PRO FOOTBALL : Jets Take Advantage of Lions : Shorter Routes Benefit New York in Long Run, 17-10

Ken O’Brien took what he could get against the Detroit Lions, which turned out to be plenty.

O’Brien completed 27 of 38 passes for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns Sunday, leading the New York Jets to a 17-10 victory over the Lions.

The Jets rolled up 316 total yards while holding the Lions to 183.

“They play awfully loose in the secondary,” Jet Coach Joe Walton said. “It’s tough to get behind them, so we had to play the short game.”

O’Brien fired a 26-yard scoring pass with 9:39 remaining to win the game, hitting a wide-open Wesley Walker.

“I had to find him (Walker) first,” O’Brien said. “He just kind of showed up wide open. I’m not sure how it happened. I’m just glad it did.”

Al Toon, who suffered a slight concussion last week that caused him to miss the second half of that game, caught 10 passes for 75 yards as the Jets picked up their third consecutive victory after an opening day defeat. The Lions fell to 1-3.

“I didn’t feel that great,” Toon said. “I wasn’t smooth. Mentally, I was OK, but I still have some soreness.”

O’Brien, the No. 2 passer in the AFC, also connected with Freeman McNeil for a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter. But he had his string of passes without an interception snapped at 211, the second-longest in NFL history, by Raphel Cherry in the third quarter. Former Green Bay star Bart Starr holds the record with 294 passes without an interception.

Garry James scored on a 1-yard run for Detroit in the third quarter, the first touchdown yielded by the AFC’s No. 1 defensive team in more than 10 quarters. The Jets their two previous games by a combined score of 68-6.