NFL MONDAY NIGHT Jets put it all together to beat Titans, 24-17

The loss prevented Tennessee from taking first place in the AFC South.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Jets know they almost certainly will head home in four weeks, while the Tennessee Titans go to the playoffs. So a prime-time meeting with one of the NFL's best teams was the perfect opportunity for the Jets to deliver a message.
That message came through loud and clear Monday night in New York's 24-17 victory.
"We wanted to come out on Monday night and show we could play with the best teams in the league and show what we are made of," said Sam Garnes, who had an interception in the Jets' impressive win.
"We've been clicking lately and we wanted to come in and prove what type of team we are," added Curtis Conway, whose best game as a Jet included a superb touchdown catch for the winning points. "We're not looking beyond anything or anyone. You can't look at what-ifs and what happened. We just want to keep winning games and win out if we can."
Jets make big plays
While the Jets (5-7) showed offensive balance and made big plays defensively, they also prevented the Titans (9-3) from taking over first place alone in the AFC South. Tennessee is tied with Indianapolis, which visits Nashville on Sunday.
The Titans need a much better performance then if they hope to move in front of the Colts. They can't afford two first-half interceptions or silly penalties such as for a simulated throat slash by Samari Rolle on his end-zone pickoff that wound up being reversed after a video review.
"It wasn't what the Jets were doing," insisted Steve McNair, who went the whole way despite coming off a calf injury. "It was more what we did to ourselves. The first half, we had too many turnovers. We stopped ourselves in a lot of drives."
Give New York's beleaguered defense some credit for that against the league's top-rated passer. In addition to interceptions by Garnes and Tyrone Carter, the Jets had three sacks and were making their hits count.
"They tackled better than we've seen," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "I thought their tackling was the difference tonight."
So was the accuracy of Chad Pennington, the running of Curtis Martin that loosened up the defense, and some clutch catches by Conway, Santana Moss and Kevin Swayne.
Receivers lead way
Conway had five receptions for 78 yards, Moss made three for 76 and Swayne caught his first career TD pass -- also his first catch of the year. Each had a reception of at least 27 yards, with Conway's coming on a fleaflicker.
Martin rushed for a touchdown -- his first of the year -- one play after Rolle's interception was overruled and his penalty placed the ball at the 6. Moss had a 31-yard gain after Pennington's pass to Chris Baker deflected off Baker as he hit the ground and went directly to Moss.
Pennington was perfect in the second half, going 8-for-8 for 134 yards with the two scores.