Once again, Mark Sanchez apologized for his demeanor on the sideline. Only this time it was for hot dogging. Literally.

Shaking off his worst start in his very young career, Sanchez ran for one touchdown and threw for another one before he took time to have a snack during the final minutes of the Jets 38-0 win on Sunday over the Raiders.

Last week Sanchez was criticized for appearing dejected while on the sideline in the Jets overtime loss to the Bills. He threw five interceptions in the game. This week he appeared quite happy about his performance and was caught on camera trying to snack on a hot dog towards the end of a blowout game.

He said that he wanted to apologize for it. I wasn’t feeling too good and didn’t eat a lot before the game. I was feeling kind of queasy. I should have had a bar or something but somebody offered me a hot dog. I just grabbed it and did try to be discreet. Obviously I wasn’t discreet enough. I should not have done it, and it will not happen again.

The Jets game plan was to take a lot of the pressure off of Sanchez. They were able to do that. They forced four turnovers and also became the very first team in thirty four years to rush for a minimum of 300 yards two games in a row. It occurred after they lost Leon Washington indefinitely due to his broken right leg.

Two of the Jets first three drives started on Oakland’s four yard line following JaMarcus Russell turnovers. They set up runs for touchdowns by Thomas Jones as well as Sanchez.

Sanchez said, it makes it very easy for the offense when the defense plays like that. Hats off to our defense. They had a great game shutting that team out. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. The accomplishment is big time for our team.

Things got so bad for the Raiders that Russell, Oakland’s former No. 1 overall draft pick, got benched during the first half after he committed three turnovers early. The home loss was Oakland’s most lopsided in the Raiders (2-5) fifty year history. It was the fifth home shutout ever. Four of them have occurred over the last four seasons. The 39,354 crowd was the team’s smallest since returning in 1995 to Oakland.

Richard Seymour, defensive lineman, who earlier that week had stated that he though Oakland would make it to the playoffs said, I don’t think that today we could have defeated a high school team.

Shonn Greene, rookie, rushed for 144 yards and scored twice, while Jones ran for 121 yards in 26 carries. The Jets had 316 total rushing yards.

On the very first play from the line of scrimmage, Calvin Pace was able to beat Khalif Barnes, right tackle, to sack Russell and force a fumble. Marques Douglas recovered the ball at the four yard line. Eventually Jones scored on fourth down from the one.

Then Russell, who was being pressured heavily by David Harris, overthrew a pass that got intercepted by Jim Leonhard who returned the ball 44 yards down to the four yard line. Sanchez scored two plays later on a quarterback draw of three yards.

During the second half Sanchez got the passing game going with a 35 yard perfect strike over to David Clowney. But then it didn’t matter much, as the game was already a blowout. Sanchez went 9 out of 15 on passing for a total of 143 yards and didn’t have any interceptions.

Ryan said, Sanchez was great. He played very smart when he had the football. There were times when I think he could have hit the receiver with the ball but was making sure he didn’t get an interception. It was great seeing how he responded.

Coming into the game Oakland was full of confidence after their 13-9 win over the Eagles last week. On Thursday their week got even better when the district attorney of Napa County announced that he wouldn’t file charges on Cable for allegedly attacking one of his former defensive assistants.

However, once the game got under way, the good feelings ended. For the fourth game in five weeks the Raiders lost a game by a minimum of twenty points.

In this third season in the NFL, Russell has had 13 turnovers and only completed 46 percent on passing. The fans have reacted to his horrible start with heavy boos during the last three home games. He finally got benched late second quarter.

Cable said, early on in the game I thought Russell was out of sorts. I didn’t feel at that point that he could give us our best chance to succeed offensively so I made the move. He is still our starter. There isn’t any issue about that.

Russell went 6 out of 11 passing for a total of 61 yards along with a fumble and two interceptions. He didn’t agree with the assessment of his coach, stating that he felt fine but the results just weren’t there.

Russell said, I haven’t been in in that kind of situation before. At first it was kinda shocking.

Bruce Gradkowski, backup quarterback, lost a fumble as well that ended a potential scoring drive. During the closing minutes he also failed converting a fourth down and goal play.

Notes
Last season the Jets lost all four West coast games, including an overtime loss in Oakland. Buffalo was the last team that ran for over 300 yards two games in a row. They accomplished that in 1975.

