game over their last five.

Pennington, a third-year pro, outshined the rookie Harrington in a duel of promising young quarterbacks.

Pennington was 21 of 26 for 229 yards with one interception. Harrington was 15 of 30 for 171 yards with two TDs and one interception.

"He struggled a little bit," Detroit coach Marty Mornhinweg said.

Coles caught seven passes for 114 yards and Curtis Martin ran for 112 yards on 22 carries.

James Stewart ran for 93 yards -- but just 8 in the second half -- against the Jets after they had limited running backs to 60 yards or less in the previous four games. Schroeder caught three passes for 57 yards and two TDs after being sharply criticized for his play.

Detroit drove to the Jets 4 on the opening possession, but linebacker Marvin Jones ended the drive with a diving interception in the end zone.

Pennington then directed a 12-play, 80-yard drive over 6:16 that ended with a 10-yard TD pass to Santana Moss in the back corner of the end zone.

On the Jets' next possession, Pennington made a 15-yard TD pass to Chrebet. James Hall blocked the extra point.

Detroit cut its deficit to 13-7 on the ensuing possession.

Harrington found Schroeder open on a crossing route and he used his speed to run across the field untouched for a 37-yard TD early in the second quarter.

The Lions took advantage of a big break to take a 14-13 lead in the third quarter.

Linebacker James Darling was flagged for roughing the passer, which negated an interception and gave the Lions a first down. Harrington connected with Schroeder in the end zone on third-and-goal from the 7.

Scott's Game Commentary:

The New York Jets and our honolulu blue and silver had somthing in common: they both started over with new regimes after the 2000 season. While the Jets have been to the playoffs and are on track for another post season berth, the Lions took another step closer to the NFC North cellar. Yet again, the Defense reverted back to how they were playing in the first two games of the season. They have given up 71 points in the past two games. For the 2nd straight game, the Offense could only produce 14 points. Joey Harrington, for the 4th consecutive game, struggled and has really fallen back to earth after a great start to his rookie career. After Hakim left the game early with a season ending hip injury in the 1st quarter, Bill Schoeder, who had his worst game of his career last week, came up with two touchdown catches, the 2nd one giving the Lions their only lead of the game at 14-13 midway through the 3rd quarter. But, the offense sputtered from that point on, like it has done in almost every game in the 2nd half this year. The Defense gave up 18 straight points and the Lions find themselves at 3-7 heading into next weeks game against the Bears for last place in the division.

Grades:

Offense: --- D. The Offense for the 4th straight game struggled to get any long drives going. In the past six games, they have scored only two touchdowns, which is one big reason they are 3-7. Joey Harrington, once again, looked like a rookie as he struggled most of the game. Although he had only one interception, it came on third and goal on the 1st drive of the game. Many of his passes were off target and he couldn't make the big play on third down, like he did in the first couple of games he started. It was nice to see Schroeder bounce back from that debacle last week in Green Bay. But, he has to produce week in and week out if we wants to remain with the Lions after this year. James Stewart had a one big run (like he does every week) but didn't do much after that. Until the offense learns to have sustained drives and pick up 3rd downs, they will continue to struggle and be what they are: one of the worst offenses in the NFL.

Defense: --- F. What happened to that great performance they gave us against Dallas? For the 2nd straight game, they could not stop the opposing teams runner and have given up over 900 yards and 71 points. After the Offense scored a rare 3rd quarter touchdown, the Defense responds by giving up 18 straight points on the next three drives! It is quite obvious the Lions have the worst secondary in football. One has to wonder what Millen was thinking that Lyght and Davis would be able to get the job done given they are both past their prime. Shaun Rogers continues to struggle coming back from his hand injury and is a shell of what he was last year. Luther Elliss continues to be non existant as ever, except when he waves his hands to get the crowd into game. All in all, a pitiful performance by the "D".

Special Teams: --- C. Although James Hall blocked an extra point, the Jets got a two point conversion when the Lions forgot to cover one of the Jets receivers. Jett had some good punts and the Drummond did a fairly decent job returning punts and kicks.

Coaching: --- D. Mornhinweg admitted after the game that he should of called a time out when the Lions botched the coverage on the 2 point conversion. Marty onloy came up with excuses after asked why his team keeps on faltering in the 2nd half. James Stewart only carried the ball 16 times, why not run the ball a little more Mr. Mornhinweg?

Overall: --- F. The Lions had a chance to move their home record to 4-1, but instead saw their overall record fall to 3-7. It is becoming quite clear that the Lions just don't have the talent other teams have to compete every week. They will get lucky once in a while (New Orleans), but for the most part will struggle every week. If Mornhinweg ever wants to get a road victory this year, next weeks game against the Bears will be his best shot. A loss to the Bears and the Lions will find themselves in last place at 3-8 heading back to Ford Field to play the Super Bowl Champions on Thanksgiving.

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