Hostetler Feels Right at Home in 47-10 Rout

Jeff Hostetler is used to hearing the fans at Giants Stadium cheer for him. He simply never expected it while wearing an Oakland Raider uniform.

The Raiders never were tested Sunday night by the New York Jets as Hostetler threw for four touchdowns, three in the first half, in a 47-10 rout.

The Raiders (4-1) built a 31-3 halftime lead over the Jets, who sustained their worst home loss since 1989.

Early in the second half, many among the crowd of 68,941 on a gorgeous autumn evening began chanting “Let’s Go Raiders.” That surprised Hostetler, making his return to the stadium where he played for the other tenant, the Giants--leading them to a Super Bowl title in 1990.

“That was something,” Hostetler said. “You don’t usually hear that on the road.”

You don’t often see a team win by 37 points on the road, either. But the Raiders have taken to the West Coast offense, and Hostetler--who picked up first downs on all 14 of his completions--has run it to perfection, making Oakland the league’s highest-scoring team.

“This is completely different from the old Raider offense,” Hostetler said, referring to the bombs-away attitude Oakland carried for decades. “I was ready for a change and I’d seen the benefits of it even before I got involved in it.

“We’re just scratching the surface of what we can do with it.”

Hostetler picked apart a Jet defense ravaged by injuries. His main victim was rookie cornerback Vance Joseph, in his first NFL game. Tim Brown and Daryl Hobbs each beat Joseph for scores in the final two minutes of the second quarter.

From the opening play, Hostetler and Brown were unstoppable against the Jets, who were missing four regulars on defense. Brown caught a 12-yard pass to get things started and also had receptions of 17, 14, 11 and another of 17 for a touchdown. He wound up with eight catches for 156 yards.

“They put themselves in a position to fail,” Brown said. “You don’t just go out and get a cornerback off the street. I think they should have given him more help. It’s not a good time to put somebody like that out there.”

Hostetler, who was 14 for 23 for 261 yards, also had touchdown passes of two yards to Andrew Glover and six to Hobbs in the opening 30 minutes. Harvey Williams ran for an eight-yard score.

The easy victory was Oakland’s 10th in the last 11 meetings with the Jets (1-4).

“I’m embarrassed for the football team and for our families,” Jet Coach Rich Kotite said. “We had every reason in the world to come out and play well and the buck stops with me.”