SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 11, 2011
Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard field goal with 27 seconds to play to lift the New York Jets to a 27-24 victory over the visiting Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.
Darrelle Revis' interception of Tony Romo inside the final minute - the last in a series of game-turning plays by New York's defense and special teams - set up the winning field goal by Folk against his former team.
Mark Sanchez threw for 335 yards and two touchdowns - one to Plaxico Burress - to help rally the Jets from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Dallas had been 241-0-1 when leading by 14 points or more in the fourth quarter.
The last-minute drama wouldn't have been possible if the Jets' defense didn't up to its lofty reputation when it mattered most.
Trailing by a touchdown and about to fall into a deep hole, New York forced a fumbled by Romo inside its 5-yard line with nine minutes to play.
The Jets then got a huge defensive stop moments later that led to a blocked punt return from Isaiah Trufant with 5:00 left to tie it at 24-24.
Burress had four receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown in his first game since accidentally shooting himself in the leg in November 2008.
Romo threw for 352 yards, including touchdown passes to Dez Bryant and Miles Austin, but the costly turnovers proved to be the difference for Dallas.
Dallas' Jason Witten had six catches for 110 yards to become the sixth tight end in history to surpass 7,000 career yards.
In pregame ceremonies to honor the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, former President George W. Bush was on hand along with some of the families of the first responders for the coin flip, which was won by Dallas.
The Jets introduced their offense in pregame ceremonies and each player ran onto the field carrying an American flag.