FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Jets wanted to get back to Ground and Pound. Well, the Patriots grounded their offense and pounded their defense.
The Jets fell to their hated division rivals 30-21 Sunday at Gillette Stadium, suffering their third straight loss.
Suddenly, the Jets (2-3) look like a team in crisis. The offense showed just moments of competence interspersed with long stretches of ineptitude. The defense that confused Tom Brady nine months ago was grasping for air as the Patriots ran through and around them.
The Jets are now two games behind the Patriots and Bills, both 4-1, in the AFC East. It is the first time since coach Rex Ryan’s first year that the Jets have lost three in a row.
The Jets showed their usual fourth-quarter resolve. Down by 13 points, the Jets drove 85 yards on 11 plays and quarterback Mark Sanchez threw a beautiful pass to Santonio Holmes in front of the end zone on third down for a 21-yard touchdown to cut the Patriots lead to 27-21.
But it was not enough. The Patriots went on a six-minute, 13-second drive that chewed up the clock, and they sealed the game on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal.
The Patriots opened the second half with a 73-yard pass from Brady to Welker that set them up deep in Jets territory. Welker, who had been quiet for most of the first half, split the Jets zone, running between safety Eric Smith and cornerback Darrelle Revis. Revis chased him down from behind to prevent the touchdown.
Bu three plays later the Patriots scored when receiver Deion Branch lost Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie in the back of the end zone, and Brady found him for a two-yard touchdown that gave the Patriots a 17-7 lead.
The momentum swung right back to the Jets on the following kickoff when Joe McKnight showed his speed for the second straight week. This time, he didn’t get all the way to the end zone, but ran 88 yards to the 20-yard line. The Jets scored three plays later on a nine-yard pass from Sanhez to rookie Jeremy Kerley, his first touchdown in the NFL, to cut the Patriots lead to 17-14.
With 1:20 left in the third quarter, the Patriots pushed the lead back to 10 points on Benjarvus Green-Ellis’ 3-yard touchdown run. Brady sliced through the Jets defense with ease on the drive, using tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski often.
After a third consecutive three-and-out by the Jets, the Patriots settled for a 24-yard field goal from Gostkowski with 12:57 left in the game that put the Pats up 27-14.
A week after getting embarrassed by the Ravens, the Jets entered the game committed to running the ball. It took a while to get going, but the Jets offense showed signs of life in the second quarter. They ran the ball 14 times for 59 yards in the first half, with Shonn Greene picking up 49 of those yards.
The Jets failed to convert a first down in the first quarter, and it looked like they might be in for another week of ineptitude. The Patriots took a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter, before the Jets offense finally awoke.
Greene led the way on a 13-play scoring drive that featured nine runs. Greene had eight of them for 34 yards. The drive ended with Greene scoring a three-yard touchdown. The drive must have done wonders for the offense’s psyche after getting ripped all week for their dismal performance in Baltimore.
The Patriots drove down the field just before halftime, and it looked like they might seize the momentum before halftime, but Cromartie intercepted a Brady pass in the end zone that Hernandez tipped on the final play of the half.
The much-maligned offensive line got a boost with the return of All-Pro center Nick Mangold. The Jets not only ran the ball better than they have all year, they also kept Sanchez upright. He was sacked just once in the first half, and it was caused by good coverage by New England.
The Jets defense used tons of substitutions similar to the playoff win in January. They flooded the field with defensive backs at times and mixed up their coverages. In the first half Sunday, they sacked Brady three times.