Adrian Murrell was bottled up on this play, but the Cardinals
couldn't contain him and the Jets won their first game.
Associated Press

On Sunday, the Jets showed the worry was justified.

With Frank Reich, a 12-year veteran, to steady New York's talented young offensive players, the Jets mixed big plays, uncanny success on third down and long drives to beat the Cardinals 31-21.

They hardly looked like a team trying to break a franchise-record, 12-game losing streak.

"It means a lot, because in the past we found a way to lose the game, and we almost did today," said Adrian Murrell, the former Leilehua High star who set a Jets record with 199 yards in 31 carries. He scored the Jets' next-to-last touchdown on a 1-yard run and set up the last with a 78-yard sprint.

"I said to the guys after the game, 'If I was ever in a foxhole, it would have to be a really big foxhole, because I'd want all of you in there with me,' " said coach Rich Kotite, whose employment status has been questioned each week.

"Rich handed out the game ball, and he gave it to Adrian," said Reich, who hit 22 of 31 passes for 254 yards and one touchdown.. "If there is anyone who deserves a game ball, it is Richie, because he kept us hanging in there."

The Jets (1-8) took a 17-0 halftime lead on a 37-yard field goal by Nick Lowery, Reich's 34-yard pass to Keyshawn Johnson, and a 1-yard run by Richie Anderson. But it wasn't until Reggie Cobb ran 2 yards for the final TD with 4:55 remaining that the victory seemed secure.

To make sure, Lonnie Young picked off a pass by Kent Graham in the end zone with 2:16 to play.

The Cardinals (3-5) made a game of it in the third quarter, when Graham found Larry Centers with scoring throws of 1 and 2 yards that closed the gap to 17-14. In the fourth, he hit former Jet Rob Moore with a 6-yard throw after a 92-yard kickoff return by Leeland McElroy to the Jets 8.

That got Arizona within 24-21 with 11:47 left.

But a holding penalty on Terry Irving pushed Arizona back to its 9 on its next series, and the Cardinals had to punt after moving the ball 36 yards.

The Jets took over on their 20, and Murrell broke loose on the first snap, reaching the Arizona 2-yard line before Williams brought him down.

"I let that guy catch me,," Murrell said. "I wish I could have gotten in, but I'll take what I can get."

The Cardinals, who missed a chance to reach the season's midway point at .500 for the first time in five years, played catch-up because of Greg Davis' missed field goals of 28 and 33 yards. Davis, 9-for-11 on field goals before the game, was wide left on one try early in the first quarter and wide right on the second.

"We had things that hurt us the whole game, and what I did out there certainly didn't help," Davis said. "The first one I hooked, the second one I pushed."

Arizona played nearly three quarters without outside linebacker Seth Joyner, who was ejected for throwing a punch at Murrell after the fourth-year running back stepped on his chest.

"He had the opportunity to step over him and he chose to step on his chest," Bankston said. "I mean, what man would let another man step on him like that?"

Joyner was ejected for unnecessary roughness. On the way out, he threw his helmet and kicked a pylon.