Sprinting upfield, Louis Murphy laid a defender out with a bruising block. Still not satisfied, Murphy raced down the field to meet up with the play once again, delivering another block to allow Zach Miller to score on a catch and run play of 86 yards.

Given that Oakland’s offense has been criticized for not making big plays and lacking in leadership and intensity, the Raiders rookie receiver provided all three of these in a single play to answer the skeptics.

The score by Miller was the game’s only touchdown. Justin Fargas helped Oakland control the clock with his 87 rushing yards, while the Raider’s defense was able to harass Donovan McNabb throughout the day in their 13-9 win on Sunday versus the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tom Cable, Raiders coach said, we went out there and threw on a fight. We said, enough of this. Let’s play. That’s about all that you can say. There are no magical words for it.

The turnaround was major from the prior three weeks when Oakland (2-4) lost their games by 20 points or more for the very first time in the history of the franchise, capped last week by their 44-7 defeat by the Giants.

Following the game, Antonio Pierce, Giants linebacker, said that it felt like they had been playing in a scrimmage. This week the comments of Pierce were posted up in Oakland’s locker room. The team was able to respond to all the critics in very impressive fashion.

Murphy said, it gave me some extra fuel. You need to look right into the mirror and yourself and man up. The comments were true. We did play flat. We did not play with emotion. We took in those comments and today the game was completely different.

The key factor in Sunday’s game was Oakland’s defense. John Marshall, defensive coordinator, mixed in some additional blitzes and zone coverages to help to combat Philadelphia’s high powered offense that was the league’s second most in points per game.

Philadelphia abandoned their running game early on, Michael Vick was involved in only two plays, and the offensive line gave up six sacks. The Eagles were also the first team to fail scoring a touchdown versus Oakland in three years.

Andy Reid, Eagles coach said, they were able to get in to hit our quarterback. When we had opportunities out there we did not take advantage of them.

With 2:14 left to play in the game, on fourth down and four from the Raiders 44 yard line, the last chance for the Eagles came to an end when a pass from McNabb to DeSean Jackson was under thrown.

Philadelphia kicker David Akers missed two field goals. During the first quarter he missed a 43 yard field goal wide to the left, and during the third quarter missed a 47 yard one wide right that proved to be critical down the final stretch.

McNabb went 22 out of 46 for a total of 269 yards. Jason Peters, left tackle, injured his left knee and left the game during the first quarter which added to McNabb’s struggles.

McNabb said, I am embarrassed by how we played. We are a lot better football team.

Trevor Scott and Richard Seymour each had two sacks for the Raiders. Philadelphia only ran the ball 14 times versus a defense that was missing Nnamdi Asomugha, star cornerback, for most of the game due to an eye injury.

Scott said, they probably watched our game against the Giants and were thinking we are sorry. But coach Cable all week talked to us about persevering, forgetting the past, and moving forward so that we can get where we are wanting to go.

On third down and ten the game was sealed by JaMarcus Russell with a pass of 12 yards to Gary Russell. He ran the clock out, which delighted the fans after they had booed him at the beginning of the game.

Russell went 17 for 28 passing for a total of 224 yards, along with two interceptions as well as the touchdown pass to Miller which was the longest passing play for Oakland in 25 years.

Russell connected with Miller down the middle 16 yards down the field. Then Miller ran along the sideline before getting sprung by Murphy’s big block that flattened out Quintin Mikell. Miller, as he got closer to the end zone, slowed up just enough to give Murphy enough time to block Ellis Hobbs and complete the catch and run play of 86 yards.

Miller said he went over to Murphy and told him it was the best couple of blocks he had ever seen a wide receiver make. I need to buy something for him. He definitely deserves it.

Notes
Miller caught six passes for a total of 139 yards. The last Raiders pass play to go that long occurred on October 7, 1984 versus Seattle on a 92 yard play that went from Marc Wilson over to Marcus Allen. Philadelphia defensive end Victor Abiamiri (injured knee) and linebacker Omar Gaither (injured foot) will be given MRIs on Monday. Michael Vick carried the ball one time and had minus 4 rushing yards for the game and was also involved in one McNabb incomplete pass.

