• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Jets look to thwart Raiders in second West Coast trip

Oct 14, 2008 - 9:29 PM NY Jets (3-2) at Oakland (1-4), 4:15 pm EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Brett Favre's presence has made a difference rather quickly for the New York Jets.

Thanks to the quarterback's efforts and a revamped defensive unit, the Jets can match last season's win total with a victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday at McAfee Coliseum.

In 2007, the Jets went 4-12 and finished ahead of only the Miami Dolphins (1-15) in the AFC East.

This game will mark the second West Coast trip for New York, which fell to the San Diego Chargers, 48-29, on September 22.

Last Sunday, the Jets (3-2) survived Favre's worst game of the season by escaping with a 26-14 victory over the winless Cincinnati Bengals.

The 39-year-old Favre was intercepted twice and lost a fumble, which led to a first-quarter touchdown by the Bengals on the Jets' first drive.

However, Thomas Jones ran for two touchdowns and hauled in a scoring strike from Favre, and the Jets' defense sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick five times.

"I don't believe in ugly wins," Favre said. "I believe a win's a win, and that one felt as good as any I've been a part of in recent memory."

Favre has passed for 13 TDs in his first season with the Jets - tying the record for most scoring strikes by a veteran quarterback in his first five starts with a new team (Len Dawson, Dallas Texans in 1962; Jeff George, Oakland Raiders in 1997).

The Jets held the Bengals to 171 yards, their fewest allowed in a game since October 28, 2001 at Carolina.

Oakland, which also was 4-12 last season, has yet to make the best of rookie Darren McFadden's arrival. The No. 4 overall pick in April's draft has tallied a team-high 302 yards, but is sharing time with Justin Fargas and Michael Bush.

That group hasn't been able to offset the mild struggles of second-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who has thrown for over 200 yards just once.

Coming off a 34-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints, the Raiders failed to make Tom Cable's NFL coaching debut a successful one. The Raiders had the fewest points scored and the largest margin of defeat in the franchise's first game under a new head coach.

In the process, Oakland fell to 20-65 since 2003, the worst record in the NFL in that span.

Russell - drafted first overall in 2007 - completed only 13-of-35 passes for 159 yards, while throwing an interception and fumbling.