That sounds freaking scary. I've had the wind knocked out of me, but never for 30 secons. It's freaky enough when it happens for just a moment. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/27/sports/football/27jets.html?ref=sports EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Nov. 26 ? A hush fell over Giants Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Inside the circle that closed around Jets quarterback Chad Pennington?s crumpled form, receiver Jerricho Cotchery did not like what he was hearing. ?My heart dropped,? Cotchery said. ?He was making noises, the kind you don?t ever want to hear. I didn?t even want to go over there.? A third-year pro, Cotchery had watched Pennington come back from two career-threatening shoulder operations, and for several seconds during the third quarter of the Jets? 26-11 victory against the Houston Texans, he thought Pennington?s injury-plagued career was taking another wretched turn. With 6 minutes 20 seconds left in the quarter, Cotchery caught a 4-yard pass that Pennington threw with defensive end Jason Babin wrapped around his ankles. As soon as the ball left Pennington?s fingertips, he absorbed a blind-side hit from the Texans? other defensive end, Mario Williams, the first player selected in last spring?s draft. Pennington toppled to the ground as if he were a tall tree that had been axed. ?My arm was caught up underneath me and that was what knocked the wind out of me,? Pennington said. With the Jets? passing game stalled in recent weeks, Pennington was buried by critics in the days leading to the game, and as he lay gasping for air, there was a split second when he said he wondered if he was indeed on the verge of a very public, very painful death. ?I thought I wasn?t going to make it,? Pennington said afterward. He sounded as if he were only half-joking. ?If anyone has ever had that done, you know it is the worst thing in the world. You?re sitting there like: ?Oh my goodness. I?m not going to make it through this.? ? The first teammate to reach his side was receiver Laveranues Coles, who said, ?He had me kind of scared for a second, to be honest.? Coles, Pennington?s closest friend on the team, had spent a good part of the previous week defending Pennington?s play and their professional rapport, at one point saying, ?I would take my last breath and give it to him.? Fortunately, it would not come to that. After a tense 30 seconds that Pennington said felt like an hour, he got his breath back. He rose, shook his shoulders to make sure there were no loose parts, then walked off the field on his own power, to thunderous applause. On his way to the sideline, Pennington raised his arms like a symphony conductor, directing the crowd to get louder, its cheering veritable music to his ears after the scattered jeers that dogged him during his performance the week before, when he threw for 163 yards with two interceptions in a 10-0 loss to Chicago. ?I was happy that I was breathing again and that I was alive,? Pennington said. ?And I wanted to let the crowd know that I was O.K..? After one play ? an incompletion by his backup, Patrick Ramsey ? Pennington returned and promptly misfired on a pass to the rookie Brad Smith. From then on, Pennington was perfect. He completed his last eight throws and finished with 286 yards passing, ending a six-game stretch of fewer than 200 yards passing. Pennington, a seventh-year veteran, connected with eight different receivers, including his trusted standbys, Coles (nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown, his first in five games) and Cotchery (seven receptions for 110 yards). He was 24 of 31 with no interceptions. ?Chad was just letting it all hang out today,? Cotchery said, adding, ?Once he gets in a groove, it?s hard to stop him.? The Jets moved to 6-5 and remain in position to make the playoffs. Houston fell to 3-8. The Jets? defense, led by end Shaun Ellis (one and a half sacks) and safety Kerry Rhodes (11 tackles), would not let Texans quarterback David Carr get comfortable. Neither team could run the ball ? the teams combined for 52 yards on the ground ? which explains the 86 pass attempts. Carr had 54 of those. He completed 39 and was intercepted once, by Rhodes during the Texans? possession that came immediately after Pennington?s scare. After Rhodes?s pick, Pennington trotted back onto the field as if Williams?s hit had never happened. On the second play from scrimmage, he completed an 18-yard pass to Cotchery to set up Cedric Houston?s 1-yard scoring run, which extended the Jets? lead to 23-3. On the sideline, Ramsey turned to Kellen Clemens, the rookie quarterback, and said of Pennington, ?Man, he?s on fire right now.? On the last play of the third quarter, Pennington stayed in the pocket, ignoring the swarming Texans at his feet to complete a 10-yard pass to Coles on third down. The Jets had needed 11 yards for a first down, and Coach Eric Mangini decided to go for the final yard. Pennington made the gamble pay off by running for 2 yards, to the Jets? 41. The drive ended with a field goal by Mike Nugent ? his fourth of the day ? from 40 yards. Nugent connected from 23 yards in the first quarter, 34 in the second and 54 with a little more than a minute remaining in the half. The 54-yarder was the longest of his two-year professional career. He made a 55-yarder at Ohio State. Nugent showed his grit in the second quarter when he tackled Dexter Wynn at the Texans? 33 after Wynn took Nugent?s kickoff a yard deep in the end zone and sprinted toward daylight. ?Today in warm-ups my leg felt really strong,? Nugent said. ?I just felt really solid today.? On any other day, Nugent?s toughness and precision would have been the story. But this day belonged to Pennington, who was breathing a lot easier when the Texans had the ball and a 15-point deficit with less than two minutes remaining. He plunked himself down next to Coles on a bench, and soon the two were laughing at something Coles had said, their connection as strong as ever. Clemens said, ?To get the wind knocked out of him like Chad did was scary for everybody, but I don?t think it rattled him at all.?
