New rule helps Pats beat Jets in OT
Nick Folk the hero with second chance at field goal
Rex Ryan was fired up. Bill Belichick was ticked off.
Everyone else was, well, a bit confused.
After a newly instituted rule gave New England a penalty and Nick Folk another chance, he booted a 42-yard field goal with 5:07 left in overtime to give the New York Jets a 30-27 victory over the Patriots on Sunday.
“I was like, ‘ You know what? It’s about time we got a break,”’ Ryan said, smiling. “That’s really what I was thinking. It just worked out.”
Folk was wide left on a 56-yarder, but the miss was negated when New England’s Chris Jones was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on a 15-yard penalty that had never before been called in an NFL game.
Referee Jerome Boger explained in a pool report that Jones was called for pushing his teammate “into the opponents’ formation.” Umpire Tony Michalek threw his flag “almost instantaneously as he observed the action,” Boger said. “We just enforced it as he called it.”
Belichick disagreed with the application of the rule.
“You can’t push in the second level,” Belichick said. “I didn’t think we did that.”
New York (4-3), given new life, ran the ball three times to set up Folk’s winner and send the green towel-waving fans at MetLife Stadium into a frenzy.
“It was something that we talked about probably in camp and stuff, and it just skipped out of my mind,” Jones said. “It was my mistake and nobody else’s. I’ve just got to man up to it and fix it next time.”
“Folk Hero was the man he always is, kicking game-winner for us,” Jets defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson said. “It was a great win across the board.” It also kept Folk’s consecutive kicks streak intact, giving him 16 straight to start the season.
Geno Smith threw a touchdown pass to Jeremy Kerley and ran for another as the Jets topped Tom Brady and the Patriots, who tied it at 27 with 16 seconds left in regulation on Stephen Gostkowski’s 44-yard field goal.
New England had defeated New York in six straight regular-season meetings, and saw its 12-game winning streak against AFC East opponents end.
Brady opened overtime with a 16-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, making his season debut. But the Jets forced New England to punt.
Brady threw a 17-yard TD pass to Kenbrell Thompkins with five seconds left to beat previously unbeaten New Orleans last week — leaving defensive co-ordinator Rob Ryan grimacing on the sideline. This time, Rob’s twin brother walked off the field celebrating a win.
It was the second time in three games Brady was held without a touchdown pass, both losses. Brady finished 22 of 46 for 228 yards and had an interception returned 23 yards for a touchdown by Antonio Allen.
“That was huge,” Smith said.
Smith rebounded and gave the Jets a 24-21 lead in the third quarter on an 8-yard run that left the crowd chanting “GEE-NO! GEE-NO!”
On third-and-14 from the 24, Smith took off left and was met by Marquice Cole, who slammed into the quarterback. But Smith reached out as he was going down and got the first down.
He again had all receivers tied up two plays later when he sprinted to his right, faked out Cole with a nice shake move and dived into the corner of the end zone.
The Jets, in a 21-10 hole, opened the second half by immediately putting pressure on Brady and getting a score out of it. Brady threw for Gronkowski and Allen stepped in front. He did a diving somersault into the end zone just 33 seconds into the third. Stevan Ridley had given the Patriots a 21-10 lead with a 17-yard run on which he bounced outside right tackle and scored untouched. The drive was set up by a 38-yard punt return by Julian Edelman.
NOTES: Brandon Bolden had a one-yard TD run for the Patriots. ... Kerley caught eight passes, six of them for first downs on third-down plays. ... Chris Jones and Chandler Jones each had two sacks for the Patriots. ... Logan Ryan’s INT marked the 34th straight game in which New England has forced a turnover, the longest active streak in the NFL.