Final Reflection on Patriots-Jets

Oh how the mighty have fallen.  First the #1 seeded Falcons succumbed to the #6 seeded Packers, and now the #6 seeded Jets defeated the powerful New England Patriots, who had looked unstoppable the past two months, specifically the last time they played these same Jets.  In this AFC East showdown, the game ball goes to the New York Jets defense.  Darrelle Revis had great coverage on Deion Branch all night, knocking a few balls loose and disrupting a few passes.  Antonio Cromarite had a key onside kick return inside the New England 20, which all but sealed the outcome.  David Harris had, in my opinion, the most important play of the game, an interception which stopped a New England drive which seemed destined for the endzone.  Nevermind the fact that Nick Folk barely missed a field goal three plays later, missing an opportunity to score three points is much better than being in the whole seven points.  An early lead and strong defense in the first half allowed the Jets to control the clock and run the ball with LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene, who combined had 27 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown (LT also caught a touchdown). 

Due to their excellent coverage in the secondary, the Jets were able to put pressure on Brady all night, sacking him five times and hitting him seven times.  As composed as Tom Brady is in the pocket and although he had a strong performance today, he looked flustered and uncomfortable for most of the afternoon.  The Patriots went 5-14 on third down, mostly because of excellent coverage in the secondary. 

Several concluding thoughts on this slugfest: (1) Props to Mark Sanchez for a solid game and no mistakes.  Just one or two bad decisions by Sanchez could have swung the game in the Patriots favor, but Sanchez was calm and collected and faced little pressure from the Patriots most of the game.  Certainly it helps when you sport D'Brickshaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold on your offensive line, but Sanchez played a very smart football game.  (2)  Why did Belicheck go for that fake punt?  The risk was not worth the reward on the fake punt attempted by the Patriots.  Why risk giving the Jets the ball with less than half the field to score when the Patriots would have needed at least twenty more yards to kick a field goal, no guarantee against a strong Jets defense?  (3)  Props to Rex Ryan for getting his team fired up for this game.  The combination of the trash talk and the humiliation of the 45-3 loss last time the Jets visited Gillete Stadium must have instilled a fire in their team.