OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Tim Brown reached a historic milestone Monday night as the Oakland Raiders won their fourth straight game, handing the New York Jets their first loss in five weeks with a 26-20 triumph.
Brown became the third player in history to record 1,000 career receptions on a six-yard catch 3 1/2 minutes into the second half. He was surprised by his entire family as the Raiders held a brief on-field ceremony.
"It was a very nice surprise," said Brown, whose mother had not seen him play since junior high school. "A record like this means you've played a lot of years with a lot of good players, and I certainly have."
Among them is Jerry Rice, who hauled in a 26-yard touchdown pass immediately after the ceremony, giving Oakland the lead for good at 13-10 with 10:59 to play in the third quarter.
"Well, we tried to distract them with that little performance," joked Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon, who completed 31-of-42 passes for 342 yards. "We hit Jerry in the back door, and it came at a good time."
Rice began the night with a record 1,446 catches. Cris Carter was second with 1,113, followed by Brown.
Gannon tied an NFL record with his ninth 300-yard passing game this season, but was happier that his team was able to tie the San Diego Chargers atop the AFC West with four games remaining.
"To be very honest with you, I don't care about that or anything, except wins and losses," he said. "That's the only record that matters. We have our fate in our own hands now. We can go out and control the AFC if we win out."
The Jets (6-6) may have to win out to make the playoffs, which seemed like a longshot just five weeks ago. They had won four straight games entering Monday night, and could have tied Miami and New England atop the AFC East with a victory.
"This was a tough loss," said wideout Laveranues Coles, who had 10 catches for 158 yards. "It's very disappointing after winning four straight, but we just have to put this behind us and go out and win next Sunday."
"We've won four in a row," said quarterback Chad Pennington. "That means we know how and that's exactly what we have to do now. "By no means are we out of this yet, and we control our own fate."
After Gannon hooked up with Rice for the go-ahead score, kick returner Chad Morton replaced Santana Moss on punts and fumbled his first try on a hit by Marcus Knight.
Oakland responded with a 12-yard scoring drive, making it 20-10 on Zack Crockett's one-yard run with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
After Sebastien Janikowski's fourth field goal of the day, the Jets got the final possession of the game with 66 seconds left, but needed to drive 74 yards. Pennington got them to Oakland's
35 before taking a sack and throwing an interception.
