For all the lessons that the Jets learned about themselves in the past month, they uncovered the most sobering one under the bright lights on Sunday night:
The AFC East still belongs to the Patriots.
Gang Green’s eternal nemesis delivered an emphatic message with a 37-16 win that smacked Rex Ryan’s team down to earth and severely hampered their chances at winning the division. The Jets’ path to the Super Bowl also became infinitely more difficult with a loss that could sting for a very long time. The Patriots (6-3) hold a one-game lead with the tiebreaker advantage after sweeping the season series against the Jets (5-4), who will likely be fighting with a handful teams for a wildcard spot.
Tom Brady carved up the Jets in the second half to help the Patriots avoid their first three-game losing streak in nine years. The Jets’ three-game winning streak came to a crashing halt thanks, in part, to three second-half turnovers.
Brady threw two second-half touchdowns to hand Gang Green their first home loss of the season.
The Patriots padded their 13-9 halftime lead thanks to a pair of Jets’ turnovers in the third quarter.
Joe McKnight’s muffed punt gave New England great field position that help set up Stephen Gostkowski’s third field goal. McKnight let it slip right through his hands and Donald Strickland couldn’t corral it.
The Patriots’ recovered the ball at the Jets’ 13. Tom Brady appeared to find Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown, but video replays showed that the tight end stepped out of bounds at the back of the end zone before coming back in and catching it. New England settled for Gostkowski’s 27-yard field goal to take a 16-9 with 9:55 to go in the third quarter.
Ryan’s team made their second gaffe of the quarter when Mark Sanchez’s pass bounced off Shonn Greene’s facemask, ricocheted off Jerod Mayo and into Rob Ninkovich’s arms for an easy interception. Brady quickened the tempo on the Patriots’ ensuing 8-play scoring drive capped by his 5-yard strike to Rob Gronkowski to give New England a 23-9 lead with under five minutes to go in the third quarter.
The Jets trailed 13-9 at halftime thanks to a late scoring drive engineered by Brady. The Jets overcame an early 6-0 deficit to take their first lead on Sanchez’s two-yard touchdown run with 1:20 to go before intermission. However, Sanchez made a tactical error right before that play by calling a timeout with too much time on the play clock. Brady was left with ample time to orchestrate an 80-yard march in just over a minute to re-take the lead. He hooked up with tight end Rob Gronkowski three times, including an 18-yard touchdown with nine seconds left in the first half. The Patriots took advantage of Eric Smith’s 15-yard facemask penalty to set up Gronkowski’s score.
Gang Green converted just one third down in the first half against the Patriots’ worst-ranked defense. The Jets’ offensive line had trouble protecting Sanchez for the better part of the first half. The Patriots had only 15 sacks in the first eight games, but sacked Sanchez four times in the first half.
The Jets wasted a good opening drive for the second straight week. Sanchez completed passes of 16, 11 and 27 yards on the first drive and got his team to the Patriots’ 9-yard line before the drive stalled. Then, Nick Folk missed a 24-yard field goal to keep it scoreless. The Jets, who entered the game fourth in the league in red zone touchdown efficiency, attacked the Patriots’ leaky secondary with three-wide receiver formations early.
New England responded with a 9-play drive that gave them an early lead. After Jets’ cornerback Kyle Wilson missed a golden opportunity for an interception, Stephen Gostkowski drilled a 50-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 3-0 edge midway through the first quarter.
The Patriots took advantage of a defensive breakdown on their next drive that resulted in a 53-yard completion to Chad Ochocinco. The Patriots lined up in a bunch formation with three receivers that caught the Jets off guard. Darrelle Revis appeared to be calling for a timeout after recognizing that Gang Green only had two defenders in the area. Donald Strickland came over right before the snap, but Brady found Ochocinco, who got behind the defenders. Gostkowski made a 36-yard field goal to cap the 7-play scoring drive and give the Patriots a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Brady looked shaky at times in the first half even though Gang Green didn’t get much pressure on him. The Jets nearly caught a break on the Patriots’ botched shotgun snap deep in their own territory late in the second quarter. The Patriots, however, weren’t as fortunate on the next play when Jamaal Westerman ran through Danny Woodhead and forced Brady into intentional grounding in the end zone, which resulted in a safety. The Jets took a 9-6 lead on Sanchez’s two-yard touchdown run on their ensuing drive. Sanchez’s designed run on third and goal from the 2-yard line capped a 65-yard scoring drive that gave Gang Green their first lead with 1:20 to go before halftime.
No comments:
Post a Comment