EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Chad Pennington made some great throws and some ugly ones. He took a few hits, too.

While his return from a strained right rotator cuff was far from perfect, Curtis Martin was stellar yet again, and the two helped the Jets rally for a 29-7 victory over the Houston Texans yesterday.

Pennington, back after missing three games, directed three second-half touchdown drives and Martin added his seventh 100-yard game of the season to help the Jets (9-3) stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race.

It was not all Pennington and Martin, though. The Jets had another solid defensive effort, shutting out the Texans (5-7) in the second half – the sixth time this season they’ve blanked an opponent over the final two quarters– and allowing 10 points or fewer for the third straight game.

Martin had 134 yards on 23 carries, going over the 1,300 yard mark on the season. He needs 26 yards to become the fifth back to reach 13,000 yards in a career. In all, the Jets had 36 carries for 210 yards on the ground.

Pennington finished 20-of-27 for 155 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. But Martin’s 4-yard TD run in the third quarter gave the Jets the lead for good following a bizarre sequence on Houston’s first drive of the half.

Facing fourth-and-7 from their own 6, the Texans snapped the ball into the leg of the referee standing in the end zone, and the Jets appeared to recover for a safety. But the play was whistled dead before the snap because the officials were not ready. The next time, Houston was called for holding, moving the ball back to the 3.On the third punt attempt, Chad Stanley got it off for 47 yards, but Santana Moss returned the ball 46,barely stepping out at the Texans 4.

Martin plunged in from there, making it 13-7. The Texans were still in it, but their following drive ended in disaster in another strange sequence. After a big 37-yard pass from David Carr to Andre Johnson to the Jets 37, the Texans moved backward thanks to intentional grounding and a personal foul on left guard Chester Pitts. They never mustered much after that.

The Jets, meanwhile, kept cruising. Pennington threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Martin, then a 2-yarder to Anthony Becht following an interception by Erik Coleman, putting the game out of reach. Doug Brien also kicked three field goals (41, 26, 25).

Carr finished 12-of-25 for 157 yards with two interceptions, while Johnson had 125 yards on seven catches for the first 1,000 yard season of his career. The Jets held Domanick Davis to 52 yards on 17 carries.

Houston led 7-6 at halftime but it could have been more. Carr threw incomplete in the end zone on fourth down on the first drive of the game, and Davis also had a 60-yard touchdown run called back because of a holding penalty.

The Jets did not look so great themselves. Though Pennington completed his first nine passes for 81 yards, Gang Green failed to score touchdowns both times it got inside the 25 and had to settle for field goals to go up 6-0.

The Jets lost defensive end John Abraham for the second half after he sprained his right knee.