Jets Beat Bucs, Keyshawn Johnson

T A M P A, Fla., Sept. 25, 2000 -- The flashlight was brighter than the star.

Wayne Chrebet upstaged former teammate Keyshawn Johnson onSunday, catching an 18-yard touchdown pass from running back CurtisMartin with 52 seconds remaining to give the New York Jets a 21-17victory over Tampa Bay.

Johnson was a frequent critic of Chrebet when both were with theJets and even wrote about it in the book Just Give Me the DamnBall. Johnson disrespected Chrebet again in the week leading tothe game matching 3-0 teams.

The Buccaneers receiver also likened his former teammate to aflashlight and himself to a star. Chrebet didn’t respond before thegame, and he said the winning catch wasn’t a message for Johnson,either.

“It’s not about that, guys. You’re losing sight of what’simportant here,” Chrebet said.

“The New York Jets are 4-0. We haven’t been in this situation in,I don’t know — ever. This is a big 180. We used to lose games likethis. I think that’s so important. I can stand up here and saythings and point fingers, but I’m bigger than that.”

Digging Deep to Win

Johnson, traded to the Bucs for a pair of first-round draftpicks in April, caught only one pass for 1 yard. And for the thirdtime in their four games, the Jets came back to win after trailingin the fourth quarter.

“They dug deep. They have the heart to continue to fightback,” Johnson said of his old team. “They did the job. What moreare you going to say?”

Vinny Testaverde, playing for the first time in eight years inthe city where he spent the first six seasons of his NFL career,bounced back from throwing three interceptions to get the Jets inthe end zone twice in the final two minutes.

Victor Green recovered Mike Alstott’s fumble at the Tampa Bay 24to set up the winning score, two plays after Testaverde’s 6-yard TDpass to Martin and a 2-point conversion pass made it 17-14.

Martin took a handoff from Testaverde and looked like he wasgoing to sweep right end before pulling up and throwing to awide-open Chrebet in the back of the end zone.

“Curtis isn’t the best passer in the world,” Chrebet said.“The first time we ran it [in practice] was pretty ugly. I wasstanding there waiting for it. It was like a duck … I said:‘Please, just give him enough time to get the ball off, and he hitme.’”

Testaverde Bounces Back

It looked like the Bucs would be able to win without a bigoffensive day from Johnson as Jacquez Green set up a field goalwith a 75-yard reception and Alstott and Warrick Dunn keyed arunning game that produced 118 yards.

Ronde Barber scored on a 37-yard interception return and ShaunKing threw a 3-yard TD pass to Dave Moore for Tampa Bay, which hada five-game regular-season winning streak stopped one shy of thefranchise record.

The Jets, unbeaten after four games for the first time since1966, extended the NFL’s longest regular-season winning streak toeight games. They were held to a pair of first-half field goals byJohn Hall until Testaverde returned from being benched for oneseries.

Testaverde, 16-2 as a Jets starter, spent six losing seasons inTampa Bay, compiling a 24-48 record and throwing 102 interceptionsas a starter before signing with the Cleveland Browns as a freeagent after the 1992 season.

“Coming back here really had no bearing on how I felt about thegame,” Testaverde said. “The important thing is that I was cominghere to win a ballgame.”

On Sunday, he completed 22 of 42 passes for 181 yards, and theBucs didn’t add to their NFL-leading sack total until Ray Lucasreplaced Testaverde for one series in the fourth quarter.

Martin had 90 yards rushing on 18 carries and caught sevenpasses for 27 yards. Chrebet, with whom Johnson has had a runningfeud since 1996, finished with two receptions for 32 yards.

Shovel Pass to Keyshawn

Johnson’s only catch came on a shovel pass the Bucs ran late inthe second quarter. He said heavy rain, which began about an hourbefore kickoff and ended during the first half, affected TampaBay’s offensive plan.

“I can’t explain it,” he said of having just one reception.“How can I explain it. That was the plays we called. We ran theball. We didn’t throw the ball all that well. I think the rain tookus out of our passig game a little bit.”

The late collapse was uncharacteristic of the Tampa Bay defense,which was dominant in helping the Bucs win their first three games.The Jets defense, meanwhile, proved itself by intercepting twopasses and forcing two fumbles, the last on Mo Lewis’ sack on theBucs’ last possession.