Abraham finished the game with three sacks—the first came in the first quarter, knocking them out of field goal range and forcing Buffalo to punt. The second came in the second quarter with the clock winding down, forcing another punt, where the Jets steam rolled downfield, and then scored on a 37-yard Doug Brien field goal with three seconds remaining. “He (Bledsoe) was my first career sack, so playing against him is always fun,� Abraham said. “I tried to come out here today and play my best.�
Earlier this year, before training camp, I talked with Assistant Head Coach and Special Team Coach, Mike Westhoff about possibilities of the Jets going 3-0, because of their scheduled opponents: Cincinnati, San Diego, and Miami. He looked at me sternly, leaned back in his swivel chair, and said, “It’s not as easy as you think.�
Sunday’s win over Buffalo was truly indicative of Westhoff’s statement. The Jets offense looked domineering at times as quarterback Chad Pennington looked confident and assuring— yet there was imploding during inopportune times. In the second quarter with 4:20 left to half-time Pennington’s pass to Randy Moss contributed for 41 yards leaving the Jets at Buffalo’s 27 yard line. Then Pennington’s pass to Chris Baker for 15 yards was fumbled at Buffalo’s 12 yard line. “We were to relax the first half,� linebacker, John Abraham, later said. “Chad’s our leader and he’s going to get us where we need to be.�
Buffalo’s recovery faded the cheers of the 77,796 fans in attendance, but John Abraham gave them fodder for thought with a sack on Drew Bledsoe for a loss of seven yards. “John is a force, especially when we get in pass situations. We had to do something to get him more involved. He came out tonight and really played. He made a lot of good plays.�
Abraham finished the game with three sacks—the first came in the first quarter, knocking them out of field goal range and forcing Buffalo to punt. The second came in the second quarter with the clock winding down, forcing another punt, where the Jets steam rolled downfield, and then scored on a 37-yard Doug Brien field goal with three seconds remaining. “He (Bledsoe) was my first career sack, so playing against him is always fun,� Abraham said. “I tried to come out here today and play my best.�
His third sack of the day registered, was during another crucial moment when Brien kicked a 38-yard field goal to give the Jets a 16-14 lead with 58 seconds left, testing the nerves and hearts of the fans. Once again, Abraham came through, sacking Bledsoe and Buffalo’s chances.
“We’re not good enough to take anything for granted,� Coach Herm Edwards later said. “Whenever we take the field, we know its something special. We have the coaches, the players, and we just have to work.�
Work indeed, as the Jets’ next opponent is San Francisco and then the indomitable New England Patriot, who will surely be a gauge of how good the Jets really are.
