FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A statement game?
No, this was a proclamation by the Jets.
Make that the first-place Jets.
Against the Patriots here last night, they screamed it loud, and they screamed it clear – these are not your same, old Jets.
Gang Green exorcised their red, white and blue demons and took control of the AFC East with a dramatic 34-31 overtime victory at Gillette Stadium – after the Pats had tied the game with one second left in regulation.
SERBY: For Gang Green, Win Worth Waiting 4
This had all the makings of a classic Jets collapse. Instead, the Jets took the Patriots’ best punch and countered with a knockout of their own that could come to define this team and this season.
Jay Feely’s 34-yard field goal nearly eight minutes into overtime ended the game – and the Patriots’ death grip on the division.
“I heard some of the fans saying, ‘Same old Jets,’ ” Brett Favre said. “They ain’t saying that now.”
The Jets (7-3) led by 18 points early in the game, but the Patriots refused to die, like a monster in a horror movie. Matt Cassel tied the game at 31-31 with one second left in regulation when he found Randy Moss in the front corner of the end zone with a 16-yard touchdown.
The TD ended a remarkable eight-play, 62-yard drive that began with 1:03 left and the Patriots (6-4) possessing no timeouts. Cassel marched them down the field efficiently against a soft prevent defense by the Jets.
Entering the overtime, this had the potential to be another devastating Jets loss, but Favre led a 14-play drive to start the extra period. He found tight end Dustin Keller on third-and-15 at the Jets 15. He converted another third down to Keller and kept the Patriots on their heels.
“I felt like it’s either now or nothing,” Favre said of the final drive.
“It’s a great, great feeling for us,” Jets coach Eric Mangini said. “Everybody understands that this game was extremely important, and it’s important because it allows us to make the next game [Nov. 23 at Tennessee] extremely important. It’s a really positive step for our team.”
The Jets squandered an 18-point lead and found themselves tied at 24 with 10:16 left. Bill Belichick’s men seemed poised to break Gang Green’s hearts again.
But Favre and Thomas Jones led a grinding 14-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Jones plunging into the end zone from the 1. The drive ate 7:06 off the clock and left New England with only three minutes to answer – and they did, as Cassel finished with 400 yards on 30-of-51 passing.
“It’s not enough,” Cassel said.
The Patriots came into the game having won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams. The rivalry that featured Spygate, cold-fish handshakes and so much vitriol rarely translated into a competitive rivalry on the field.
After a dominant first half by the Jets, they coughed up their lead in the second.
The offense stalled and the defense began to tire.
The Patriots closed within three points on the final play of the third quarter when Cassel, with no pass rush in his face, found Ben Watson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, then connected with Jabar Gaffney on the two-point conversion.
The Jets moved the ball to start the fourth quarter, but Jerricho Cotchery coughed up a fumble and Gary Guyton recovered at the Pats’ 40. Stephen Gostkowski tied the game on the next drive with a 47-yard field goal five minutes into the fourth quarter.
Now the Jets have control of the division, and they let people know New York is a two-team town.
“It wasn’t the Super Bowl,” Favre said. “We still have got a lot of football left, but it sure was fun.”