Saints 12 Jets 00 summary ....... Both teams wasted plenty of good field position, but eventually the Saints topped the pitiful Jets. play-by-play ............ The Saints won the toss and elected to start the game with the (considerable) wind at their back. Thanks to the breeze, Doug Brien booted the opening kickoff for a touchback. The Jets went 3 & punt. The O took over at the NO 34. Jim Everett hit Quinn Early for 15 on 3rd & 10. Then (on consecutive plays) Mario Bates ran for 6, Michael Haynes caught a ball for 10, Torrance Small caught a 10 yd pass, and Small caught a 15 yd throw. The team couldn't punch it in, so Brien kicked a 32 yarder. Esiason hit Yarborough for 8 on 3rd & 6, then one play later Mitchell took a pass 12 yds to the NY 47. New York failed to advance the ball any further, though, and Small got a piece of the punt. Tyrone Legette recovered the ball and returned it to the NY 46. Irv Smith was called for holding on the possession's first play, but Everett moved the sticks by hitting Early for 8, Wesley Walls for 6, and Small for 7. His next three throws were incomplete, though, and Brien missed a 53 yarder. A run and a pass got the Jets into Saint territory, but on 3rd & 7 from the NO 41 Legette got ahold of an Esiason pass. The DB took off down the sideline and nearly made it all the way, but was tripped up at the Jet 22. Unfortunately, the O couldn't get a 1st, and Brien's 34 yd attempt was no good. After the teams exchanged 3 & punt series, the Jets were lucky to recover their own fumbles on back-to-back plays. Esiason hit Yarborough for 18 on 3rd & 15, but on the next play J.J. McCleskey picked off a ball the QB was trying to throw out of bounds. On the first two plays of the ensuing possession Walls caught a 15 yd pass and Bates ran for 9. A good run by Bates on the next play was wiped out by a holding call on Craig Novitsky, though, and the team wound up punting. After the Jets went 3 & punt again, Everett hit Small for 9 on 3rd & 6 to give the Saints a 1st at the NY 48. Again the team stalled, and another punt was launched. Bubby Brister came in for Esiason and threw six consecutive passes. They were good for one 1st, but no more. After the punt went into the endzone, the O failed to move the chains. Klaus Wilmsmeyer's punt was blocked and recovered by New York at the NO 20 with :37 left before halftime. The threat was squashed right away when Wayne Martin tipped a pass into the arms of Jimmy Spencer. The Jets received the second half kickoff (because of the Saints' initial coin toss choice) and returned it to the NO 44. A holding call on 1st down backed them up, and on 4th & 9 a dump pass to Murrell lost 4 yds. The Saints then put together the longest drive (time-wise) of the day- Lorenzo Neal caught a 5 yd pass on 3rd & 2, Smith caught a 9 yd pass on 3rd & 2, Derek Brown caught a 23 yd throw on 4th & 12 to put the ball at the NY 5. Again the drive stopped, so Brien made a 23 yarder. New York took over at their 32 and quickly moved 30 yds backwards thanks to 3 penalties and a doomed pass play. The eventual punt gave the Saints the ball at the NY 49. The O couldn't take advantage of the field position, though, and punted the ball back before earning a 1st. The Jets retaliated with their third consecutive backwards-moving series. Tyrone Hughes returned the punt to the NY 34. Even this field position wasn't good enough, though- an offensive interference call put the team out of field goal range, and on 3rd down Haynes dropped a TD pass. NY managed to pick up a 1st and move the ball to their own 43, but a 4th & 1 screen play failed. The O finally got in gear with a 22 yd catch by Smith. One play later Walls caught a 12 yd TD. The try for 2 was no good, so with 8:17 left in the game the Saints were up 12-0. Walls taunted his defender after the TD catch, so the Saints were forced to kick off from the 15. The Jets returned the ball to the NO 35. Rufus Porter sacked Brister for a 15 yd loss on the possession's first play, but a 16 yd Yarborough catch, an 8 yd Chrebet catch, and a 2 yd Brister sneak on 4th & 1 got the Jets a 1st. The home team went for it on 4th & 5 from the NO 8 but came up a little short. The Saints ran some time off the clock before kicking it back to the Jets, and time expired soon after. drive chart & stats ................... (P)unt, (M)issed FG, (E)nd of period, (F)umble, (I)nterception, out of (D)owns 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 4:25 Brien A >>>>>M 2:40 I >>>M :19 N >>>>P 2:06 T >>>>>>>>>P 2:41 S >>>>>>>P 2:14 | >>>>>P :23 | E :28 | ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 6:54 Brien | >P 2:18 | P<<<< :58 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>6 1:59 Walls | >>>>>>>>>P 2:34 | ....................................................gameover | 29:59 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G J >>>>>P 2:11 E >>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 3:41 T >>>>>>>>I 1:48 S >>P :56 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>I 2:54 | >>>P 1:29 | >>>>>>>>>>P 1:36 | I :09 | ....................................................halftime | D< 2:14 | P<<<<<<<<< 2:47 | P<< 1:05 | >>>>>>>>>>>D 3:28 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>D 3:52 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>E 1:51 | ....................................................gameover | 30:01 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G .......throwin' & catchin'...../...runnin'.... Everett Bates 23-40 Brown 2- 25 2- 0 Zellars 1- 1 Neal 2- 3 Walls 3- 33-1 Smith 3- 42 Haynes 2- 18 Early 4- 38 Small 4- 40 incomplete 18 intercepted 0 20-38-199-1-0 26-41 Jets: Murrell 10-43 run, 9-12 catch notes ..... * this is the second time in 4 seasons the Saints have shut out the Jets on the road in the final game of the season ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu