Jets' takeoff is not delayed

Curtis Martin and LaMont Jordan each ran for 115 yards and a score to help the New York Jets rout the hapless Miami Dolphins, 41-14, last night.

The last time the teams met on Monday night, the Jets erased a 23-point, fourth-quarter deficit for a 40-37 overtime win in 2000 in what is known as the "Monday Night Miracle."

There was no chance of a comeback this time around. The Jets (6-1) scored 34 unanswered points, stifling the ineffective Dolphins offense and embarrassing the proud Miami defense, which entered the game ranked fourth in the NFL.

Chad Pennington threw three touchdown passes and went 11 of 19 for 189 yards before being lifted for Quincy Carter in the fourth quarter. The Jets, who finished with 472 yards of total offense, moved into a tie for first place with the Patriots in the AFC East.

"If you can keep this bottled up, we have a chance to be a pretty good football team," said Jets coach Herman Edwards.

The last time the Jets had two 100-yard rushers in a game was Sept. 28, 1975, when John Riggins ran for 145 yards and Carl Garrett had 135 in a 30-24 win over Kansas City. Miami (1-7) last allowed two 100-yard rushers Oct. 29, 1989, at Buffalo, when Thurman Thomas had 148 yards and Larry Kinnebrew added 121.

"It was great," Jets right tackle Kareem McKenzie said. "A lot of things went well for us. It felt good to get two backs over 100 yards. That's the first time it's happened in my career."

The defense harassed Jay Fiedler the entire game, sacking the Dolphins quarterback four times and picking him off twice. Miami got a meaningless score as the game ended, when Fiedler threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Derrius Thompson. Fiedler finished 20 of 41 for 218 yards.

But the complete humiliation of the Miami defense was perhaps the most confounding part of the game.

Pennington connected on one big passing play after another on the vaunted Miami secondary, repeatedly taking advantage of cornerbacks Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain. Coming into the game, no Jets wide receiver had a touchdown reception this season.

But that quickly changed. After Donald Lee fumbled a reception when Eric Barton hit him, Reggie Tongue recovered at the Jets 48. Pennington needed three plays to convert the turnover into points, throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Chrebet to make it 7-0 in the first quarter. It was Chrebet's first touchdown since the third week of last season.

After Randy McMichael caught a 21-yard scoring pass from Fiedler to cap a 91-yard drive and tie the game at 7-7 in the second, the Jets took over.

Pennington answered with a 27-yard scoring pass to Justin McCareins, who took advantage when Madison fell down. McCareins toed the line to stay in bounds at the 2 and stretched the ball into the end zone for his first touchdown as a Jet.

They added to the lead just before the break, Doug Brien kicking a 49-yard field goal as time expired to make it 17-7.

The Jets got possession to start the second half and kept rolling. Martin scored on a 25-yard run to make it 24-7. They scored again on their next drive, when Pennington threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Chris Baker.