The Jets showed up big time on Sunday on both sides of the ball.
Fueled by last week's debacle in Jacksonville, they became the big-play Jets in front of their home fans.
Sam Darnold threw two long touchdown passes to Robby Anderson. Isaiah Crowell rushed for a franchise-record 219 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown scamper. And the defense held Denver in check in the Jets' 34-16 beatdown of the Broncos.
The bounce-back was impressive after the Jets gave up 503 yards in a 19-point loss to the Jaguars. The Jets (2-3) left no doubt as they opened a three-game homestand with their first victory of the season at MetLife Stadium, and snapped a three-game losing streak in the process.
The Jets ran for 323 yards on a day the offense totaled 512 yards. Darnold had the first three-touchdown game of his career. The defense sacked Case Keenum four times. End Leonard Williams had two sacks.
Darnold finished 10-for-22 for 198 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He had scoring strikes of 76 and 35 yards to Anderson and a 20-yard touchdown to Terrelle Pryor. Anderson, who had only eight receptions for 108 yards coming in, caught three passes for 123 yards.
Crowell rushed 15 times for 219 yards and the one TD. He totaled 231 yards from scrimmage. Bilal Powell was one yard short of 100, he carried the ball 20 times for 99 yards.
The Jets started to take control of the game with a 21-point second quarter. Crowell's long TD run and Anderson's 76-yard catch came just 3:01 apart.
It was just the third time the Jets had two scoring plays of 75-plus yards in the same game. The last time it happened was in 1972, when Joe Namath threw TD pass of 79 and 80 yards to Rich Caster.
Todd Bowles handled the play-calling duties for the defense with coordinator Kacy Rodgers away from the team to deal with a health issue. Bowles called a terrific game, as the defense applied pressure on Keenum all day. The Jets also held the No. 2 rushing team in the league to just 92 yards on the ground.
The game ended with Marcus Maye intercepting a ball in the end zone and taking it 103 yards, but he was tackled at the Broncos' 1-yard line.
Things didn't start well for the Jets.
On their second offensive play Powell fumbled on a rush for the first time in his eight-year career. The Broncos recovered on the Jets' 20, and converted it into a touchdown three plays later. Keenum threw his first TD pass since Week 1, connecting with DaeSean Hamilton for an 8-yard score to give the Broncos a 7-0 lead.
The Jets were scoreless in the first quarter for the fourth straight game. Kicker Jason Myers could have changed that, but he missed a 30-yard field goal.
Everything changed for the Jets in the second quarter. Crowell ran left for the 77-yard touchdown on the Jets' first play from scrimmage in the period.
The Jets defense came to life also. Williams had a big third-down sack. On the ensuing series, the Jets went up 14-7 when Darnold found Anderson downfield in stride and he raced 76 yards for the touchdown.
After the Broncos closed to 14-10 on a Brandon McManus 30-yard field goal, Darnold and the Jets had another big play in them. Darnold threw another beautiful ball to Anderson, this time in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown with 1:13 left in the half.
The Jets had a chance to do more damage at the start of the third as Crowell broke free for a 54-yard run on the first play from scrimmage of the quarter. But Darnold's pass on third-and-11 from the Broncos' 35 was tipped and picked off by Derek Wolfe.
But the Jets' defense made another big stand as Williams sacked Keenum on third down again. The Jets went ahead by two touchdowns, 24-10, on their next series. Myers capped a 13-play drive with a 49-yard field goal.
