OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -Something unusual happened to the New York Jets last season when they got on a plane to make a cross-country trip.
A playoff quality team anywhere else, the Jets couldn't even beat some of the NFL's worst when they went to the West Coast.
There was an early-season loss in San Diego to a winless Chargers team. An overtime loss in Oakland in October to a Raiders team on a three-game skid. Then came the capper, a pair of December losses to teams playing out the string- the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks - eventually cost the Jets a playoff berth.
New York (3-3) takes this season's first trip to the West Coast on Sunday to face the Raiders (2-4), who are full of confidence following last week's home win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
``The time change is very tough,'' cornerback Darrelle Revis said. ``You have to find the best way to handle that situation. We lost four games on the West Coast last year. It was very tough for us. There's people going back and forth week in and week out to the West Coast. This week we have a good game plan of getting out there early and trying to adjust some things so we can be ready on Sunday.''
It wasn't just a matter of playing on the road, because the Jets won their four road games played on the Eastern half of the country and had a 9-3 record away from the West Coast. But going cross country was a completely different case.
New coach Rex Ryan is having the Jets fly out on Friday this week, but will keep his players on East Coast time, making for early bed times.
``I think when you're on a plane for that long, that does have a tendency to wear you out a little bit,'' Ryan said. ``So we'll be coming in Friday night, and we'll basically be staying on East Coast time, so we're not going to try to adapt to the West Coast time. We're staying on our clock, and if that means they're in bed by 7 o'clock, then so be it.''
One Jets player happy to be traveling to California this week is rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, who was born in Long Beach and went to college at USC. After struggling in the windy weather in New Jersey last weekend, Sanchez is looking forward to some California sunshine.
``I know a lot of family members are coming, so it's important for me,'' Sanchez said. ``Thank God they didn't come last week.''
That's when Sanchez threw five interceptions in a 16-13 overtime home loss to the Buffalo Bills. After becoming the first quarterback since the merger to start his rookie season 3-0, Sanchez is 36 for 80 for 429 yards with eight interceptions and one touchdown pass for a 26.5 passer rating in losing the past three weeks.
That makes his play a much bigger concern for the Jets than jet lag. The Jets lost to the Bills despite rushing for 318 yards, including a franchise-record 210 by Thomas Jones. Leon Washington added 99 more yards on the ground, giving New York a two-pronged rushing attack.
After the Eagles ran the ball just 14 times in last week's 13-9 loss to Oakland, the Raiders are expecting a different type of game plan.
``As Philadelphia wanted to throw it first and run it second, the Jets will be just the opposite,'' Raiders coach Tom Cable said. ``They hang their hat on it, they're good at it. I heard they want to take something off that quarterback. Well that means you've got to put it somewhere, so you put it in their two runners' hands. They're very good, very good offensive line, very good running team.''
The interesting question will be if the Raiders blitz Sanchez as much as they did Donovan McNabb last week. Oakland owner Al Davis has always liked to get pressure with the front-four instead of blitzes and his teams have usually played that way.
The Raiders blitzed on only 20 pass plays in the first five games, according to STATS LLC, before unleashing 14 in one game against McNabb. They got three sacks on those plays while allowing only three completions as the pressure on McNabb made the job in the secondary much easier.
The Oakland defenders want to do more of the same this week against a rookie quarterback.
``We just want to be on the offensive side, attack them,'' linebacker Kirk Morrison said. ``Sometimes as a defense we sit back on our heels. We have to change it up. You have to do something. You lose three in a row you have change-up. We got on the offensive side a little bit.''
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AP Sports Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. in Florham Park, N.J., contributed to this report.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
