The New York Jets like to believe they can do whatever they want
when they want on the field.
But don’t tell that to the Raiders, who received a big play from
rookie cornerback Chimdi Chekwa to turn the momentum in their
home-opening 34-24 victory Sunday.
By Jason Jones – McClatchy Newspapers
OAKLAND, Calif – The New York Jets like to believe they can do whatever they want when they want on the field.
But don’t tell that to the Raiders, who received a big play from rookie cornerback Chimdi Chekwa to turn the momentum in their home-opening 34-24 victory Sunday.
With the score 17-17 in the third quarter, the Jets faced a fourth and two at the Oakland 37-yard line. It wasn’t too surprising that New York went for it rather than try a long field goal or pin the Raiders deep with a punt.
The Jets had a matchup they liked: 6-foot-5, 232-pound wide receiver Plaxico Burress against the 6-foot, 190-pound Chekwa.
Mark Sanchez dropped back and quickly fired a pass to his left in Burress’ direction. But Chekwa thwarted the gamble by knocking the ball down.
“I expected them to come backside to Plax,” Chekwa said. “Plax, he runs slants, and he also runs fades. You’ve got to be prepared for both of them. He ran a good route, so I just came underneath it and tried to make a good play.”
The Raiders scored the go-ahead touchdown four plays later on rookie Denarius Moore’s 23-yard reverse.
Oakland (2-1) overcame key injuries to its secondary. Rookie cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke was inactive because of a knee injury, and safety Michael Huff (concussion) and cornerback Chris Johnson (groin) had to leave the game.
So the Raiders turned on the likes of Chekwa and second-year cornerback Joe Porter along with a career-best rushing day from Darren McFadden to erase a 17-7 first-half deficit.
The Raiders took control when their decimated defense stepped up in the second half, one week after it couldn’t stop Buffalo after halftime and blew an 18-point lead.
Oakland defensive tackle Tommy Kelly wasn’t surprised that New York didn’t play it safe in the third quarter.
“No, that’s (Jets coach) Rex Ryan,” Kelly said. “That’s just how he does his thing. That’s the personality of their team. They want to enforce their presence on you. It ain’t nothing. We’ve just got to make the stop and get off the field.”
After failing to stop Buffalo, which scored a touchdown on all five of its second-half possessions, the Raiders overwhelmed the Jets after halftime. Oakland sacked Sanchez four times in the second half while its running game took over.
The Raiders rushed for 234 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. McFadden led the way with 171 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think he’s one of the best players in football,” Oakland coach Hue Jackson said of McFadden, “and he demonstrated that (Sunday).”
McFadden’s performance included a career-best 70-yard touchdown run that cut New York’s lead to 17-14 in the second quarter.
After fumbling last week to help set up a Buffalo touchdown, McFadden helped the Raiders accomplish what they couldn’t against the Bills.
“We felt like last week we didn’t finish,” McFadden said. “We had it, but we didn’t finish, and that’s something we talked about this week in practice, and we were able to finish today.”
How Oakland would finish was in question considering the injuries.
The Raiders had coverage problems in their first two games. On Sunday they relied on their fourth and fifth cornerbacks after losing Huff, who also plays cornerback in the nickel package.
Chekwa, who was injured for part of training camp and spent part of the preseason playing safety, said stepping in was no big deal.
“We have backups, and we have situations where the backups go down, and we just switch positions,” Chekwa said. “We do it at practice to get ready for it. Sometimes (assistant defensive backs coach Kevin Ross) says, ‘You’re the emergency safety.’ So we’re ready for whatever situation presents (itself), so we just went out there and played.”
