The Jets lost to the Patriots on Sunday, but the team was able to play to-to-toe with their division rivals for most of the game and that could carry over for New York into Week 8.
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Take away the running game and put the game in Tom Brady’s hands, as the New York Jets did Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
At New England, Tom Brady overcame New England’s shaky first three quarters by throwing for a pair of touchdowns in the fourth, and the Patriots beat the New York Jets to remain unbeaten.
NOTES: Coach Bill Belichick said he couldn’t recall dressing only 18 offensive players for a game.
Texans running back Arian Foster, who was carted off the field in the fourth quarter, has a torn Achilles tendon.
Jets coach Todd Bowles was a contrarian, saying a New England defense geared up to stop the run – not Ivory’s health – doomed the Gang Green rushing attack.
“That was big”, Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie said.
Brady completed 13 of 16 passes for 135 yards in the final quarter to overcome a 20-16 deficit and give New England (6-0) a two-game lead over the Jets in the AFC East. The Super Bowl MVP was 34 of 54 for 355 yards overall – numbers that would have been even better if not for the 11 drops by his receivers, six by newly activated Brandon LaFell. “I don’t organize these types of things”.
There were drops all over the place, even two by Julian Edelman, but Edelman, Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski combined for 24 catches, 248 yards and two touchdowns. The veteran journeyman also completed 22 of his 39 passes for 295 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 97.7 passer rating, his first game of the year without an interception.
Sunday was just another entry in Brady’s Hall of Fame career. I got to play against a legend and he’ll go down as a legend, and next time we suit up against him, I’ll be much more prepared to go, I’ll have more experience. “I’m just really down on myself right now”.
Jets defense was very strong the first three-quarters of the game.
Among qualified National Football League quarterbacks, the 38-year-old ranks first in passing touchdowns (16), second in passing yards (2,054), fifth in completion percentage (68.9), fourth in yards per attempt (8.2) and third in passer rating (113.2).
Bowles also took a few heat for his clock management and not using any of the Jets’ timeouts during the Patriots’ final touchdown drive. That’s how you know you have the best team, coach, and quarterback in the entire NFL.
But eventually Brady figured it out.
“It’s frustrating”, said outside linebacker Calvin Pace. For much to the first half, they were so effective on defense and controlling the ball on offense that one was left to observe that the Jets did a much better job of keeping Brady off the field than Roger Goodell ever did. Brandon Marshall recovered the onside kick, giving New York the ball just over midfield.
That ended up being the beginning of the end for the Patriots, as the Marshall drop proved to be the difference in the game.
“It’s a play we’ve been working on forever, we’ve had in the playbook forever”, he said.
Fitzpatrick was set to start for the sixth different team of his career after incumbent starter Geno Smith got in a fight with a teammate and had his jaw broken. We know the effort we put in every single day, not just on Sunday….
Ivory struggled throughout the contest, coming in and out of the lineup sporadically.
“What’s cool is you got a couple of days off after that, so you just have the mindset right now to just grind it out for the next four days for this game”.
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The previous four meetings between the teams ended with margins of victory of 3, 3, 2 and 1 point.
