Jets will be on the run vs. Chargers

Published in the Asbury Park Press 1/05/05
By STEPHEN EDELSON
STAFF WRITER
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- As the Jets were waiting for their charter flight to depart from St. Louis on Sunday night, Curtis Martin and his offensive linemen turned their attention to the Seattle-Atlanta game.

Martin, who was neck-and-neck with the Seahawks' Shaun Alexander in the race for the NFL rushing title, was on the phone with his mother, who was struggling to explain what was transpiring in the final minute. Center Kevin Mawae was continually checking the game statistics with his cell phone. Finally, the Falcons ran the clock out and Martin's 1,697 yards were one more than Alexander, making him, at 31, the oldest to accomplish the feat.

"This is special. There is no other way for me to put it," Martin said. "I feel good about this. I think this is probably the individual accomplishment in my career that I'm most proud of. I've carried the ball over 3,000 times and to be competing with these guys who are 21 and 22, 23, 24, not only to be competitive, but to be at the top of it, to me it's a commitment of hard work and having good people around me."

Having been a part of Martin's climb through history this season -- he now ranks fourth on the all-time rushing list -- seems to have energized the offense, helping to lift everyone's spirits in the wake of two straight losses as they head into the playoffs.

"I've played with some great backs in my career, but now I can say I was part of a group that helped pave the way for a rushing title," Jets guard Pete Kendall noted. "It's another reason why I think we have a pretty good chance."

Indeed, if the Jets, whose 149.2 yards-per-game on the ground was the third highest total in the league, are to succeed in Saturday's wildcard playoff game in San Diego, Martin must continue to lead the way. He produced 119 yards on 32 carries in the Jets' win in San Diego in Week 2.

"Every time you possess the ball offensively, especially in the playoff games, you want to try to change the field position," Jets coach Herman Edwards said. "So rushing is always big in the playoffs. You always see guys that can run in the playoffs . . . you don't want to turn the ball over. And if you can run the ball, that gives you the ability to throw."

Defensively, the Chargers employ a 3-4 alignment under coordinator Wade Phillips. They were struggling to find themselves early in the season, but have been particularly tough against the run in the second half, limiting Indianapolis' Edgerrin James to just 86 yards two weeks ago.
"What we've been able to do is get a far better understanding of the subtleties and nuances of what we're trying to do," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "I've always said if you put a new system in you've got to play on a minimum of eight weeks of real, live competition to be able to effectively evaluate whether you're making progress. I think the one thing we can say with certainty is that we have improved."

The Jets, on the other hand, haven't had great success against some of the league's better run defenses in recent weeks. The Patriots, who also play a 3-4, limited Martin to a season-low 33 yards, while the Steelers, another 3-4 team, held Martin to 72 yards.

Jets notes

QB Chad Pennington tried to downplay the effect his throwing shoulder, which will likely require off-season surgery on the rotator cuff that caused him to miss three games, has had on his performance. "I feel like I can play at a high level no matter what my physical condition is," he said, "and I feel good and I feel confident in what we've done in rehab and what the medical staff has done with me, and anything that's happened on the field with me in the last five games has nothing to do with me physically. It's more mental. Making the right mental decisions, taking care of the football and putting my team in a successful position." . . . S Jon McGraw, who did a good job containing Chargers TE Antonio Gates earlier this season, is expected to draw the same assignment on Saturday. Gates, however, has a lot more confidence now, having caught 13 touchdown passes and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. "Getting your hands on him at the line of scrimmage is important," McGraw noted. "It's important with all receivers, disrupting that timing so they can't get right on top of you and dictate where they want to go, what kind of moves they want to make. The thing with Gates is he's such a tremendous athlete that he can go up and get it." . . . DE John Abraham (knee) and WR Wayne Chrebet (concussion) are listed as probable on the injury report. . . . On the difference between the situation the Jets will walk into in San Diego this weekend compared to the one they faced four months ago, Edwards noted: "When we played them, they couldn't sell enough tickets so the game was blacked out. Now it's sold out. The last time they were in the playoffs was 10 years ago, so they're excited."