The Jets offense continued to ride the hot hands of receivers Jermaine Kearse and Robby Anderson as they combined for 264 yards on 17 catches in the team's 38-31 win over the Chiefs.
The duo became the first Jets receivers since Don Maynard and George Sauer in 1967 to record back-to-back games with over 100 yards. Anderson, whose five-game touchdown streak ended Sunday, tallied 107 yards on eight catches while Kearse recorded a career high in both catches and yards with nine and 157.
"We just go out there and work every day. We try to push each other whether he's trying to push me or I'm trying to push him," Kearse said. "We're competitive out there. It's a testament to our whole group. I don't think just me and Robby, our young guys are contributing to that as well. It's also good to have a win come behind it."
Over the past two games, the duo has combined for 515 yards and three touchdowns on 35 catches. Entering Sunday's contest, Anderson was tied for third in the NFL with 16 receptions of at least 20 yards. Today, the speedster mostly utilized the underneath routes as seven of his eight receptions went for less than 20 yards.
Meanwhile, Kearse had a pair of 40-plus yard catches. In the first quarter, Kearse brought in a 44-yarder that eventually led to a Josh McCown touchdown run to tie the game at 14. In the fourth quarter, he took a short pass 51 yards that set the Jets up with a first-and-goal at the five. Shortly thereafter, McCown gave the Green & White a 38-31 lead with 2:20 remaining with his second rushing score of the game.
"I thought they played great," head coach Todd Bowles said of the receiving tandem. "I thought everybody on offense played great for the most part. They had some big catches and some tough blocks. I thought they did a good job."
Entering the season, there weren't a lot of external expectations for this receiving corps following the departures of Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker and the season-ending neck injury to Quincy Enunwa.
But Kearse, in his sixth NFL season, already has a career-high 51 receptions and has tied a personnel best with five touchdowns. He is also on pace for 903 yards, which would be a personal best. Anderson leads the Green & White with 821 yards and seven touchdowns in his second season.
"It's not necessarily proving people wrong, it's proving the people who believed in us right," Kearse said. "I think that's our focus. We don't necessarily worry about people who doubt us, but the people that support us and have our back. We do it for them."
