Grand Night for the Raiders

As far as he has brought the New York Jets this season, quarterback Chad Pennington couldn’t bring them back quite far enough Monday at that Oakland Coliseum.

Not when he was facing a ravenous Oakland Raider defense that was protecting a six-point lead with little more than a minute to play. Say what you will about Pennington, compare him to Joe Namath -- and some New York radio analysts actually have -- but don’t deem him the NFL’s green monster. Not yet.

“He’s got a long way to go to prove himself,” Raider defensive tackle Sam Adams said after a 26-20 victory that gave the Raiders (8-4) a share of the AFC West lead with San Diego.

“He gets a couple of wins and everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon. He’s a good quarterback, I don’t want to take that away from him. But, please, let him earn it.”

If the Raiders were jumping on anything it was Pennington, the third-year player who replaced Vinny Testaverde early in the season and rescued the Jets (6-6) from the wreckage of a 2-5 start. He showed a bit of the magic on New York’s last-gasp drive Monday. Working with no timeouts, he used 46 seconds to drive the Jets from their 26 to Oakland’s 35, where he spiked the ball with 19 seconds remaining.

That’s when Rod Coleman sacked him for an 11-yard loss, leaving the Jets just enough time for one shot at the end zone. The desperation pass was intercepted by Rod Woodson, who assured the Raiders of their fourth consecutive victory.

“It’s a pretty tough situation to put anybody in,” Woodson said of Pennington. “It would be tough for John Elway, let alone a young guy.”

This game belonged to the Raiders, even though the scoreboard didn’t always reflect it. They led for most of the game, held the ball almost 13 minutes longer, and outgained the Jets, 411 yards to 274.

Along the way, Oakland players reached some significant milestones.

Most notable of those was Tim Brown, who made his 1,000th reception to join Jerry Rice and Cris Carter as the only players in NFL history to reach quadruple digits in catches.

The game was stopped early in the third quarter so Brown could be honored for his achievement. With a video montage of his career playing on the scoreboards, he was greeted on the field by players from both teams as well as some relatives, chauffeured onto the turf in a swanky golf cart.

Brown wiped his eyes with his wristbands and handed the ball to an equipment man for safekeeping.

It was a landmark night for Rich Gannon, too. The Raider quarterback threw for 342 yards, the ninth time this season he surpassed the 300-yard plateau.

That tied the NFL record held by Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Kurt Warner.

When it comes to star power, though, no one has the wattage of Rice. There was a reminder of that on the play immediately after the Brown celebration, when Rice reeled in a pass over the middle, twisted out of a tackle and glided into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown. The place went crazy as the Raiders -- who briefly trailed 7-6 and 10-6 -- regained the lead, 13-10.

With 2:35 remaining in the third quarter, the lead grew to 20-10 after New York’s Chad Morton muffed a punt return, which the Raiders recovered. Four plays later, Zack Crockett scored from the one.

The Jets wouldn’t have been close at the end, many Raider players said, if not for a slew of penalties. The Raiders were flagged 10 times for 83 yards -- including one possession that featured three false starts and a holding call.

“You could say we were antsy,” tackle Lincoln Kennedy said.

“It was jitters, nerves. Everyone wanted to put on a good performance with the world watching.... We shot ourselves in the foot.”

Merely a flesh wound for a team that has endured roller-coaster symmetry this season, winning its first four games, losing its next four, and winning its next four.

On deck are the Chargers, who will play host to the Raiders on Sunday. San Diego beat Oakland in overtime in their first meeting this season.