JET NOTES
CHAMPAIGN – Though the statistics don’t necessarily tell the story, Chad Pennington threw his first clunker as an NFL starter.
Sure, Pennington completed 22-of-33 passes for 207 yards and a TD, good for a 93.9 rating, but when the dormant Jets needed a spark in the first half, Pennington couldn’t answer.
“For me it’s very disappointing, because no matter what the situation, no matter the circumstances, no matter the feeling in the locker room or on the field or who we play, I expect to lead my team to victory every time I step out there,” said Pennington, who’s now 6-4 as the Jets’ starter. “I didn’t do that and that’s frustrating.
“I didn’t perform at my highest level today. I didn’t do the things necessary to put my guys in a successful position. That’s just disheartening for me. It’s hard to swallow.”
Before the Jets’ desperate final drive, on which he was 5-of-8 for 61 yards, Pennington was 17-of-25 for just 146 yards.
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Given Curtis Martin’s rushing numbers yesterday – 127 yards on 21 carries – it was shocking the Jets lost the game. They entered the game having won 32 of 42 games in which Martin rushes 20 or more times and 21 of 27 games in which Martin rushes for at least 100 yards.
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Former Jets’ RB Leon Johnson, whom the team gave up on after two major knee surgeries, hurt the Jets yesterday with 56 rushing yards and a TD, his first of the season. The Jets, too, were hurt by Bears’ rookie RB Anthony Peterson, who ran for 39 yards and scored a TD, his first NFL score.
Peterson, a sixth-round pick out of Division I-A Georgia Southern, is the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher with 6,543 yards and 54 100-yard rushing games.
The Jets, a week removed from committing only one penalty, were guilty of numerous infractions yesterday, several of which were damaging.
The first real killer was a holding penalty on LB Kelvin Moses, which nullified a 97-yard KO return for a TD by Chad Morton on the opening play of the second half.
Later, Jets’ NT Jason Ferguson was called for a well-deserved roughing-the-passer personal foul. Had Ferguson not been called for driving Bears’ QB Chris Chandler into the ground, it would have been third-and-seven from the Jets’ 40. Instead, it was first down from the Jets’ 25 en route to a Bears’ TD and a 17-7 lead.
