FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Season opener or Super Bowl, every game is a big game to Bill Belichick.

There were several reasons New York Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan was looking forward to Sunday night’s showdown against his old defense on Sunday night.

First, it was Ryan’s first visit back to the place where he made a name for himself as a coordinator while building one of the NFL’s most feared defenses.

Second, Ryan wanted to pay back his former team for locking down his new team during the Baltimore Ravens’ 10-9 victory over the Jets’ in the teams’ season opener at the Meadowlands last year.

And, finally, after starting this season with a pair of home victories before losing in Oakland last week, and with a divisional showdown looming with New England next week, the Jets simply needed a win.

But, in an unconventional, record-setting game, Ryan’s offense couldn’t do much against his old team for a second straight year, during a 34-17 loss at M& T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

While the Jets got two returns for touchdowns and held the Ravens’ offense to just 13 points, 16 first downs, and only 267 total yards, New York’s offense was even more anemic in a game that featured seven turnovers and an NFL record five touchdown returns.

Last year, the Ravens (3-1) held the Jets (2-2) to just six first downs and 176 total yards.

This year, Baltimore was only slightly more generous in allowing eight first downs, but the Ravens were even stingier than a year ago when it came to yardage allowed, giving up just 150 total yards.

Baltimore came after New York quarterback Mark Sanchez (11-35, 119 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks) early and often.

On the Jets’ first play from scrimmage, Sanchez was hit by veteran pro bowl safety Ed Reed and fumbled. Linebacker Jameel McClain returned the loose ball six yards to give Baltimore a 7-0 lead 3:02 into the game.

Kick returner Joe McKinght however, took the ensuing kickoff back 107 yards to tie the game, 7-7.

The Ravens responded on their next possession, going 70 yards on nine plays for a 38-yard field goal by kicker Billy Cundiff, to take a 10-7 lead with 6:27 left in the opening quarter.

A Jets’ three-and-out on New York’s next drive, led to an eight-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by running back Ray Rice (25 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches, 64 yards), to give Baltimore a 17-7 lead with 1:14 left in the period.

In a game that saw over 50 points being scored, that was surprisingly the only touchdown scored from scrimmage.

Sanchez fumbled in New York territory on the Jets’ next possession, leading to another 38-yard field goal by Cundiff, which pushed Baltimore’s lead to 20-7 with 13:19 left in the first half.

The teams then traded punts before Sanchez fumbled again after another hit, as defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (a 2006 first-round pick by the Ravens) sacked the Jets’ battered quarterback, allowing linebacker Jarrett Johnson to race 26 yards with a fumble return that extended Baltimore lead to 27-7, with 8:11 left in the half.

While the Jets’ offense couldn’t score, their defense decided to put some points on the board instead.

Three plays after another New York three-and-out, Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco (10-31, 163 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks) was intercepted by linebacker David Harris, who returned the ball 35 yards for his first career score to trim Baltimore’s advantage to 27-14, with 6:17 remaining before halftime.

The Jets then forced a Ravens’ three-and-out before New York finally mounted its first scoring drive, going 25 yards on seven plays for a 40-yard field goal by kicker Nick Folk that drew the Jets to within 27-17, with 2:14 left in the half.

Neither team could move the ball much in the second half, as the only scoring of the half came on a 73-yard interception return by cornerback Lardarius Webb off of a Sanchez pass, with 8:49 left in the third quarter.

New York is in the midst of its first three-game road swing since 1982. Although they’ve had a lot of road playoff success each of the past two years, judging by the way the past two weeks have gone, if the Jets don’t turn things around at New England (3-1) next Sunday at 4:15 pm ET, they might hope for at least another 29 years before having to play three straight regular season road games again.

Once the current road stretch is done, the Jets will finally return to play at home (against Miami and San Diego) for two straight weeks before their bye week.

After basically single-handedly blowing his own team's season opener against the New York Jets with an unfortunate red zone fumble and a very ill-advised last-second interception, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had to spend a week listening to the … Continue reading →

The MetLife stadium was near capacity for the 9/11 New York Jets season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. Security was heightened due to the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Even with all the precautions taken, a South Carolina man entered...

According to a Yahoo! Sports report, Tony Romo's teammates were fully behind him following his late-game collapse in the Cowboys' season opener Sept. 11 against the New York Jets. "At this point I don't really care about what the fans say about him on the outside...

Prior to the Eagles season opener on September 11 against the St Louis Rams, there were a lot of questions about how happy DeSean Jackson was. Jackson had a brief holdout from training camp and is clearly unhappy over his current deal.

With heavy hearts, thousands of New York Jet fans filled Met Life Stadium on Sunday night for their team’s 2011 season opener while millions more in the New York area watched on national television.

For all of them, the game was a temporary distraction from an otherwise difficult day during which Jet fans, New Yorkers, and Americans across the United States shared in recognizing the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.

While Patriot Day ceremonies were conducted in every NFL stadium that hosted a game on Sunday, perhaps the feelings among NFL fans were felt the strongest in the Jets’ home stadium with New York’s World Trade Center enduring the brunt of the horrific attacks a decade ago.

Appropriately, as if mimicking New Yorkers’ resiliency In the face of extreme adversity, the Jets (1-0) properly represented their city by overcoming tremendous odds to score the final 17 points – all in the final quarter – and win a thriller, 27-24, over fittingly, the Dallas Cowboys (who many still think of as America’s Team).

For the most part, the Cowboys (0-1) clearly outplayed the Jets, and Dallas took the largest lead of the game (24-10) early in the fourth quarter.

Given the history in such situations – Dallas had never lost (242-0-1) when leading in the fourth quarter by at least 14 points – the Jets appeared to facing an insurmountable situation.

