After breaking down the tape of the New York Jets-Washington Redskins game, some highlights and lowlights:

THUMB'S UP

• LaDainian Tomlinson. He made three plays that jumped out, each of which highlighted a different part of his game. On his 43-yard run, a "stretch" play to the right, he showed patience, cut-back ability and open-field speed. (By the way, WR Braylon Edwards made a great cut-block in the play.) On his 15-yard run, it was change-of-direction and acceleration. Face-to-face with LB London Fletcher, Tomlinson cut on a dime to his left and beat CB Phillip Buchanon around the corner. On his 9-yard reception, a third-and-9 play at the end of the third quarter, he showed elusiveness, darting around two defenders to make nine yards in YAC. Impressive stuff.

• Kick coverage. For the second straight week, the Jets' special teams made a takeaway. This time, Brad Smith stripped the ball from PR Brandon Banks and it was recovered by Vernon Gholston. That's four takeaways in the last two games. If that continues in the regular season, it will be the difference in a game or two. A turnover on special teams is huge.

• Dustin Keller. After being ignored for the better part of 2 1/2 games, Keller finally became a focal point in the passing attack. He caught five passes for 46 yards, including a 10-yard TD reception. On the touchdown, he ran a "stick" route to the 4, broke a tackle and dived into the end zone. Keller has been the forgotten man this summer because of the new additions, but it would be a mistake to not keep feeding him the ball. Mark Sanchez completed five of the six balls he threw to Keller, the lone miss being the interception in the red zone -- a big miss.

THUMB'S DOWN

• Sanchez. He played better than last week in Carolina, but that red-zone interception was inexcusable, especially on third down. CB DeAngelo Hall made a cagey veteran move, peeling off his man (Edwards) to step in front of the pass. But he wouldn't have been able to read if it Sanchez hadn't locked on to Keller. By the way, Tomlinson was wide open on an underneath route. This hasn't been sharp preseason for Sanchez, who has led the starting offense to only two touchdowns in 18 possessions.

• The offensive line. This was an uncharacteristic performance. LT D'Brickahsaw Ferguson was penalized twice for holding. RT Damien Woody surrendered a sack to OLB Chris Wilson. On the same play, RG Brandon Moore was bull rushed by OLB Lorenzo Alexander, collapsing the pocket. Rookie LG Vladimir Ducasse got beat by DE Kedric Golston, who drove Sanchez' right shoulder into the ground after an incompletion. (Didn't notice this until I reviewed the game, but Sanchez' right shoulder was wrapped under his jersey during a fourth-quarter, sideline interview. He insisted he was fine, and that doctors gave the thumb's up to his shoulder. After the game, he was dressed in a suit when he met with reporters and it was impossible to tell if it was wrapped.) Later, DE Jeremy Jarmon recorded a sack, coming clean between Ducasse and backup C Rob Turner -- an obvious miscommunication.

• Antonio Cromartie. The Jets' No. 1 cornerback, sans Darrelle Revis, committed two penalties (holding and pass interference). The holding call nullified his own interception. He got beat by Santana Moss on a 40-yard pass, but Cromartie caught a break because Moss dropped it. If Moss makes that catch, you can bet there would be a lot of talk about how the Jets need to get Revis into camp, ASAP. On the positive side, Cromartie did make a nice open-field tackle. But as the coaches like to say, he doesn't get paid to tackle. He gets paid to cover and his coverage was sloppy at times.