During their franchise-tying 4-0 start, the Jets have found a comfort zone of immense importance: the red zone, the critical area that extends from an opponent's 20-yard line to the goal line. It is where things happen quickly, where the field is condensed and mistakes by either side have a powerful effect on a game's outcome.
It is also where Jets quarterback Chad Pennington has been flawless in protecting the ball. He has not turned it over in the red zone this season, extending a remarkable streak. In his NFL career, Pennington has thrown 103 passes in the red zone, and not one has been intercepted. He has completed 67 passes, 31 for touchdowns. His red-zone passer rating is 120.4. His completion percentage there is a striking 73.5.
On Sunday, when the Jets face the San Francisco 49ers at Giants Stadium, they will confront an opponent that is 1-4, in part because of a poor defensive effort in the red zone. The 49ers have yielded touchdowns to opponents 68.2 percent of the time in the red zone, the worst in the National Football Conference.
The Jets' offense, meanwhile, has been inside the red zone 13 times this season and has scored 7 touchdowns and 5 field goals.
"You can't hesitate in the red zone," Pennington said. "Guys don't get wide open, because there isn't a lot of room."
During Pennington's first two years with the Jets, which he spent on the bench, he often hesitated in practice because he was trying to make the perfect play.
just do it
"Just throw the ball; don't worry so much," coach Herman Edwards told him after becoming the head coach in 2001.
After the Jets' practice on Friday, Edwards said this about Pennington's recent performance in the red zone: "He's had the ability to `read' correctly. He reads our offense and he reads the defenses. He knows if his primary receiver is taken, he understands he has to get rid of the ball quickly."
Pennington will not have his normal array of protection, though, against a big San Francisco interior line that has 300-pound Anthony Adams and 291-pound Bryant Young at the tackles. Because of injuries, the Jets will play two backups, Brent Smith and Jonathan Goodwin, at guard.
on the line
The linemen have played a lot recently, and their jobs will be to stop a defensive surge up the middle to allow Pennington the brief time he needs to spot a receiver.
Running back Curtis Martin knew from the beginning of mini-camps that the Jets would concentrate on being more productive in the red zone this season.
"We've been talking about it since then," Martin said. "This week in practice, when we got to the red zone, the coaches always said something extra. We call it the Money Zone. It's like putting in golf: You drive for show, you putt for the dough."
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