After talking the talk all week long, the New York Jets walked the walk.
In playoff-like atmosphere at the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon, the Jets may not have embarrassed the New England Patriots the way safety Kerry Rhodes wanted to, but they did come away with the victory 16–9. It was their first victory over the Pats at the Meadowlands after eight straight losses.
And head coach Rex Ryan thanked the fans after they responded to the message he left on their phones to come out hooting and hollering.
“I think our fans were huge in this victory. I thought they were the difference," Jets coach Rex Ryan said in his post-game press conference. “In fact we’re giving the game ball to our fans. It will be up in our trophy case.
“We believe that we were the better team today [and] we went out and showed it.”
The game started as a defensive struggle as only field goals were scored in the first half. Stephen Gostkowski converted three for New England while New York’s Jay Feely connected on one for a halftime score of 9–3 Pats.
Those three field goals would be the only points the Patriots would get as the suffocating Jets defense locked down on Brady and company in the second half.
The success of head coach Rex Ryan’s defensive schemes can be seen on the scoreboard through the first two games. New York has yet to allow an offensive touchdown and they have played two of the more prolific offenses in the league.
“We’re not really firing on all cylinders right now,” Brady said of his team’s lack of offense. “To not get the ball in the end zone is unacceptable.”
Brady went 23–47 for 216 yards with an interception to cornerback Darrelle Revis. He did not have Wes Welker at his disposal on Sunday, who was out with a knee injury.
The Jets, however, look at allowing no offensive touchdowns as a testament to their defense.
“That’s a statement not just to us but to the league that every week we’re going to come out here and try to get a shutout,” Revis said.
Second Half Sanchez
After a slow first half in which Sanchez only went 3–5 for 15 yards, the rookie QB came out in the second half firing and went 11–17 for 148 yards to finish the day 14–22 for 163 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
“We just needed to relax and find our game,” Sanchez said regarding getting into a rhythm offensively. “As soon as we do, we are going to get this thing started and rolling, and that’s what we did.”
On their first drive of the second half starting from their own 44-yard line after a big kick return by Leon Washington, Sanchez hit wide receiver Jericho Cotchery on a slant route. Cotchery took it down the right side for a 45-yard gain to New England’s 11-yard line.
Two plays later, Dustin Keller found a hole in the zone defense in the back of the end zone and that’s where Sanchez found him for a nine-yard touchdown pass just 63 seconds into the second half.
Uncomfortable with just a one-point lead the defense continued to pressure Brady while the offense mustered two more field goals.
New York stopped comeback king Tom Brady from facilitating his 30th comeback victory of his career as they stopped two Patriots drives in the final five minutes of the game.
“We had a chance there. We just didn’t execute in that two-minute possession,” Brady said. “It’s something we’ve been good at, but the Jets were better at it today. It’s frustrating.
“I think we had really high expectations for this game. We just didn’t put it together very well.”
The always tight-lipped Patriots head coach Bill Belichick didn’t have much to say except commend the opponent.
“Give the Jets credit,” Belichick said. “They just did a better job than we did today and I don’t think there’s really a whole lot more to say about it.”
Ryan, who’s like the anti-Belichick when it comes to talking to the media knows this how significant this win was.
“The big deal is, we’re a football team that should be respected,” Ryan said. “Sometimes we talk a little bit, but only because we have confidence in our football team.”
Matt Sugam also writes for The Daily Targum at Rutgers University.