That is, until Dallas quarterback Tony Romo (23-36, 342 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 1 lost fumble, 4 sacks) did what he’s often done in his NFL career – he played well, putting his team in a position to win, only to commit some costly fourth-quarter turnovers and cost his team the game.

Long before that however, things were going smoothly for Romo and the Cowboys.

Dallas took the opening kickoff and went 69 yards on nine plays to grab a 7-0 lead just 4:33 into the game on a three-yard touchdown pass from Romo to wide receiver Dez Bryant (3 catches, 71 yards).

The next seven possessions then resulted in punts (four by the Jets and three by the Cowboys) before Dallas went 47 yards on ten plays to increase its lead to 10-0 on a 34-yard field goal by Dan Bailey with 3:16 left in the opening half.

New York finally responded with a nine-play, 87-yard drive to trim Dallas’ lead to 10-7 on a four-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mark Sanchez (26-44, 335 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 4 sacks) to tight end Dustin Keller (5 catches, 61 yards) just 37 seconds before halftime.

Keller was one of seven players with over 60 yards receiving. Wide receivers Plaxico Burress (4 catches, 72 yards) and Santonio Holmes 6 catches, 70 yards) complimented a team-high 73 receiving yards (on 6 catches) from running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

Meanwhile, in addition to Bryant’s production, tight end Jason Whitten led Dallas with 6 catches and 110 yards while wide receiver Miles Austin added four catches for 83 yards.

Just as they did to start the game, the Cowboys similarly scored on their possession after halftime, going 73 yards on eight plays to lead 17-7 on a 36-yard touchdown pass which Austin held onto along with cornerback Antonio Cromartie in the end zone with 8:05 left in the third quarter (the tie went to Austin and the offense).

Former Dallas draft pick, kicker Nick Folk, then capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive and pulled the Jets to within 17-10 on a 34-yard field goal with 4:01 left in the period.

But, Dallas linebacker Sean Lee (who had a monster game with a game-high 11 tackles and a key interception), picked Sanchez off at the Jets’ 38-yard line and returned the ball to the New York 1-yard line.

That set up a one-yard touchdown run by running back Felix Jones (17 carries, game-high 44 yards, 1 TD, 1  fumble) which gave the Cowboys a commanding 24-10 lead with 14:50 left in the game.

The Jets answered on the next drive though, going 84 yards in seven plays, trimming the Cowboys’ lead to 24-17 on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to Burress with 11:56 remaining.

Three plays later however, the Jets let Jason Whitten roam free on a 64-yard gain to the New York 3-yard line.

The Jets appeared to be in trouble, but when shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis jammed Bryant in the end zone on 3rd-and-2 from the New York 2-yard line, Romo was forced to scramble. He tried to score up the middle but he lost the ball a split-second before his right knee hit the ground.

It was another costly late-game turnover, the type of which has plagued Romo many times. And, the worst with that was yet to come.

The Jets advanced the ball near midfield, but Sanchez fumbled when he was sacked by safety Danny McCray on a blitz.

The Cowboys took over at the Jets’ 47-yard line, but Jones lost two yards on a first-down carry and Romo threw a pair of incompletions.

That led to a game changer that continued New York’s remarkable comeback when Joe McKnight made a great diving bock with his right hand on a fourth-down punt by punter Mat McBriar.

Undrafted second-year player Isaiah Trufant (from FCS program Eastern Washington) scooped up the loose ball and scampered 18 yards, untouched, to tie the game, 24-24, with five minutes left.

The teams then traded punts, and the Cowboys seemed to be in decent shape to produce a game-winning field goal drive, taking over at their own 41-yard line with 59 seconds and one time out remaining.

On the next play though, Romo, instead of throwing the ball away, tried to force an ill-advised pass to Bryant, who was blanketed closely by Revis.

Too easy for an average cornerback, and for a talent Revis, it was a practically an automatic interception, which was brought back 20 yards to the Dallas 34-yard line.

The Jets could only move two yards closer, but that was enough for Folk to beat his former team on a 50-yard field goal inside the right upright with just 27 seconds left.

Like they have many times over the past two seasons, the Jets walked a fine line and came out on the right side between success and failure.

New York (9-7 two years ago and 11-5 last year, while reaching the AFC title game each of the past two years) could have easily been a mediocre 8-8 and missed the playoffs each of those two years if not for some lucky breaks and pulling out games the way they did on Sunday night.

Yet, once again, the Jets somehow found a way. And, on an emotional night, it was an especially satisfying gut-check win for millions of New York-area Jet fans.

Acknowledging the energy his team received from Jet fans on a special evening, head coach Rex Ryan said, “We fed off our fans. There is no doubt. Nobody left, they hung in with us the entire time. And, this win is for our community. We all felt it. And, we kept hanging in there, believing we could get it done, and that’s exactly what we did.”

During a more normal week, the Jets will try to do the same for their fans at home against Jacksonville (1-0) next Sunday at 1 pm ET.

By Jerry Beach EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard field goal with 27 seconds left to cap a stunning comeback by the New York Jets, who scored 17 unanswered fourth-quarter points to edge the Dallas Cowboys 27-24 in the season opener for both teams at sold-out...

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman and tight end Martellus Bennett were listed as inactive, as expected, for the season opener against the New York Jets. Newman injured his groin early in training camp, while Bennett will miss the game Sunday night with an ankle injury. Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins (knee) and rookie right tackle Tyron Smith (knee) are both active after being listed as...

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman and tight end Martellus Bennett were listed as inactive, as expected, for the season opener against the New York Jets.