FLASH RECAP:
Jerry Rice and Charlie Garner have monster performances to lead Oakland (11-6) past New York in an American Conference wild-card playoff game before an announced crowd of 61,503 at Network Associates Coliseum on Jan. 12, 2002. Rice has nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown as the Raiders end a three-game losing streak and avenge their 24-22 loss to the Jets the previous Sunday. Garner, playing on a bruised right foot, rushes for 158 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. After the Jets narrow the deficit to 31-24, Garner scores the clincher on an Oakland playoff record 80-yard touchdown run with 1:27 remaining.
The Raiders' Rich Gannon completes 23 of 29 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns. Sebastian Janikowski, who missed the regular-season finale against New York because of a foot infection, is 3-for-3 on field goal attempts. Vinnie Testaverde rallies the Jets with three touchdown passes, two to Wayne Chrebet, in the second half.
PRIME-TIME PLAYERS:
WR Jerry Rice -- Ties a Raiders playoff record with nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown.
At 39, the former 49ers great becomes the oldest player in NFL postseason history to score a touchdown and total 100 or more receiving yards in a playoff game. Rice sets up Zack Crockett's 4-yard scoring run with a 47-yard catch on the final play of the third quarter. On the Raiders' next possession, Rice catches a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rich Gannon.
RB Charlie Garner -- Rushes for 158 yards on 15 carries. His 80-yard touchdown run on third-and-11 is the longest in franchise history, eclipsing a 74-yarder by Marcus Allen in Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.
QB Rich Gannon -- Completes 23 of 29 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns. His quarterback rating of 131.9 is his highest in the past seven games. He doesn't have an interception for the second straight game after throwing seven in the previous five games.
K Sebastian Janikowski -- Makes field goal attempts of 21, 41 and 45 yards. Janikowski prevents a possible touchdown late in the first quarter when he slows down New York's Chad Morton, who retruns a kickoff 41 yards before being tackled by Oakland's Randy Jordan at the Raiders' 48.
WR Tim Brown -- His 2-yard touchdown catch with 22 seconds left in the first half is his first touchdown reception in six games.
QB Vinnie Testaverde -- Completes 27 of 41 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Testaverde, who doesn't have an interception for the first time in four games, throws two fourth-quarter touchdown passes on fourth-down plays inside the Oakland 5.
WR Wayne Chrebet -- Catches 17- and 4-yard touchdown passes from Vinny Testaverde.
WR Laveranues Coles -- Contributes eight catches for 123 yards. Coles has 13 receptions for 234 yards in the past two games against Oakland.
RB Curtis Martin -- Rushes for 106 yards on 16 carries and catches six passes for 34 yards. Martin rushed for 61 yards in the previous two games at Oakland.
KR Chad Morton -- Returns five kickoffs for 154 yards (30.8 yard average).
GOAT(S) OF THE GAME:
New York defense. The Raiders scored a touchdown or field goal on seven of nine possessions. They gained 502 total yards, averaged 8.2 yards on 61 plays and converted six of 11 third-down plays. The Jets defense couldn't recover from the absence of Pro Bowl defensive end John Abraham, sidelined after Oakland's first offensive series because of a virus.
TURNING POINT:
With the Jets trailing 16-10 late in the third quarter, Raiders defensive tackle Grady Jackson recovers a Richie Anderson fumble at the Oakland 45. Strong safety Johnnie Harris forces the fumble after Anderson catches a 3-yard pass from Vinnie Testaverde. Two plays later, Rich Gannon throws a 47-yard pass to Jerry Rice to the New York 4. On first-and-goal, Zack Crockett has a 4-yard touchdown run over right guard. Charlie Garner then runs for the two-point conversion to increase Oakland's lead to 24-10 with three seconds elapsed in the fourth quarter.
KEY DRIVE:
Oakland moves 68 yards in seven plays for a touchdown to build a 31-17 lead with 5:53 remaining. Rich Gannon is 4-for-4 passing for 64 yards, including two 21-yard completions to Jerry Rice. On second-and-three, Gannon passes to Rice for 21 yards to the New York 44. On third-and-eight, Gannon throws a 20-yard pass to Jerry Porter to the New York 22. After a 1-yard run by Tyrone Wheatley, Gannon completes a 21-yard touchdown pass to Rice.
BY THE NUMBERS:
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0: Turnovers by Oakland the past two games against New York.
2: Consecutive 15-yard penalties (late hit and face mask infractions) on Oakland DE Regan Upshaw in the third quarter.
4: Touchdowns by the Raiders, who had only six touchdowns the previous four games.
20.3: Yards per catch on nine receptions by Oakland's Jerry Rice.
36: Combined points for the Jets and Raiders in the fourth quarter.
THEY SAID IT:
Raiders QB Rich Gannon
"We got off to a good start. The tempo was the difference. We caught them off-guard a little bit. For the most part, I think we had them off-balance all night."
"It was a volleyball match at the end. If we could have held them to a field goal on one of those last drives, it would have been a different game. But I'm proud of this team. We never stopped trying to come back, even when it looked impossible."
Jets coach Herman Edwards
DID YOU KNOW?:
The Raiders win their first playoff game against the Jets after two losses. Oakland suffered a 27-23 loss at New York in the 1968 American Football League championship game. The Jets beat the Raiders 17-14 at Los Angeles in a 1982 second-round playoff game.
Jerry Rice (80) catches one of his nine passes against the Jets.
By Associated Press
