Patriots fly by Jets for top seat in the AFC East

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Heading into week 7, the high-flying New England Patriots (5-1) defended their home turf against the ground-and-pound New York Jets (4-2) for a possible advantage to the AFC East division title!

Although the final score was 23-16, there were 20 points scored in the 4th quarter! Before the 2 minute warning, the Jets were in the lead with the score at 10-9. The Patriots were held to field goals throughout the first three quarters until finally, Tom Brady scored the first touchdown of the game at 1:20 with a quick strike to Rob Gronkowski. The score was now 15-10 and the Patriots elected to go for a 2 point attempt. However, the pressure got to Brady and he was forced to squeeze the ball into a tight window. As the tight spiral left Brady’s hand, Jet’s rising defensive star, Quinton Coples, deflected the pass that was intended for Danny Amendola. Thus all the Jets needed to do was score a touchdown to seal a victory. Geno Smith and the Jets started the ball at their 20 yard line, and completed a pass to Eric Decker for 20 yards. With a 1:10 left on the clock, they hurried to get back to the line, but only to have another pass intended for Decker to be incomplete. Now at 1:00 on the clock, Geno knew that time was running out even though they had 3 times left. Out of the huddle and in a shotgun formation, Geno called for the ball and threw to a wide open Jeremy Kerley for a 60 yard touchdown to take the lead! Kerley fooled all-pro cornerback Darrell Revis on an out route, and avoided a poor tackle from the newly acquired Patriots, Reshad Jones. The score was then 16-15, Jets, and they also elected to attempt a 2 point conversion for a 3 point lead. Geno didn’t see anyone open so he threw to Chris Johnson for a check-down that wasn’t enough for the 2 pointer. BUT WAIT! There’s a flag and it was against another newly acquired Patriot, Greg Hardy. Now with a second chance for the 2 point conversion and at the 1 yard mark, the Jets failed their attempt with a pass that was intended for Jace Amaro. Geno was pressured by the man who committed the previous penalty and had to throw the ball before Amaro got open.

Now for the Toyota Drive of the Game…

With 00:48 seconds left in the game, Tom Brady and the Patriots had their backs cornered into a wall with only one timeout. Starting from the 25 yard line, Brady adjusted the play at the line of scrimmage, and gave standout wide receiver, Justin Hunter, a distinct look. Brady called for the ball and had a blitz coming from both directions. Standing poise in the pocket, he connected a catch and run to Hunter for a 75 yard touchdown! As for their second 2 point attempt, Brady successfully connected with Gronkowski to lead the game with 23-16.

Tom Brady after the game: This victory was well deserved, and hard-earned. We weren’t playing well for the first three quarters, but still managed to came out on top at the end. It really showed our character for being resilient, even when the odds weren’t going to our favor. Hunter has been a great addition to our offense. I noticed a blitz coming and immediately changed the play that we had coming out of the huddle. I saw one-on-one coverage on Hunter and I trusted in his abilities to make a play. That’s why we traded for him, and he’s showing his potential to the league. As for the 2 point conversion, it was great. We failed our first attempt and successfully converting the second try made up for it. Great catch by Gronk.

Gameball

The gameball HAS to go to the future hall of famer, Tom Brady. He finished the night passing for 20/27, 326 yards, 2 touchdowns to zero interceptions, and a passer rating of 138.8.

What’s next?

The New England Patriots will stay at home and face the visiting Chicago Bears, as the New York Jets will also be at home and will play against the Buffalo Bills.