Eli Manning, after he took his opening snap and made the play action fake, dropped back and then bounced his right heel to set up before firing a pass of nine yards to Darcy Johnson, tight end.

Any concerns over the painful right heel of Eli’s got answered on that first play on Sunday in his 83rd start in a row.

Manning threw two touchdown passes, leading the Giants on four touchdown drives on all four of their first possessions, as the Giants defeated the Raiders 44-7, giving New York a 5-0 record and their best start since 1990 when they won the Super Bowl.

Manning said, it was perfect at the end. He went 8 for 10 for a total of 173 yards, playing less than half the game in the Giants’ rout. Get in and just score and score a lot and score quickly. Then rest and make sure not to put any more strain on it than necessary or make it sore tomorrow. That turned out well.

Manning was able to lead the Giants on 77, 79, 94 and 13 yard scoring drives in his most effective, by far, performance this season.

Manning’s touchdown passes came on a 30 yard pass to Mario Manningham as well as a 9 yard pass over to Hakeem Nicks, first round pick. He then played in one additional series before he donned the baseball cap late second quarter to get a rest that was well deserved on a day where the Giants were able to gain 483 total offensive yards.

Justin Tuck, defensive end said, we don’t expect anything less from him. People were saying maybe he wouldn’t play, but we all figured that he would. It is good seeing your starting quarterback is a tough guy and will go out to help his team get a win. That is the kind of leader he has become.

Ahmad Bradshaw, backup halfback, played a large role as well. He rushed for a a total of 110 yards as well as scored twice on rushes of 9 and 1 yard.

JaMarcus Russell, Raiders quarterback, struggled once again while trying to lead the worst offense in the league. He fumbled three times and went 8 for 13 for a total of 100 yards. He got sacked a total of six times while the Raiders had only 124 total offensive yards.

Their only score came on a touchdown run of 5 yards by Michael Bush, following a fumble at the 15 yard line by Sinorice Moss on a return punt.

Mathias Kiwanuka, defensive end speaking of Russell said, we thought we had the opportunity for coming out and getting him early and that would give us lots of chances. He does have flashes of greatness. We didn’t want him flashing that against us.

The biggest concern for the Giants was Manning’s availability. Last weekend during their win over the Chiefs, Manning sustained a very painful right heel injury. The MVP of the 2008 Super Bowl missed practice for two days and on Friday took half of the snaps, indicating that he would play on Sunday.

Manning was out on the field two hour before game time, warming up and showing no signs that the injury was affecting him.

Tom Coughlin, Giants coach said, he really wanted to play. He wanted to all week. A couple times he’s done a really great job using the power of his will.

On the Giants’ opening drive Manning went 4 for 5 for a total of 36 yards, capped by Bradshaw slamming in for the touchdown on fourth down and one.

The following three possessions for the Giants went at lightning speed. Their second drive went 79 yards in only three plays and featured a Steve Smith catch of 43 yards as well as runs of 19 and 17 yards from Bradshaw.

Their third score occurred on a 94 yard, five play drive featuring a screen pass of 55 yards on third down and 24 to Bradshaw. On the very next play Manning connected with Manningham in the end zone. The rout had begun.

Terrell Thomas’ sack and recovery of a fumble by Tuck helped to set up a drive of three plays that was capped by a Manning pass over to Nicks.

Richard Seymour, defensive end for the Raiders said, we could not stop a thing. That is a very bad feeling being out they and the other team is running any play they want to. During the third and fourth quarters they had in their backups and still were doing anything they wanted to do on offense. There isn’t any excuses for that. We all need to look ourselves in the mirror. Say to ourselves, I need to do a much better job.

Notes
Manningham’s bruised chest kept him from playing a majority of the fourth quarter. Ricky Brown, linebacker of the Raiders, sustained a right ankle sprain. The X-rays were all negative. New York had the football for over 36 minutes. They have 27 first downs, while Oakland had only seven.

For the very first time all season, Houston didn’t have to answer any questions regarding their terrible run defense or inability for stopping big plays.

The defense of the Texans instead was able to celebrate their finest performance since the 2004 season as Houston beat the Raiders on Sunday 29-6. Houston allowed only 165 yards, the second fewest in the team’s history and fewest since they gave up 126 yards in a victory over Jacksonville nearly five years ago.

