Patriots Fly By the Jets, regain control of AFC East

Patriots Fly By the Jets, regain control of AFC East

East Rutherford, NJ - Call it good fortune, or call it karma.

Sometimes, you just need a little luck to get moving in the right direction.

After two straight losses, including a last-second loss at Gillette Stadium to the New York Giants last week, the Patriots relied on a renewed pass rush – and a little of that good fortune – to knock off the New York Jets 37-16 Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

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Things started well enough for the Jets. On the first two plays from scrimmage, QB Mark Sanchez found WR Santonio Holmes for 16 and Plaxico Burress for 11 more…then Holmes again for 27 to reach the Patriots’ 9 yard line. The Pats’ defense then forced two incompletions following a 3-yard run from Shonn Greene, and then Nick Folk duck-hooked a 24 yard field goal attempt.

Good fortune? Karma? Whatever. It was a break.

Tom Brady began his night by hitting tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski (the latter for 22 yards) on 2 of his first 3 plays, and found Chad Ochocinco for 12 yards (who stepped out of bounds on his own). The drive stalled with two incompletions, a near interception and a penalty (12 men on the field), but Stephen Gostkowski salvaged the effort by connecting on a 50 yard field goal…capping a 9 play, 48 yard drive for a 3-0 lead with 8:10 remaining. On a 3rd and 8 play during the next drive, Brady hit a wide open Ochocinco for 53 yards to Jets 18, but then missed on two attempts (Gronkowski and Danny Woodhead), setting up Gostkowski from 36 yards. It was 6-0 Pats with 2:31 to play in the 1st quarter, after a 7 play, 55 yard drive. Andre Carters’ second sack of the night on Sanchez for an eight yard loss ended the quarter.

While Brady continued to miss more than he hit as the second quarter began, the defensive pass rush kept NE in charge of momentum, if not the scoreboard. The Pats’ pass rush forced Sanchez into an intentional grounding penalty, and a punt…and a third sack on Sanchez by Mark Anderson and Andre Carter again killed a drive that had moved into New England territory. Starting a drive at their eight yard line, the Patriots averted a possible disaster on a shotgun snap exchange from Ryan Wendell to Brady – which Brady recovered. But on the next play, Brady found pressure in the end zone from the Jets’ defense and was forced to get rid of the ball (with his left hand), resulting in an intentional-grounding penalty and a safety for NY that made the score 6-2, with 4:44 left before halftime.

Taking the free kick, the Jets took their momentum down the field on the Pats’ defense, with LaDanian Tomlinson finding a 15-yard hole up the middle, and Sanchez finding Patrick Turner for 22 more, moving to the NE 10 yard line. Three plays later, Sanchez took it into the end zone himself from two yards out on a QB draw play, giving the Jets a 9-6 lead. With 1:20 to go before halftime, Brady found Gronkowski over the middle for 23 yards to the NY 31, and Gronkowski lost the ball…but was ruled down by contact after the Jets had recovered. With new life on the drive, two plays later Brady hit Gronkowski over the middle for 18 yards and the first NE touchdown of the game.

Good fortune? Karma? Whatever. 13-9 New England at halftime.

After the two teams exchanged three-and-outs to open the third quarter, Zoltan Mesko lofted a high, 53 yard punt to NY’s Joe McKnight that he mishandled and the Patriots recovered at the Jets’ 13. On third-and-11, Brady had what seemed like a month to find Gronkowski in the end zone from 14 yards out, only to have the apparent score overturned when it was determined Gronkowski had gone out of bounds before catching the ball. The Patriots had to settle for a 27 yard field goal from Gostkowski for a 16-9 lead with 9:55 to play in the third.

It was a mere blip on the radar screen.

More good fortuned soon followed. After a big third down conversion to keep a drive alive in Patriot territory, a tipped Sanchez pass was intercepted by Rob Ninkovich and returned to the NE 43. Swiftly moving into the no-huddle offense, the Patriots seemed to catch the Jets by surprise and quickly moved into position with a first down at the Jets’ 12. Three plays later, Brady found Gronkowski mis-matched up against NY’s Donald Strickland, six yards out for a touchdown to put the Pats up 23-9. Eight plays, 57 yards and offensive confidence restored, the final result would come down to defense.

