The New York Jets scored quickly to win 26-20 and boost their playoff hopes.
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Manchester City quickly recovered from losing at Arsenal on Monday to thump struggling Sunderland 4-1 to stay third. Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at Bournemouth, moving above Manchester United into fifth spot.
By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
Drew Brees would have to take hometown discount to return to Saints
He has a proven track record, having helped to develop Brees into one of the NFL’s truly elite quarterbacks under his tutelage. Are we getting what we are asking? If it’s not, then you’re right, hard decisions have to be made.
He gambled that instead of giving Brady the ball somewhere around his own 20 at the start of overtime, he could get Brady closer to midfield, making things easier on his offense.
Comanche wins Sydney to Hobart race
He raced on the famous boat 10 times in Sydney to Hobarts, but had moved to America by the time it won in 2003. More than 30 of the 108 yachts entered in the race had withdrawn by Monday, mostly because of damage.
You didn’t really expect Bill Belichick to budge from his decision to kick the ball at the start of overtime Sunday, a decision that backfired, did you? “We’re on to next week”. The Jets marched 80 yards downfield in five plays, capping the dramatic upset win with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Eric Decker. “But we always said let’s finish this drive, and we had an opportunity and we did”.
Wind was a factor in those two instances, but that doesn’t change a set of inarguable facts that were staring Belichick in the face on Sunday. Because in this hard stretch for New England, a case could be made that no player has been more disappointing than its big wide receiver.
“Coach (Bill Belichick) told us if we won the toss, he wanted to kick off”, Slater said after the game.
Referee Clete Blakeman: “Heads is the call”.
But then, a puzzled-looking Slater, asked Blakeman: “Hey, we won”. “We’ve got to get the next one to get in and that’s how we’ll view it. This is a fun run”. “I was just trying to get clarification on that, because I thought we got to pick which way we got to kick, but we didn’t”.
“We wanted to kick the other way, but we weren’t able to make that decision because we won the toss and we chose to kick off”, Slater said. He later shrugged off questions about his coach’s decision to kick at the start of overtime. And Belichick was most likely telling the truth when he said he wanted to give the Jets the ball.
They dropped the conference championship in 2014 to Peyton Manning and fell in a 30-24 overtime game in November to Brock Osweiler. It’s not exactly good company, but Bowles has already defied the odds so far this season.
“It’s bittersweet”, Richardson said. “We’ve got to get past him”. But time expired before Manziel could get another snap off. He spiked his helmet in frustration. During the snow, the Patriots won the toss and chose to receive.
SO-SO BRADY: New England was surprisingly conservative on offense in the first quarter, then went the other way in the second period.
Out of his normal weaponry, all Brady had at his disposal on Sunday was tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Carolina really seemed destined to go 16-0, but while it would have made for a storybook narrative, there are bigger things to play for. He was intercepted once by Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.
The New England Patriots losing to the New York Jets wasn’t the focus of the memes makers. “We just didn’t play good enough defense”. With his 29th touchdown this season, Ryan Fitzpatrick has tied Vinny Testaverde’s team record for most passing touchdowns in a season.
But Sunday, with New England’s receiving corps basically down to him, Keshawn Martin and practice squad refugee Chris Harper, LaFell caught one pass for 19 yards.
Brady finished the game 22-of-31 for 231 yards with one touchdown.
Marshall had two touchdown catches and also became the first National Football League player with 100 receptions in six seasons.
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While many football fans celebrated Belichick’s boo-boo after the Jets capitalized for a 26-20 win, consider this: Maybe it wasn’t a gaffe as much as it was pure genius. While the work is limited, he is averaging 7.3 yards per carry, 7.8 yards per reception out of the backfield and had two total touchdowns.
