SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 14, 2014
Jets 16, Titans 11: Geno Smith threw for 179 yards and a touchdown as visiting New York halted a three-game losing streak and sent Tennessee to its eighth consecutive defeat.
Chris Ivory capped an 11-play, 76-yard drive with a go-ahead 1-yard touchdown with 3:09 to play as the Jets (3-11) won for the first time in seven road games. Smith finished 16-of-28 and Eric Decker had a season-high 100 yards on seven catches for New York.
Third-string quarterback Charlie Whitehurst completed 10-of-24 for 203 yards after Jake Locker suffered a shoulder injury for the Titans (2-12), who committed a pair of huge penalties on the winning touchdown march. Nate Washington had six catches for 102 yards as Tennessee remained winless since beating Jacksonville on Oct. 12.
Ryan Succop sandwiched a pair of third-quarter field goals around Smith's 9-yard scoring pass to fullback John Conner on fourth-and-inches to send the Titans into the fourth quarter clinging to an 11-10 lead. Two penalties against Tennessee, including unsportsmanlike conduct against Wesley Woodyard, kept a drive alive for the Jets, resulting in Ivory's 1-yard plunge to make it 16-11 with 3:09 remaining.
After Succop's 40-yard field goal accounted for the only points of the first quarter, the Titans made it 5-0 when Smith was called for intentional grounding in the end zone - a play initially ruled a fumble but overturned when Tennessee coach Ken Whisenhunt challenged. Nick Folk booted a 51-yard field goal with 2:08 left in the half after Kaelin Burnett was flagged for running into the kicker on a punt.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Locker, making his fifth start of the season in place of injured rookie Zach Mettenberg, was hurt at the two-minute warning of the first half when Jets LB Quinton Coples drove him into the ground on an incomplete pass. ... Ex-Titans RB Chris Johnson had the biggest play in New York's fourth-quarter touchdown drive, taking a direct snap and running 37 yards to the 4-yard line to finish with 55 yards on 10 carries. ... A brawl broke out with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter after Tennessee's Jurrell Casey punched Smith in the helmet during a video review to see if Decker stepped out of bounds.