Shoeless Brad goads Jets to victory

It all added up to a 26-10 Jets victory over the Bengals last night at New Meadowlands Stadium, some eight hours after the Patriots took care of their business in Detroit.
HUGGING IT OUT: Jets coach Rex Ryan hugs Brad Smith, who had a 53-yard touchdown run and returned a kickoff 89-yards for a score in last night's 26-10 win over the Bengals.
Paul J. Bereswill
HUGGING IT OUT: Jets coach Rex Ryan hugs Brad Smith, who had a 53-yard touchdown run and returned a kickoff 89-yards for a score in last night's 26-10 win over the Bengals.

The end result of a compelling day of Thanksgiving football: The stage is now set for the 9-2 Jets to play the 9-2 Patriots on Dec. 6 in Foxborough, Mass., for supremacy in the AFC East in perhaps the most anticipated and hyped Jets regular-season game ever.

A Jets victory over the Patriots would essentially give them a two-game division lead over their hated rivals with four games to play because it would mean they swept the season series.

Coach Rex Ryan couldn't help himself from throwing a few coals on the fire.

"They're clearly the best team in football," Ryan said of the Patriots after the Jets' win. "That's what all the experts say . . . except me."

Let the hype begin.

But first, about last night and back to Smith, the Jets forgotten-man fourth receiver.

Smith was positively brilliant, displaying in the span of a single game why he has had staying power despite never having developed into a starting receiver.

After the Jets had played a sleepy first half, he ignited a rally with a 53-yard scoring run on an end-around just 47 seconds into the second half. That gave the Jets a 10-7 lead and awoke the quiet crowd.

"The whole atmosphere in the building flipped when Brad made that run," Jets safety Jim Leonhard said. "That's what he does."

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson said he felt something like that coming when the Jets left the halftime locker room.

"We talked at halftime about how it was time to stop messing around, that we're better than this and let's get going," Tomlinson said. "We came out with a sense of urgency. I think everyone just woke up."

Smith put the game away for the Jets with a scintillating 89-yard kickoff return for a TD and a 24-10 lead with 12:18 remaining.

On the return, Smith lost his right shoe at about midfield and still outran the Bengals' pursuers the rest of the way.

Now for a reality check: Smith's stupendous performance masked what was otherwise yet another uneven performance for a team that fancies itself as a favorite to go to -- and win -- the Super Bowl.

The Jets survived yet another lackluster first half, during which their offense struggled once again in the red zone, they committed too many penalties and their kicker, Nick Folk, missed a 44-yard field goal.

The Jets had trouble putting away a 2-9 Bengals team that led 7-3 at the half but eventually lost its eighth consecutive game.

The Bengals took that lead on a 4-yard Carson Palmer scoring pass to rookie receiver Jordan Shipley, who didn't appear to be covered around the goal line. The closest Jets defender on the play was cornerback Drew Coleman, who seemed to be covering another receiver.

All week, the Jets lamented the lack of communication on defense in their fourth-quarter meltdown against the Texans last Sunday. But on Shipley's TD, the communication appeared to be shaky again.

The Bengals' go-ahead score was made possible by a terrible penalty call on Coleman for a hit on Terrell Owens. Owens never complained about the hit and the Bengals huddled up as the late flag was thrown. Had the penalty not been called, the Bengals would have had to settle for a field goal.

Making matters even more inexplicable in the first half was the fact that the Jets forced two Bengals turnovers and got only a 27-yard Folk field goal out of them.

After Smith's first touchdown and a 13-yard Mark Sanchez to Santonio Holmes scoring pass, the Jets led 17-7. The Bengals got within 17-10 on a 28-yard Aaron Pettrey field goal with 12:33 remaining in the game.

That's when Smith took the ensuing kickoff and ended the Cincinnati's hopes with one quick strike -- while wearing one shoe.