The Jets finished 6-2 on the road this season
New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini has been nominated for Motorola Coach of the Week after the Green & White's 26-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on December 17.
"It was another good team effort. All the different phases were contributing: offense, defense, special teams and the coaches," Mangini said Monday. "Collectively it was just a really solid complementary game, and I was happy with that."
Battling for a playoff spot, Mangini directed the Jets to their eighth victory of the season – twice as many as the team had just one season ago. Led by quarterback Chad Pennington and his career-high 339 passing yards, the Jets pounded out 408 total yards en route to their fifth road win of the season.
"I thought Chad made a lot of really good decisions, not just in the passes that he completed but the passes that he threw away," Mangini said. "His decision-making overall was excellent."
The Jets defense held Vikings starting quarterback Brad Johnson to just 96 yards in three quarters of play before Minnesota coach Brad Childress replaced him with rookie Tarvaris Jackson. Linebacker Victor Hobson led the way with eight tackles and one sack while defensive back David Barrett picked up his third interception of the season. The Jets' focus on defense was to stop the run and they did just that, holding explosive back Chester Taylor to just 38 yards on 11 carries.
"Defensively one of the keys was stopping the run, like we talked about. We did a nice job there," added Mangini. "They have been very effective with third down and fourth down conversions. That was something we needed to do."
In his first season as a head coach, Mangini's club has caught fire down the stretch. They are 4-2 in their past six games and 6-3 in their past nine games. Next Monday night, the Jets play their first Christmas game in franchise history down in Miami against the Dolphins. A win would not only keep the Jets alive in their quest for the postseason, but it would place them three games over .500 for the first time this season and also give the Jets a 6-2 road record in 2006.
