Jets regain air of confidence

Sanchez shook off the worst start of his young career by running for one touchdown and throwing for another, fellow rookie Shonn Greene ran for 144 yards and two scores, and the Jets snapped a three-game losing streak by pummeling the Raiders, 38-0, yesterday.

It was a low-pressure game for Sanchez, who started two of his first three drives for the Jets (4-3) at the Oakland 4 after turnovers by JaMarcus Russell. Those mistakes led to touchdown runs by Thomas Jones and Sanchez, and played a role in Oakland coach Tom Cable’s decision to bench the former No. 1 overall pick in the second quarter.

This was just the fifth home shutout ever for the Raiders (2-5), with four coming in the past four seasons.

After Sanchez threw five interceptions last week against Buffalo for his third straight loss, coach Rex Ryan said maybe he needed to take some pressure off his rookie passer.

The New York defense made that easy. After Oakland committed a penalty on the opening kickoff, Calvin Pace beat right tackle Khalif Barnes on the first play from scrimmage, sacking Russell and forcing a fumble that Marques Douglas recovered at the 4. It took four tries, but Jones eventually scored from the 1.

Jim Leonhard then intercepted a badly overthrown ball by Russell, who was pressured by David Harris, and returned it 44 yards to the 4. Two plays later, Sanchez scored on a 3-yard quarterback draw. An 8-yard run by Greene made it 21-0 with 5:51 left in the second quarter - by that point, New York had three touchdowns and Sanchez had only four completions.

“It makes it so easy on the offense when your defense is playing like that,’’ Sanchez said. “Hats off to them, they had a heck of a game to shut that team out. I don’t care who we’re playing, that’s a big-time accomplishment for our team.’’

Sanchez got into the act in the second half with a pretty 35-yard TD strike to David Clowney, but by that point it didn’t really matter as the blowout was already on. Sanchez was 9 of 15 for 143 yards with no interceptions and was so relaxed he was caught by cameras eating a hot dog on the sideline in the closing minutes.

Jones, coming off a franchise-record 210 yards rushing last week, had 121 on 26 carries. Greene did the rest, getting extended playing time because of the blowout and a first-quarter injury to Leon Washington, who suffered a broken right fibula and had surgery after the game.

The Raiders came into the game full of confidence following last week’s 13-9 victory over Philadelphia, but the good feelings didn’t last long.

Russell has committed 13 turnovers and completed just 46 percent of his passes in his third NFL season. He was 6 of 11 for 61 yards, two interceptions, and a fumble when Cable sent Bruce Gradkowski in late in the second quarter.

The Bengals improved to 5-2 for the first time since 2005 by scoring on all five of their first-half possessions. The 31-0 lead marked the most points the Bears (3-3) have allowed this season, and it tied for the third-most points Chicago has ever allowed in an opening half.

The focus was on Benson, Chicago’s top draft pick in 2005 who lasted three stormy years. Benson ran for 32 yards on the Bengals’ opening drive, nearly topped 100 by the half, and his 1-yard TD run made it 45-3.

Forced to throw early and often, the Bears’ Jay Cutler was intercepted three times, fumbled two snaps, and finished 26 of 37 for 251 yards.

Manning was 23 of 34 for 235 yards and three TD passes, and also passed Warren Moon for fourth on the career completion list with 3,995. After the Rams pulled within 21-6 in the third quarter, rookie Jacob Lacey returned the first of two interceptions by Marc Bulger 35 yards for a score.

The Colts are 6-0 for the fourth time in five years and have won 15 straight regular-season games. St. Louis (0-7) has lost 17 in a row in the regular season, wasting a season-best 134 yards on 23 carries by Steven Jackson.

LaDainian Tomlinson, hobbled by an ankle injury most of the year and unable to practice late in the week because of the flu, had his best day of the season, running for 71 yards on 23 carries. He helped set up the first TD with a 36-yard run, his longest since Dec. 28. The Chargers (3-3) reeled off 135 yards rushing after averaging a nearly league-worst 57.6 entering the game.

The Chiefs (1-6) played miserably in just about every phase of the game, falling behind, 20-0, in the first half. Matt Cassel threw three interceptions and the Chargers scored their final TD when Jacob Hester blocked a punt at the 20, chased the ball into the end zone, and fell on it.

Fitzpatrick was far from stellar filling in for Trent Edwards (concussion), completing 11 of 22 passes for 123 yards and a TD. However, Jake Delhomme had another poor game for the Panthers (2-4), throwing three interceptions to give him an NFL-high 13.

Byrd returned his second pick to the Buffalo 27, and soon after Fitzpatrick found Lee Evans for a 2-yard TD that made it 14-2 early in the fourth quarter. With Carolina down, 17-9, with more than five minutes left, Kenny Moore fumbled a punt and the Bills recovered to seal the win.

Having allowed a league-high 25 sacks coming in, the Packers’ offensive line gave up none, giving Rodgers time to complete 15 of 20 attempts for 246 yards, including a 71-yard TD to Donald Driver for a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.

The Browns (1-6) looked as inept as ever, managing just 139 total yards. Derek Anderson had another miserable start, throwing for only 99 yards on 12-of-29 passing. Cleveland has scored just four offensive TDs and 72 points all season.

The Texans (4-3) won consecutive games for the first time this season. Slaton put Houston up, 14-0, with a 1-yard TD run and a 9-yard scoring reception. That was the first of two TD tosses by Matt Schaub, who was 20 of 30 for 264 yards.

San Francisco (3-3) benched Shaun Hill after a terrible first half, and Smith threw three TD passes to Vernon Davis, the last making it a 24-21 game with 3:49 remaining. Smith wound up 15 of 22 for 206 yards, and Michael Crabtree had five receptions for 56 yards in his NFL debut.