09/07 — There was some thought that the team with the better play-action in the Jets-Dolphins season opener would win the day. And initially that better play-action belongs to the Jets.

Thomas Jones has been running well, and his muscular moves helped set up Favre's 443rd TD of his career and his first as a Jet. After faking the handoff to TJ, Favre spotted Jerricho Cotchery running free through the Miami secondary past CB Andre Goodman. Favre's heave was slightly underthrown but it didn't matter as Cotchery slowed down, gathered the ball in at the 10 and got to the end zone just 6:18 into the game.

The 56-yard touchdown was tied for the second-longest pass play since the start of the 2007 season.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Mike Nugent suffered a right thigh injury that figures to ripple through the rest of this game. Nugent hit a knuckleball after possibly slipping on the skin part of the stadium infield. With 3:31 to play in the first quarter, Nuge missed from 32 yards and was clearly hurting.

Then Nugent's injury played into the Jets' second scoring drive. Head coach Eric Mangini decided rather than to send in his gimpy kicker for a 40-yard try, he called for Favre to go for it on fourth-and-13 from the 22.

Favre was under blitz pressure but hung up a Hail Mary-esque throw toward the goal line as he was being hit. Lo and behold, Chansi Stuckey, playing in his first pro game (he missed all last season with a foot injury) came down with the jumpball for a 22-yard score and a 13-7 lead.

Cotchery and Stuckey became the 45th and 46th players respectively to catch regular-season TD passes from Favre in his storied career.

But then Mangini decided to go for two rather than send in Nugent for the PAT, again off the skin of the infield. The pass went incomplete. And when punter Ben Graham didn't hit the ensuing kickoff well, the Jets and special teams coaches Mike Westhoff and Kevin O'Dea had a kicking crisis on their hands.

It was so serious that No. 11 — backup QB Kellen Clemens, who quite possibly placekicked while quarterbacking Burns High School in Oregon almost a decade earlier — was kicking into the net on the sideline, being watched and advised by No. 1, Nugent.

After putting up a chart in the pregame Radar entry, it's only fair to show this first-half chart of Favre vs. Pennington passing: