Jets Podcast

With a few new parts added to the Jets' machine this past week, some might have doubted that they would provide a spark for the Monday night game at Atlanta.

But they gave a spark and then some.

"Pretty much it was like being shot out of a cannon," RB Mike Goodson of returning from his four-game NFL suspension to make his debut in green and white and help us clip the Falcons' wings by 30-28.

"It was good. They got me the ball early," Goodson added. "It was on a first-down play and they had to go chase me around the edge."

Goodson won that race, taking the direct snap out of the Wildcat around left end for a 26-yard gain to the Falcons 41, starting the Jets' second scoring drive of the game that concluded with Geno Smith's 20-yard strike to Jeff Cumberland in the end zone.

Surely he had some butterflies fluttering around in his stomach for this debut.

"Definitely, a little bit," he agreed. "But once the National Anthem was sung, after that it was pretty good."

Goodson said his hamstring, which flared up on Friday, was a little tight, which would explain the limited use of the fifth-year back. Nevertheless, he provided decent production on his 11 offensive plays for the night, gaining 32 yards on three carries and taking one reception 9 yards on his first offensive contribution as a Jet, converting a third-and-2 on the opening drive.

Asked how he felt things went, he preferred to talk about the group rather than the individual.

"I'm just excited the way our team played, the way Geno [Smith] played, the offensive line," he said. "And we're spreading the ball around."

Certainly that was true in the backfield as the original three-headed tailback rotation conceived of in the offseason finally came together in this game. Bilal Powell started and gained 38 yards on 12 carries, and Chris Ivory came in for four carries and 27 yards, including his 19-yard burst up the middle that set up Smith's third and last TD pass of the night to Kellen Winslow for a 27-14 lead early in the final frame.

Others who were making debuts of different kinds in this game were:

■ WR David Nelson, signed last week, who caught two first-quarter passes for 9 yards

■ Third-round rookie Brian Winters, who has played this year but was making his first pro start for Vlad Ducasse at LG.

■ WR Michael Campbell, signed from the practice squad and on the field for our kickoff coverage team, including on the game's opening kickoff.

Extra Points

Geno Smith finished with a passing line of 16-for-20 for 199 yards, three TDs and no interceptions for a 147.7 passer rating. That's the sixth-best rating by a Jets starting QB since 1975, with the first five spots going to Ken O'Brien (158.3 twice), Chad Pennington, 158.3 and 148.1) and Vinny Testaverde (147.9).

With Geno and the offense offering no giveaways for the first game this season while the defense turned the ball over once on Muhammad Wilkerson's strip-sack of Matt Ryan, the Jets were plus-1 in turnover margin, the first time they've been plus on the road since Game 10 at St. Louis last year.