They’re Hall Alone in First

The way John Hall reacted, you would have thought he had kicked the ball over the rainbow decorating the sky above Giants Stadium.

He didn’t need to get it that high, but his 37-yarder in overtime Sunday was strong enough to lift the New York Jets, 1-15 last season, to sole possession of the AFC East lead.

After the rain, wind, lightning and thunder--with sloppy play to match--disappeared, Hall’s fourth field goal, with the sun shining, gave the Jets a 19-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. It was the first game-winner of Hall’s career at any level and put the Jets (6-3) one game in front of Miami, Buffalo and New England. The Jets are alone atop the division this late in a season for the first time in 11 years.

Hall took off his helmet and pranced around the field before being mobbed by his teammates.

“I lost my mind,” said Hall, who had Matt Bahr--a kicker for Jet Coach Bill Parcells with the New York Giants and New England Patriots--help him in practice last week. “I’m not really a showboating type of person. It was a fun game and I was excited. You don’t get many opportunities to do things like that.”

Nor do backup quarterbacks get many chances to do what Glenn Foley has the last two games. He guided the Jets to a victory over New England before last week’s open date, and he again relieved Neil O’Donnell on Sunday.

Foley, who came on in the fourth quarter, drove the Jets 60 yards to the winning kick.

Baltimore (4-5) tied the score with three seconds left in regulation when Derrick Alexander sneaked behind Otis Smith on a fourth-down play to catch Vinny Testaverde’s pass for a 16-yard touchdown. That capped an 80-yard drive that took 1:54.