Antonio Smith, defensive end, said we were all having fun. When you have fun is when you have a lot of confidence. You don’t have second guesses. You don’t ease up when you are able to go at full speed. That is when you end up making big plays.

Steve Slaton had two touchdowns while Jacoby Jones scored on a kickoff return to help the Texans win.

Houston (2-2) was finally able to find their running game, figuring out how to shut down their opponent’s, while the worst defense in the NFL was able to hold Oakland (1-3) to only 45 rushing yards. Entering into the game, Houston had allowed an average of 205 rushing yards per game.

The Texans forced three turnovers as well and got their first safety in nearly seven years.

Houston was able to get the victory despite have some struggles with illness. Earlier in the week, they had the first NFL confirmed case for swine flu from Anthony Hill, tight end. On Saturday night as well as Sunday morning the Texans had some of their others players fall ill. However there were no other swine flu cases confirmed.

Eugene Wilson, safety, sat out the game due to illness, while Chris Brown, running back, was available to play but wasn’t feeling well and did not end up playing. Xavier Adibi, linebacker, was ill as well but did play on special teams.

Gary Kubiak, Texans coach said, last night Eugene got really sick. This morning it continued and there wasn’t any way for him to play. We are monitoring this situation. It hit us during the last four days. We just will need to work our way through it.

Eric Winston, offensive lineman, said that Wilson could barely walk he was so sick.

When Kubiak was asked if any of the other illnesses were swine flu cases he said, we do not want speculate. This morning it was scary, just to be honest.

Oakland continued with their struggles. JaMarcus Russell completed only 12 of his 33 passes for a total of 128 yards, while Darren McFadden had minus 3 rushing yards on six carries.

Tom Cable, Raiders coach said, we were not able to run the football. That disrupted our offense a lot. We are killing ourselves. We are shooting ourselves right in the foot everywhere.

The first score of Slaton’s occurred during the second quarter on a run of 32 yards, giving the Texans a 13-3 lead. It was the first rushing touchdown for the Texans this season. Slaton ended up with 65 rushing yards while Ryan Moats had 56.

Slaton’s second score later second quarter was on a catch and run 18 yard play which made the score 20-3. The touchdown was set up by Owen Daniels’ career high 44 yard catch.

The first turnover of Oakland’s occurred during the third quarter when DeMeco Ryans was able to strip the football away from Michael Bush. Antonio Smith recovered the ball, but Houston wasn’t able to capitalize.

However Andre Davis was able to down the punt on the one yard line and Brian Cushing, rookie, was able to tackle Justin Fargas inside the end zone to score a safety, making the score 22-6. It was the first safety for Houston since their inaugural 2002 season.

On the following kickoff, Jones returned the ball 95 yards, scoring the first kickoff return touchdown of his career. Jones does have two returned punts for touchdowns in his career.

During the fourth quarter Mario Williams was able to get to Russell and forced him to fumble. Houston as able to recover the football on the twenty yard line. Houston failed to score when a field goal attempt from 33 yards by Kris Brown sailed wide to the left.

Oakland had several dropped passes.

Russell said we kept getting ourselves in third down and long situations. We keep saying we need to have manageable downs.

The Texans had another opportunity to score late first half. However Chris Johnson intercepted a pass from Matt Schaub at the end zone. Matt Schaub went 11 out of 22 for a total of 224 yards with one touchdown.

Late second quarter Oakland got a field goal which cut the lead down to 20-6. Russell kept the drive alive when he connected on fourth down and nine on a 19 yard pass to Louis Murphy.

Andre Johnson had a 62 yard catch to move Houston down to the seven yard line during the first quarter. A field goal from 26 yards by Brown made the score 3-0. The Raiders tied the score on a field goal of 46 yards by Sebastian Janikowski following a first quarter fumble by Slaton.

During the second quarter Brown had a field goal of 34 yards.

Notes
Late fourth quarter Johnnie Lee Higgins mishandled a punt. Houston recovered the ball and was able to run the clock out. Cornell Green, tackle, of the Raiders has an injured calf, Tyvon Branch, safety, an injured groin, and Zach Miller, tight end, has a concussion. No additional information was provided by Cable regarding the injuries.