Jets rocket to victory over Patriots
Mark Sanchez must like this time of year. A year after beating the New England Patriots, in only his second start, the young quarterback was back at it again, leading his New York Jets to a stunning victory.
Sanchez threw a career-best three touchdowns on Sunday afternoon and completed a career high 21 of 30 passes for 220 yards to help the Jets beat their fierce rivals 28-14. Sanchez’s performance comes a year after he led the Jets to a 16-9 win over New England last season – also in week two.
The 23-year-old’s performance comes less than a week after struggling against the Baltimore Ravens where he could only complete 10 passes for 21 yards.
"It's just tough when you lose that first game. It feels like you're 0-10. This game couldn't come soon enough," Sanchez said
The Jets had been waiting for this game for a long time. After lots of talk during the off-season about how good they were, week one’s defeat knocked New York back down to reality. Against the Patriots they made no such mistake.
After initially struggling to contain Tom Brady, the Jets set about stifling New England’s offence. Brady had dominated the early possession driving the Patriots downfield on a 13-play drive which last over seven and a half minutes. The drive resulted in a missed field goal by Steven Gostkowski but the Patriots had the Jets on the back foot.
On the Patriots’ next possession Brady once again drove the team downfield, this time on a 15 play-drive lasting eight minutes and ten seconds, resulting in a Wes Welker touchdown. That touchdown seemed to spur the Jets’ offence into action as Sanchez then connected with Braylon Edwards in the endzone to tie the game at seven.
New England’s Randy Moss then decided to perform a bit of magic. Running deep past Darrelle Revis – who has called Moss a slouch in the past – Moss caught a 34-yard pass with one hand for an incredible touchdown, stunning the Jets home crowd.
That was the end of New England’s offence.
Nick Folk cut the deficit to four points with a field goal and then added another after the half to put the Jets down by a single point. Then Sanchez took over.
The second-year quarterback hit Jerricho Cotchery for a touchdown, followed by finding Edwards in the endzone for a two-point conversion. 21-14. He then found Dustin Keller, after two pass interference calls on Patriots cornerback Darius Butler, with a one-yard touchdown extending the lead to 14 points.
As good as Brady and the Patriots were in the first half, they were as bad in the second, struggling in every part of the field, something Brady, who threw two interceptions, was frustrated with.
“We couldn't do anything in the second half. We had a hard time gaining yards. We didn't do anything on third down, we couldn't gain anything on first or second down. We couldn't run it. We couldn't throw it,” Brady said.
The Jets now travel to Miami to face the Dolphins, while New England welcome the Buffalo Bills to Foxborough.
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