NFL New York Jets Walked The Walk Against The New England Patriots
Things got down and personal between the Jets and the Patriots during the week leading to their Divisional Round game in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Patriots where a -9 point favorite on the spread against the Jets, so when in the first two quarters of the game, Pats quarterback Tom Brady was sacked 4 times, things certainly seemed to have gone south for the team with the best record in the regular season. The Jets, with a second year quarterback and a team with a big mouth and somewhat of a tumultuous attitude has managed to outplay the Patriots on the road to claim a 28-21 win on Sunday for their second consecutive trip to the AFC Championship game. In a few simple words, the New York Jets defense quite simply managed to make the New England Patriots look like a very unbalanced and poor performing team. For a couple of quarterback the Jets managed to make Bill Belichick’s team look its worse. The team that went 14-2 during the regular season and won each and every one of their 8 regular season home games was nowhere to be seen.The young Mark Sanchez keeps on proving that he can perform at his best when his team needs him most.
He has now outplayed the Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning during the Wild Card Round and on Sunday he certainly outperformed Tom Brady of the Patriots. It’s been a while since the Jets’ have had the support of a talented quarterback as Mark Sanchez. As a matter of fact, in only his second year as a pro he already holds the record as the second best Jets for passer rating. Sanchez had a great game completing 16 of his 25 passes for 194 yards for 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. On the other hand, the great Tom Brady went for 29 of 45 for an overwhelming 299 yards yet, the player who went for 335 passes in the regular season (setting a league record while at it) was picked once early in the game and sacked 5 times. His two touchdown-passes where not enough to secure the Patriots its first win in the postseason in the last two years. Looking for a key to the Pats upset. Well, let’s just stick to the numbers. The Pats are certainly struggling right in the middle. The New York Jets were able to gain 66 yards on 17 rushes right up the middle.The Jet’s offensive was as sharp as it gets during this weekend.
Sanchez connected touchdown passes with LaDainian Tomilson, Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes. All thought towards the end the Patriots but on an effective offense in an attempto to shorten the distances, Deion Branch went on for a touchdown late in the game, after a 13 yard-pass from Tom Brady. Brach made it 28-21 as he tried to close the gap, but time ran out for the Patriots. The New York Jets will now face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Pittsburgh on Sunday January 23rd. The Jets will try to take another win like they did on December 19 on the road when they defeated Big Ben and the Steelers 22-17. As of press time the Steelers are a -3 point favorite on the spread.