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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Now Ray Lucas will remove himself
from the spotlight until he is needed.
Lucas threw for three touchdowns Friday night in leading the New
York Jets to their fifth straight win in the annual preseason
series with the Giants, 27-24. He did so fully knowing that in two
weeks, when the regular season begins, Vinny Testaverde will be at
quarterback.
|  | | The Jets hope Curtis Martin stays true to his winning form during the regular season. |
"It's Vinny's team," Lucas said after a 286-yard passing
performance. "But if he goes down, I'll be ready.
"I think we're a better team with Vinny in there. I'm still
learning."
The learning curve certainly has been accelerated in the last
year. Testaverde tore his Achilles' tendon in the 1999 season
opener and, once Lucas took over for the inept Rick Mirer, he led
the Jets to a 6-3 record. He played Friday night while Testaverde
rested a sprained toe.
Lucas also played with extra incentive.
"It meant a lot today, after we got our butts kicked the last
time," he said of a 41-28 regular-season loss to the Giants. "I
was ready to go; I was ready to explode. We were not going to be
stopped today."
It will be difficult to stop the Jets if Curtis Martin keeps his
form of the exhibition season. Martin rushed for 258 yards on 50
carries as the Jets went 2-2 -- they have a bye this week before
opening at Green Bay.
"It was definitely my best preseason," said Martin, who gained
107 yards on 18 carries Friday night. "It was my goal to have a
good offseason and good preseason. So far, so good."
The Jets led most of the way, but the Giants tied it with 2:25
remaining in the third quarter on Kerry Collins' second touchdown
pass of the night, a 10-yarder to Ike Hilliard.
The Jets responded behind Martin and Lucas, the keys to their
four-game winning streak to end last season.
Martin, who has looked sharp throughout the preseason, went over
100 yards rushing with a 24-yarder late in the third quarter. That
set up John Hall's 39-yard field goal for a 20-17 lead.
Lucas stayed in to lead an 81-yard drive, hitting first-year
tight end Jermaine Wiggins on a 30-yard scoring pass against Giants
backups.
"He did an excellent job, but that's what Ray and I and all the
members of our football team expected," coach Al Groh said.
The Giants fell to 0-3 with a sloppy effort that had coach Jim
Fassel seething on the sideline. Collins, however, threw for 275
yards on 16 completions, but the Giants had 16 penalties for 105
yards.
"I wanted to progress and we digressed between last week and
this week," Fassel said. "I am not happy at all, not happy with
any phase of the game.
"We've got two weeks before we open the season, there are some
guys who are going to get wakeup calls."
Who?
"Everybody."
An entertaining first quarter degenerated in the second period.
Turnovers and penalties slowed things to a crawl; the Giants alone
had 11 penalties for 61 yards in the second quarter and cost
themselves at least a field goal try in the dying seconds.
Both sides had trouble holding onto the ball. Martin and Richie
Anderson lost fumbles for the Jets. Tiki Barber, who otherwise
played well, bobbled the ball away at the Jets 5 and Collins was
intercepted by Marcus Coleman in the end zone on the final play of
the first half.
There also were some fireworks, including Lucas' perfect 52-yard
touchdown pass to Wayne Chrebet on a flea-flicker.
"We pull out the flea-flicker because they are waiting for me
to run the ball and everybody is blitzing," Martin said. "I get
the ball like we're running and pass it back and our guy is wide
open."
The Giants answered just 1:25 later as Amani Toomer toasted
Coleman for a 73-yard bomb, bringing the Giants within 14-10.
Hall's 26-yard field goal capping a drive on which the Giants had
three straight penalties made it 17-10 at the half.
Lucas' first scoring pass, on the opening series, was a 6-yarder
to Richie Anderson that capped a precise 66-yard drive.
Joe Jurevicius caught a 16-yard TD pass from Jason Garrett with
15 seconds remaining to close the scoring for the Giants.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
NY Giants Clubhouse
NY Jets Clubhouse
Jets decide to sit Testaverde for exhibition game
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