It took doing, but after scouring the internet for forty minutes we found a streaming broadcast of the Jets and Eagles game. By the time we tuned in the Jets were down; the score stood 7-0 Eagles. The Eagles’ offense looked fast, tough and efficient, like ants trained for pro-football. Worst of all, veteran villain QB Michael Vick was looking a little too good. We were a little worried. Then rookie QB Marc Sanchez made a series of strong passes that drove the game down-field. When Sanchez threw a deep pass to WR Jericho Cotchery for 21 yards and a touchdown, there was a collective sigh of relief. We were going to be alright.

Both the game and it’s broadcast were full of surprises. In the case of the latter, the surprises were comic. The live chatter of the goofballs tuning in with us was streaming up the right side of the screen. And we laughed at their questions, exclamations and smart-aleck declarations. When the game’s sound was temporarily interrupted, however, and replaced with an old Jay-Z rap song, well, you can guess… It lasted a half hour and it was super entertaining to watch: players scrambling the field, official commentators in suits waving their hands – getting that crazy football glare to their eyes – and the star-struck female guest commentator on the field, struggling to read the script from the teleprompter, as Jay-Z rapped:

99 problems but the bitch ain’t one
If you’re havin’ girl problems I feel bad for you son
I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one
Hit me

Pardon the profanity, but I had to get you in the moment.

Back on the topic…

It was a game of reversals. The Eagles were playing hard and strong, battering down the Jets. The Jets were playing well, but every time they pulled even, the Eagles scored again. The Eagles had momentum. They had Vick and more importantly, WR Danny Amendola was beginning to make his presence felt by the end of the second quarter. By the end of the second half you could feel that the game had a psycholgical edge to it. Jets were playing hard and playing harder and they had to keep it up, or else the Eagles early domination of the game would roll into a final victory. Then it happened. Something snapped. Though the effects weren’t noticeable until late third quarter, I think it happened early in the second quarter, just before the Eagles last touchdown. In their last side before the end of the quarter, there were a short series of incomplete passes, by QB’s Vick and then Kevin Kolb. I think it happened there. From there on, I detected confusion in the Eagles’ offense. Yes, they still scored a touchdown, but their momentum was fading and you could tell that momentum was all they were really working with, despite superb performances by individual Eagles players, like Amendola, all through the game. By the end of the second quarter, the Eagles were up 24-17, but the Jets had scored better that quarter, ending it with Jay Feely’s fieldgoal.

Going into the second half the psycholgical edge had tipped to the Jets and so had the momentum. In the third quarter, the Eagles didn’t score at all. The Jets, however, scored two touchdowns.

In the fourth quarter, Eagles’ PK David Akers kicked a sweet 36 yard field goal. The Eagles couldn’t seem to muster anything else though. Then Jets’ QB Erik Ainge showed why, even if Sanchez is starting, he has to remain on the roster; Ainge threw a deep pass left to WR David Clowney for 73 yards and a touchdown. That play (and this game), in my opinion, was a pre-season coup de gras.

This game, moreso than the Giants game last week, demonstrates that new head coach Rex Ryan has gotten together just the guys he needs. They’re rough yet, but each player performs to the utmost all the time (except maybe poor Kellen Clemens) and they show, altogether, tremendous potential as a team. Where the Jets have succeeded over the Giants, I think, is that Ryan has managed to keep his team focussed on football. Whereas, the Giants have been the subject of so much headline speculation (over paychecks and walkouts) and scandal (need I say more?) that Coughlin’s job has been much more difficult. Every time I watched the Jets during this pre-season, I’ve become more and more curious as to what’s in store for the regular season.

For instance, what’s going on with Mark Sanchez? Since having been named the new starting quarter-back, the man plays a little, does superbly, and then for the rest of the game all you see is Erik Ainge with a little Kellen Clemens thrown in for comic relief.

So, who is this QB that everyone is going nuts about? What’s the plan for him?

Is Sanchez really football’s next superhero? Have they given him Green Lantern’s ring? Are the Jets shooting him full with gamma rays?

Can’t wait to see…

The reversals, mentioned above, didn’t belong to this game alone. The Giants, whom the Jets had just played (and beaten) last Saturday, had gone into their game with the Patriots looking strong. Yet they wound up losing, by the same score that the Jets beat the Eagles. 38-27. Isn’t it ironic, doncha think?

Team/Player Photos: New York Jets Team / Player Photos on Jul 23, 2010

For a full game, play-by-play recap: click here.

Here’s a great highlight vid I snagged off of YouTube. Watch Sanchez, Ainge, Woodhead and Clowney! Amazing.