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The New York Jets have been close many times this season, and on Sunday in the upset of the day they finally cashed in, beating the clearly underestimating Pittsburgh Steelers 19-16 in overtime at the Meadowlands. Mike Nugent kicked a 38-yard field goal in overtime, coming after returner Leon Washington took back a punt 26 yards to set up the Jets in excellent field position for their game-winning drive. The Steelers played by far their worst game of the season, and one week after people were putting them on the level of the Colts and maybe even the Pats, the black and gold were beaten up by a team that had won just one game heading into Sunday’s action.

The blame for this garbage are plenty for the now 7-3 Steelers. They could not, as usual as of late, protect Ben Roethlisberger much at all, and allowed a season-high seven sacks. They could not get the running game going, and their run defense was beaten for their first 100+ yard game in over two seasons. Thomas Jones had 117 yards on 30 carries. And of course, who could forget the coverge on kicks, as Washington took that punt back 26 yards in OT to set up the game-winning kick.

Don’t forget about how bad the defense folded on the Jets final drive in regulation. Holding onto a 16-13 lead, they let Jets QB Kellen Clemens and the Jets to march from their own 14 all the way inside the Steelers five within the final two minutes to kick the game-tying field goal. In OT, the defense did step up a get a 3-and-out, but then went 3-and-out on their own before the punt that allowed the Jets to gain the win.

Clemens finished 14-of-31 for 162 yards and one touchdown with an interception to win for the first time in three NFL starts.  Roethlisberger finished 15-of-25 for 195 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Steelers allowed 297 yards to a bad Jets team, while they put up just 263 yards against the leagues 30th ranked unit. This one cannot be simply pushed aside. They blew a great shot to move to 8-2, and now must face the reality that maybe they are not as good as we once thought. For the Jets, it was a great win for a team to break a six-game losing streak. They have had leads in the past, have been in position to win games, but Sunday, they finally came through.

The Steelers will now have to wait eight days to play again, as they will not play till Monday, November 26th against the 0-10 Dolphins at home. The Jets will play on Turkey Day, as they will travel to Dallas to play the 9-1 Cowboys.