The New England Patriots aren't the same team that beat the New York Jets in Week 7. But that doesn't make the overtime victory for the Jets on Sunday any less impressive, even if it was aided by an extraordinarily dumb flub by the Patriots.
The Jets beat the Patriots in overtime thanks to a horrible coin toss flub
After sending a game with the Jets into overtime, the Patriots won the coin toss, elected to kickoff and immediately lost.
After tying the game and sending it to overtime, the Patriots won the coin toss and inexplicably elected to kick off. The Jets immediately drove the field with two long pass plays and won the game with a touchdown pass to Eric Decker. But the coin toss snafu may overshadow the truly impressive performance put together by the Jets defense.
While Tom Brady didn't have Danny Amendola or Julian Edelman to throw to, the Jets kept him out of sync for almost the game and kept the New England offense from scoring a touchdown until fewer than two minutes were left in regulation.
It wasn’t until the final offensive possession for the Patriots that Brady was finally able to lead the team down the field for a touchdown, finding James White for a 9-yard touchdown that tied the game, 20-20. That drive was extended by two fourth-down conversions to Gronkowski, including a 26-yard reception that set up the White touchdown.
After an ineffective first half with Gronkowski targeted only twice by Brady, the Patriots resigned themselves to a 10-3 deficit heading into halftime instead of attempting to drive for a score with just under two minutes left on the clock.
Halftime adjustments for the Patriots worked, at first, with each of New England's first two drives getting into Jets territory. But the first ended with a Darrelle Revis interception on what looked like a miscommunication between Brady and Gronkowski, and the second ended with a Lorenzo Mauldin sack that forced the Patriots to settle for a field goal.
The first touchdown of the day for the Patriots came in the third quarter when a sack of Fitzpatrick forced a fumble that was scooped up by linebacker Jamie Collins and taken into the end zone to cut the Jets lead to 17-13.
Ultimately, the Patriots struggled to deal with the talented defensive front of the Jets and couldn't do enough to contain Brandon Marshall, who scored two touchdowns on the day. Marshall, who was acquired by the Jets in the offseason in a trade that was just an exchange of late-round picks with the Chicago Bears, finished the day with eight receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns, upping his season total to an NFL-leading 13 touchdowns.
For the Jets, the win wasn’t enough to clinch a spot in the postseason, but a fifth straight win has the team at 10-5 and ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the race for an AFC Wild Card berth. A win against the Rex Ryan-led Buffalo Bills in Week 17 would guarantee a spot in the playoffs for the Jets, as would a win for the Cleveland Browns over the Steelers.
New England already won the AFC East and secured a first-round bye, so losing in Week 16 is far from a disaster, but the injuries suffered by the Patriots could be. The team has already lost plenty of offensive talent and lost offensive tackle Nate Solder for the year. On Sunday, offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer was carted off the field and his replacement LaAdrian Waddle suffered a shoulder injury, although Waddle stayed in the game.
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