OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Darren McFadden ran past, around and through the Jets unlike any back has since Rex Ryan turned New York into one of the NFL's biggest bullies after arriving two years ago.
About the only thing McFadden was unable to do was throw a pass - not for a lack of trying.
McFadden rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns and turned a broken halfback option play into a 27-yard run that set up the go-ahead score in the Oakland Raiders' 34-24 victory over the Jets on Sunday.
"I told you guys I think he's one of the best players in football and he demonstrated that today," coach Hue Jackson said.
After getting Oakland (2-1) back into the game with his 70-yard touchdown run in the second quarter - twice as long as any previous run in two-plus seasons against Ryan's Jets - McFadden helped the Raiders seize control during a dizzying stretch beginning late in the third.
It started when rookie Chimdi Chekwa broke up a fourth-down pass to Plaxico Burress. Three plays later, Jackson called for a halfback option play that didn't work when the Jets covered Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell.
"I wanted to throw the ball, but Jason being a quarterback, he was kind of covered, so I felt like it was in my best interest to just go ahead and run it," McFadden said.
McFadden did just that, running 27 yards while faking a pass about 8 yards down the field.
On the next play, rookie Denarius Moore took a reverse that the Jets appeared to have stopped. But Moore cut upfield to elude David Harris and Samson Satele flattened Jim Leonhard with a block, springing Moore for the touchdown that made it 24-17.
"Let your players make plays," Jackson said. "That's what I'm trying to create here. I'm going to create an environment where our great players can do something special."
A week after blowing a game defensively in the second half at Buffalo, the Raiders finished against New York. Campbell scrambled 10 yards and found Bush for a 28-yard gain after buying time with his feet to set up Sebastian Janikowski's 49-yard field goal with 2:32 left to ice it.
Campbell was 18 for 27 for 156 yards, but the Raiders won this game in the trenches.
"They're a physical football team and I felt like that played right into our hands," Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. "Because we're pretty physical up front on the offensive and defensive lines. Any time a team wants to come in and play that type of game with us, I like our chances all the time."
The Raiders showed no hangover from last week's second-half collapse. They took just five plays to drive 76 yards for the opening score against the Jets, with tight end Kevin Boss making a 28-yard catch in his Oakland debut to set up McFadden's 2-yard run.
