Uh, oh.
After a spectacular eight games in which he was almost automatic, New York Jets PK Nick Folk was a nightmare Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. He missed three field goals in the 26-20 OT win -- from 48 yards (wide right), 24 yards (right upright) and 47 yards (wide right). The latter came in overtime.
It's a good thing Santonio Holmes scored in overtime. Otherwise, they would've had to trot out Folk for another attempt.
"You wish you could take some back but you can't," said Folk, adding, "It was a pretty sloppy day for me."
The absolute killer was the 24-yard miss, because it came at the end of a 19-play drive that consumed 10 minutes of clock. Talk about deflating. Folk said his plant foot slipped on that attempt, prompting him to switch to a studded shoe.
It's a fickle business, kicking in the NFL. A week ago, he was a hero in Detroit, making the game-tying field goal at the end of regulation and winning it in overtime.
"Nick Folk has done an unbelievable job for us this whole season," Rex Ryan said. "This place is a notoriously tough place to kick. We don't make excuses. He hit the ball well, but he just had some misses. Today, we were able to pick him up."
Folk missed as many in one day as he had in the previous eight games.
Other Jets notes:
INJURY REPORT: QB Mark Sanchez (calf), WR Jerricho Cotchery (groin), LG Matt Slauson (knee), CB Dwight Lowery (head) and S Eric Smith (wrist). Cotchery appears to be the most seriously injured of the group. Slauson was hurt late in the third quarter, hurting the same knee he tweaked last week, and didn't finish the game. He was replaced by Rob Turner.
Sanchez was seen in the locker room with a huge ice pack attached to the calf. He finished the game and said he expects to play next Sunday against the Houston Texans. The word late Sunday night was that Sanchez should be fine.
The Browns suffered three key injuries in the game -- WR/KR Josh Cribbs (four dislocated toes), LB Scott Fujita (leg) and CB Sheldon Brown (knee). None of them returned.
MORE PUSH-UPS: Ryan's punitive push-up program, which has spread to the entire organization, didn't help curb the penalty situation. The Jets were flagged nine times for 70 yards. Sit-ups, anyone?
GROUND AND POUND: RB Shonn Greene was featured for the first time in the running game, as he rushed 20 times for 72 yards. LaDainian Tomlinson had 18 for 57, his fourth straight game in which he averaged 3.7 yards per carry or less. He has 221 yards over the last four games.
The Jets went with a power-running game, which may explain why Greene got so much work. The Jets also used the Wildcat package extensively, with Brad Smith rushing five times for 39 yards.
The Browns' Wildcat player, Cribbs, went out early in the game, taking out a chunk of their game plan.
FATHER KNOWS BEST: Sanchez' father, Nick Sr., had 45-yard line seats for the game, but he ended up watching most of it from the second-to-last row of the end-zone upper deck. Turns out that he likes to roam the stadium when he watches his son play. A couple of times, he said, he was in somebody else's seat and was asked to leave. That's why he ended up in the nose bleed section.
Sanchez said he remained stoic throughout the exciting game -- except when his son hit Holmes on the final play.
"Then I was yelling, 'Go, Santonio, go!" the elder Sanchez said outside the Jets' locker room.
REMEMBER WHEN: This was the first time the Jets won an OT game on a TD reception since Oct. 18, 1987. That was Eddie Hunter against the Miami Dolphins. It was the fourth time they've done it in their history.
FINE MESS: LB Bart Scott, who was fined $20,000 last week for playing with an unfastened chin strap, could be hit again in the wallet. He was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit on QB Colt McCoy.
BALL HOGS: The Jets controlled the ball for 47:08. The last team to have a longer time-of-possession in a game was the 1999 Pittsburgh Steelers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They had 47:49 in a 43-0 win over the Browns. That was more impressive because they did it in regulation.