Jets crumble against Patriots in Turkey Day disaster

In the Jets’ 10 seasons prior to 1997, the team finished with a winning record just once. The latter part of that run was particularly embarrassing, with the team going 4-28 in 1995 and 1996. While the 2012 Jets have already surpassed the win total of either of those teams, allowing the Patriots to score 35 points in the second quarter off of multiple New York miscues brought back memories of Rich Kotite’s failures.

via pbs.twimg.com

The highlight, the one play that encapsulates the Jets’ season in one simple image, was this one:

After a scoreless first quarter, it seemed like the two squads might play an evenly-matched affair like the 29-26 overtime game New England won in Week 7. By the end of the half, the score was 35-3, with Tom Brady having passed for three touchdowns, two of over 50 yards, and running back two fumbles for touchdowns, one on defense and one on special teams. Pats blogger Greg Knopping of Pats Pulpit made a half-hearted effort at finding faults in the win before celebrating the blowout in his postgame recap:

The Pats now hold a commanding lead in the AFC East at 8-3.

New England would go on to add two fourth quarter touchdowns including a Brady 1-yard touchdown sneak. The Patriots used a well-balanced attack as five different players scored offensive touchdowns. The Jets scored 16 points in the second half, but it was too little, too late.

With the win, New England moved to 8-3 on the season and now has a 3½-game lead over Buffalo and Miami in the division.

This hasn’t exactly been a game to be thankful for if you’re a Jets fan. Fans paid good, hard-earned money (middle class whaddup) and avoided their families to go watch the Jets get pummeled by the New England Patriots on a National Holiday. That seems a little bit sad.

Yup, it definitely is.

The Patriots are completely dominating the Jets, but the one-sided affair hasn’t been without repercussions. Early in the third quarter, Julian Edelman ran the ball and was met by LaRon Landry, who delivered a punishing helmet-to-helmet hit to the New England wide receiver.

Landry was not flagged on the play, as NBC’s Al Michaels explained helmet-to-helmet is not enforceable on a running play. That said, Landry could be fined for the hit by the league.

To recap the first half of this Thanksgiving Day game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets requires some introspection.

I haven’t enjoyed an hour-plus of programming on NBC this much in a long, long time. Not since the days of Seinfeld, Cheers or early-season ER has the Peacock been this brash, innovative and entertaining.

Mark Sanchez is nothing if not entertaining. He can go from throwing an oblivious pick on one play to hurling the ball behind his head, to handing it to a defender like a light switch, well, switches.

So when he runs into his own lineman and kind of chucks the ball up into the air resulting in a Patriots’ score, it’s not exactly a surprise, but it is a lot of fun.

We’ve written about footballs trying to escape the field of play before. Their plight is well documented. The little bundle of pigskin may look unimposing and immobile, but it’s just waiting for its chance to lull us all into a false sense of security and get away.

This time it took to the air, on a fumble by Shonn Greene.

Mark Sanchez is an NFL quarterback. He is not a very good NFL quarterback. But he is one.

The New York Jets were driving deep in New England territory before the Jets’ signal-caller threw another one of his patented ‘there is no receiver anywhere near me but oh I can kind of see my own face on the jumbotron and look at that Adonis he is a beautiful man, wait what is going on’ interceptions.

Hey, looky here, it’s John Madden on NBC before the Patriots-Jets game. He’s back with turkey because turkey is tradition and football is turkey and turkey is duck is chicken is food is Thanksgiving.

It’s been too long since we’ve seen Madden associated with a broadcast in a form not related to a video game, so Madden’s presence was like seeing an uncle you haven’t seen in awhile during the holidays.

Hernandez is expected to be on a limited snap count in Thursday’s game.

Consider him a dice roll tonight as he tries to knock off the rust. He’ll be a safer fantasy play down the stretch.

There are three games being played on Thanksgiving: one in a dome, one under a retractable roof and one outdoors. Weather shouldn’t be a factor in any of them as things should stay mostly dry. There is just a slight chance for a storm in Dallas along some gusty winds .

A detailed forecast is listed below.

Joel Thorman of SB Nation went with blow-out win for the Patriots in his Week 12 NFL picks. Thorman thinks the struggling Jets offense will have trouble keeping up with New England.

All 12 of ESPN’s panel of prognosticators went with the Patriots, and the same went for each of Yahoo’s three experts.

Tebow hasn’t exactly had the most success against the Patriots, though. In a divisional playoff game against the Patriots, he completed just nine-of-26 passes for 136 yards in a 45-10 drubbing that eliminated the Broncos from the postseason. However, the Jets may be given no choice, but to turn to the backup if it appears as though the Patriots will soon hand the Jets loss No. 7.

Be sure to check out SB Nation’s team blogs, Gang Green Nation and Pats Pulpit, for more analysis and highlights from the game.

Thursday, Nov. 22, 8:20 p.m. ET

MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.

The sole game between non-divisional opponents, the Texans are big favorites to hand the Lions a third consecutive loss in the first game of the day, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. With a 4-6 record, the Lions are not eliminated from the playoffs, but the team is losing ground on the strong NFC North very quickly. Meanwhile, the 9-1 Texans are pulling away from the AFC South and the rest of the conference in pursuit of the top seed in the AFC.

Thursday also features a crucial game for college football, when the No. 18 Texas Longhorns host the TCU Horned Frogs at 7:30 p.m. ET. With a fifth consecutive win, the Longhorns would set up a Big 12 showdown against the Kansas State Wildcats. Although the Horned Frogs have struggled in conference play, the team also recorded big wins against Baylor and West Virginia while also forcing three overtimes in a game against Texas Tech.

The New England Patriots are 9-2 SU in their last 11 road games against the New York Jets and will look to add another win to that tally this Thanksgiving when they visit the Jets at MetLife Stadium Thursday.

New England was a 7-point road favorite at mid-week, but many bettors are focused on the total of 48. The reason? The Patriots have played eight straight OVERs this season and their offense looks primed to surpass that number by itself.

If you don’t have time to watch the video above, please at least note my Thanksgiving pie rankings:

1. Apple