For much of this bitter rivalry game at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots seemed intent on handing the Jets a win and a trip to the AFC championship game next week.
It wasn’t until the first play of the fourth quarter, though, that the Jets and second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez finally took it, helping New York to a shocking 28-21 victory in the AFC playoffs and backing up a week's worth of trash talk.
The Jets had the Patriots on the ropes, 14-3, in front of a deflated crowd late in the third quarter, when Tom Brady pushed the team down the field with an eight-play drive capped by a two-point conversion that cut the lead to a field goal.
But Sanchez -- so often seen as the Jets' weak link -- completed a pass to a wide open Jerricho Cotchery, who hit the sideline and took the pass 58 yards down to the New England 13-yard line. That set up a perfect touchdown strike from Sanchez to Santonio Holmes, who made a diving catch in the corner of the end zone to give the Jets a 21-11 lead.
Just like that, whatever momentum the Patriots had gained from their touchdown drive disappeared, and it was Sanchez -- who finished with 194 yards and three touchdowns on 16-for-25 passing -- who out-Brady-ed Tom Brady.
For the Patriots, the game was marked by the kinds of mistakes the Patriots simply haven’t made all year. Brady entered the game having thrown 355 consecutive passes without an interception, but on his fifth pass attempt he overshot running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis in the flat after a fake reverse and was picked off by linebacker David Harris.
Later in the quarter, after Brady drove the Patriots down to the Jets’ 7-yard line, he zipped a pass to the hands of tight end Alge Crumpler, but Crumpler dropped the sure touchdown. On the next play, Brady was sacked, one of five Jets sacks on the night. Sacks had been rare in these parts -- opponents got to Brady only 25 times during the regular season.
The game unraveled further for the Patriots in the second quarter, highlighted by a failed gamble taken by coach Bill Belichick on a fake punt with 1:14 to play in the half. New England, trailing 7-3, had the ball on a fourth-and-4 at the 44-yard line, and Belichick called for a direct snap to Patrick Chung. But Chung dropped the ball and was smothered by Jets. Sanchez then drove the Jets 37 yards in 33 seconds to put them up, 14-3.
To top it off, as the Patriots were driving for a late scoring attempt just before halftime, offensive tackle Logan Mankins was whistled for a personal foul after he took a cheap shot on cornerback Marquice Cole. The Patriots, who were called for just one penalty in the last meeting of the two teams, were penalized six times on the night.
The Jets, of course, had their hands in forcing Patriots’ mistakes and made precious few of their own.
Their defensive backfield did an outstanding job locking up Patriots receivers, and very often the sacks sustained by the Patriots were coverage sacks and Brady could only find tight ends for short gains. In the first half, only one Patriots wide receiver (Wes Welker) had a catch and Brady only targeted his wide receivers four times. The Jets also took advantage of one of the Patriots’ biggest weaknesses, third-down defense, converting six of 13 third-down opportunities.
Because of that, Sanchez and the Jets will play for a shot at the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. New York will take on the Steelers next Sunday at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field (6:30 p.m. ET, CBS). The Jets won there in Week 15, 22-17.
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