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Wide receiver Brad Smith took a direct snap and tried to hand off to Jerricho Cotchery, but the ball squirted away. Cotchery jumped on top of it and was immediately hit, the ball coming loose. Fox picked it up and returned it for a touchdown.
Mangini wanted to challenge the call, but the officials ruled Cotchery had never gained possession so it was still a fumble, and not a reviewable play.
"I felt like Jerricho had possession," Mangini said. "They felt he didn't."
nes got the Jets right back in it with a 59-yard touchdown run on the opening play of New York's next possession. But Denver came right back four plays later when Royal, showing no signs of the toe injury that limited him in practice, scored on a 59-yard touchdown pass with 6:44 left.
Jones scored his second touchdown early in the second quarter on an athletic, heads-up play to put the Jets within three at 17-14. He took the handoff and went down, but his body rolled over the Broncos' Kenny Peterson without touching the ground. Jones bounced up and zipped into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown.
"I felt when he had tried to spin me around, I landed on top of him and I didn't feel the ground, so when I rolled back over, I just tried to stay on my feet," Jones said.
The Broncos had players injured -- Spencer Larsen, Ebenezer Ekuban and Dre' Bly -- on consecutive catch-and-runs by Leon Washington on one scoring drive, and a few others also went down during other drives. The fans booed, apparently thinking Denver was purposely trying to stop New York's momentum.
"We took it personal," Marshall said. "If not for the fans, the outcome might have been different. We thank the Jets fans for booing when our guys were down."
Notes: Royal set Broncos rookie records with his fifth touchdown reception and yards receiving for a single season. ... Jones' 11 rushing TDs are a career high.
Associated Press;
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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