Patriots Roll Jets 41-3 on Christmas Eve

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team

 

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Brady throws for three touchdown passes in a Patriots blowout win

The New England Patriots blew out the New York Jets 41-3 on Christmas Eve at Gillette Stadium.  

"The defense played great, got us the ball a lot. It was a great win. We played in some tough conditions and we showed some mental toughness. It was a great win; 13-2 is pretty good," said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after the game. 

The win moves the Patriots to 13-2 on the season and with a win over Miami on New Years Day, they will clinch the top seed in the AFC. 

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Patriots Turn Jets Turnovers Into Points 

Already up 3-0, Malcolm Butler picked off Jets quarterback Bryce Petty on the Jets own 47-yard line. 

On the Patriots ensuing possession, Brady found Martellus Bennett in the back of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown pass, giving the Patriots a 10-0 lead after a Gostkowski extra point was good. 

Two Jets possessions later, New England’s Elandon Roberts force a fumble that was recovered by Butler at the Jets 30 yard line. The play also knocked Petty out of the game, meaning Fitzpatrick would take over. 

On this ensuing possession, the Patriots would have to settle for a Gostkowski 22 yard field goal to go up 13-0 with 11:13 left to play in the half. 

The Patriots defense was not done yet. 

With Fitzpatrick under center for the Jets, he threw a deep pass intended for Brandon Marshall, but it was picked off by New England’s Eric Rowe at the Patriots 46-yard line. 

On the Patriots next offensive possession, Brady hit tight end Matt Lengel for an 18-yard touchdown pass to give New England a 20-0 lead following a Gostkowski extra point.  

The catch by Lengel was the first catch and first touchdown of his career. He was previously a member of the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad. 

"Matt got his first touchdown pass. That was pretty cool. I would say he really wasn't the first option on the play, but he sprung free and it ended up being a big play in the game," Brady said. 

Closing Out the Half 

Already up 20-0, the Patriots seemed content to run out the clock and go into the locker room. They were getting the ball back at the start of the second half.

Following two run plays by Dion Lewis, the Jets called a timeout, looking to get the ball back. 

Out of the timeout, Brady hit Edelman for 9 yards, then launched a 47-yard pass to Malcolm Mitchell that fell incomplete but drew a pass interference penalty. 

The drive was capped off with a 25-yard pass from Brady to James white to give the Patriots a 27-0 lead. 

"The key thing for us was getting the first-down. We ran it twice and then hit Julian [Edelman] for the first-down so that kind of gave us a chance to - I think we were on about the 30 maybe; somewhere in there. So we needed about another 40 yards really to get into field goal range; 35, 40 yards. Then we got it all on one play. Yeah, that was obviously a big swing for us at that point of time," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick after the game. 

In the second half, Butler would get his second interception of the game and the Patriots would add two more touchdowns in the second half in the form of LeGarrette Blount and would go on to win the game easily. 

The two touchdowns were Blount's 15th and 16th scores of the season. 

The Leaders 

Brady was taken out in the third quarter and replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo. Brady finished the day completing 17 of 27 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns. 

Julian Edelman had five catches for 89 yards while LeGarrette Blount ran for 50 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns.

Next up 

The Patriots close out the regular season on Sunday, January 1 when they visit the Miami Dolphins. 

Game time is set for 1 p.m. 

 

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