Sitting back in a softer-than-usual zone, the defense allowed Sanchez to move his offense into the red zone at the NE 18. With second-and-goal at the seven on the first play of the 4th quarter, Sanchez hit Burress in the corner of the end zone to narrow the gap to 23-16, capping a 10-play, 71 yard march. Perhaps the most important offensive possession of the season – to date – followed next, as the Patriots began a drive at their own 16. Going up-tempo and not allowing the Jets to recover, it took Brady and the offense a methodical 13 plays to cover the 84 yards to the end zone, with Brady finding Deion Branch from eight yards out for the score.

Almost seven minutes of precious time elapsed from the game clock, as NE grabbed control of the game with a 30-16 lead and 8:04 remaining. Ninkovich helped apply the finishing touches with a 12 yard interception of Sanchez (his second pick of the game) and return for a touchdown to push the score to 37-16, sending the masses to the exits.

Good fortune? Yes. Karma? Perhaps.

Whatever. A win is a win, and a win is what the Patriots needed to get moving in the right direction again.

Post Game Notes

OG Brian Waters went down with an injury 10:42 remaining in the 1st quarter, Ryan Wendell entered…Waters returned in the second quarter…CB Devin McCourty appeared to injure his shoulder on a 2nd quarter hit from teammate Sterling Moore. He did not return.  WBZ-TV in Boston reported late Sunday night that McCourty's shoulder may be separated...Carter finished the night with 4.5 sacks (a Patriots team record) of Sanchez, while Mark Anderson added another half-sack and plenty of pressure from the outside against the Jets offensive line.  Conversely, Brady was not sacked once by the Jets' defensive front…with the Buffalo Bills' loss to Dallas Sunday, the Patriots assume command of the AFC East division with a one game lead over both the Bills and the Jets, at 6-3 on the season.  With a sweep of the Jets (having won at Gillette 30-21), New England puts New York in a hole for the playoff push - in effect, two games behind the Pats within the division...Brady finished 26-39 passing for 329 yards and three touchdowns, despite not appearing particularly sharp in the first half, missing several open receivers...Chad Ochocinco converted his first big play as a Patriot, with a 53 yard reception from Brady in the first quarter.  He finished with two catches for 65 total yards...three turnovers for the NE defense proved big, with each leading to (or resulting in) 17 total points on the scoreboard...while the Patriots outgained the Jets by just 389 total yards to 378, the difference in the game came from turnovers, and the pressure applied by the defense on Sanchez...who saw this coming?  The Jets had won three straight coming into this game, the Patriots had lost two in a row...the Patriots started rookie free agent Jeff Tarpinian at linebacker, rookie free agent Sterling Moore at one safety, and used special teamer Tracy White and free agent cornerback Phillip Adams in sub packages...New York cornerback Darelle Revis spent some time covering Rob Gronkowski, perhaps the ultimate sign of respect to the 2nd year tight end from Arizona...the game was the 106th meeting all time between the two AFC East rivals, and the Patriots have now forged a 53-52-1 advantage in the series...

One-and-One:

Nitpick – The next time a Patriot player calls for a fair catch inside the 10-yard line, I will scream. Out loud. Whatever happened to the time-tested rule that you never call for a fair catch inside your own 10? Why not take the chance that the ball goes into the end zone? The Patriots found themselves with extremely poor field position on several drives, thanks to brain-lock (or a lack of discipline) from kick returners…

Superlative – While Rob Gronkowski’s performance (8-113, 2 TD’s) warrants special mention, the existence of a pass rush that sacked Mark Sanchez five times was a key factor in the game. Pressuring the opposing quarterback has improved appreciably over the past couple of weeks, and against the Jets, it allowed an all-free agent defensive backfield to appear, well, professional…

Sneak peek @ Next Week – Kansas City:

Former Patriot QB Matt Cassel returns to Foxboro, as does former personnel chief (and KC's GM) Scott Pioli for a Monday night game at Gillette Stadium next week, with the team reeling from a disappointing 17-10 loss to Denver this week. However, at 4-5 on the season, the Chiefs only find themselves one game behind AFC West-leading Oakland, which certainly adds some importance to what otherwise might appear to be a ho-hum affair. Cassel was banged up against the Broncos and completed just 13 of his 28 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown in the loss, but said afterward he expects to play in New England…