OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Two second-half touchdown passes by Rich Gannon in a span of just over five minutes broke open a tense battle Sunday and lifted the Oakland Raiders into the AFC Championship game with a 30-10 victory over the New York Jets.
Oakland forced New York quarterback Chad Pennington into four turnovers and snuffed out the magical run of the Jets, who recovered from a 2-5 start to become a playoff-worthy team.
The Raiders will attempt to earn their first Super Bowl trip in 19 years next Sunday when they host the Tennessee Titans. They met in the fourth week of the regular season with Oakland mauling Tennessee, 52-25.
"Having the bye helped us and we came out and played a strong second half," Raiders Coach Bill Callahan said. "Rich made some big throws and we really finished strong today."
New York produced a touchdown with 22 seconds left in the second quarter to bring about a 10-10 halftime tie and then had possession at its own 22-yard line midway through the third period.
But on third and eight, Pennington was intercepted by cornerback Tory James at the Jets' 45. Two plays later, Gannon hit Jerry Porter in stride down the left sideline with a 29-yard touchdown pass to put the Raiders in front for good.
That score came with 4:24 remaining in the third period and Oakland took over again in the final seconds of the quarter when the Jets tried and failed to pick up a first down on fourth and two at the Oakland 34.
It took the Raiders just four plays to go the distance with the touchdown coming on a nine-yard throw from Gannon to Jerry Rice, the 21st career playoff scoring reception for the NFL's all-time record holder in almost every receiving category. No one else has more a dozen playoff touchdown catches.
Gannon, voted the NFL's MVP this season, completed 20 of 30 passes for 283 yards with Porter catching six of those throws for 123. Rice caught four passes for 47 yards, raising his all-time career playoff records to 141 catches for 2,089 yards.
"We were more aggressive in the second half," Gannon said. "We ran more than we threw in the first half, but in the second half we came out with a pass-pass-run mentality."
After the two Gannon scoring passes, New York's hopes for a comeback quickly ended in a flurry of turnovers. The Jets, with plenty of time remaining, moved to the Oakland 29 only to have running back Richie Anderson and Pennington miss connection on a handoff and fumble the ball away.
On Oakland's first play, Gannon was intercepted by Damien Robinson at the New York 49, but Pennington promptly threw yet another interception. Erik Barton picked Pennington off to effectively bring a halt to the Jets' season.
That interception led to a 34-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski and the Oakland kicker added a 31-yarder with 2:42 remaining to end the scoring.
Both teams produced field goals on their opening possession with John Hall kicking a 38-yarder for the Jets and Janikowski tying the contest on a 29-yarder.
Oakland took the lead three plays deep in the second quarter on a one-yard run by Zack Croskett that ended a 27-yard drive. The Raiders took over in the Jets' end of the field when Travian Smith knocked the ball out of Pennington's hand and then recovered the fumble.
Pennington's brighest moment came late in the first half when he directed the Jets 81 yards in 16 plays, converting four third downs on a touchdown march that tied the game at the half. The score was recorded on a one-yard throw from Pennington to Jerald Sowell.
Pennington completed 21 of 47 passes for 183 yards. The usually mistake-free Jets turned the ball over only seven times in their last 11 games, but seven of them came in games against the Raiders.
"There's an old saying that as the quarterback goes, so goes the team, and I didn't play well enough for us to have a chance to win," said Pennington, who was also sacked four times.
The loss came a year to the day the Jets (10-8) were eliminated here in the wild card round.
"I think we took a bigger step from last year and I think we can grow from that," second-year coach Herman Edwards said. "But we fell apart today in the second half. We just didn't play good enough to win."
Oakland will try to continue a strange season next week against the Titans. The Raiders opened the campaign with four straight wins, then suffered four straight losses. But the Raiders have captured eight of their last nine, the lone setback during that stretch coming against the Miami Dolphins.
The Raiders' victory also completed a sweep of the divisional round by the teams that earned first-round byes this season. It is the first time in four years that has happened.
If the home teams -- Oakland and Philadelphia -- win next Sunday's conference championship contests, it will bring about a rematch of Super Bowl XV, in which the Raiders downed the Eagles, 27-10.
