Review to a thrill
Replay aids Pats as win reclaims 1st
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It took a while yesterday for the Patriots to look like the Patriots and the Jets to look like the Jets.
But the division rivals lived up to their reputations by the end of the day, as the Patriots claimed a 24-17 victory and sole possession of the top spot in the AFC East for the first time this season.
“Done is better than perfect,” Dont’a Hightower said. “We showed up and closed down when we needed to, so we’re going to take this and build on it and hopefully keep progressing in the right direction.”
The Patriots (4-2) scored 24 consecutive points after falling behind by a 14-0 count in the second quarter, and Tom Brady completed 20-of-38 passes for two touchdowns with one interception in a less-than-stellar outing against the Jets (3-3), whose three-game winning streak came to a close.
Brady, who has dealt with a left shoulder injury recently, was a bit subdued after his record-setting 187th regular-season victory.
“I wish we would have done better, but we won,” Brady said. “There’s probably a lot to learn from it.”
Rob Gronkowski caught six passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns, and Brandin Cooks added six catches for 93 yards. Dion Lewis paced the ground game with 11 carries for 52 yards and a score.
All the while, the defense had a season-high three takeaways, including Malcolm Butler’s TDsaving forced fumble in the fourth quarter. Butler and Devin McCourty each had interceptions that the offense turned into 10 points.
The defense also made the stop to secure the victory for the second consecutive game.
“I think that’s a big boost for us defensively,” Hightower said. “We know how good our offense is. We know we’ve got Tom Brady. We know what we need to do as a defense.”
With 10 days to prepare, it took the Pats far too long to wake up, but they salvaged a putrid start with a dominant finish to tie it, 14-14, at the break.
The Jets opened with an impressive drive that included four thirddown conversions, including a 1-yard TD toss by Josh McCown to Austin Seferian-Jenkins to the corner of the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
The Jets were 9-of-17 on third down overall.
“We just blew it on third down,” Duron Harmon said. “If we get off the field on third down, we’ll be a better defense.”
Brady’s unit was stuck in the mud in the early going, and Darron Lee forced a Mike Gillislee fumble that was recovered by Buster Skrine on the cusp of the red zone.
With cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore (concussion) and Eric Rowe (groin) back in Foxboro, Johnson Bademosi started across from Butler and played his first defensive snaps of the season. The duo had a forgettable third series, as Jermaine Kearse beat Bademosi for 16 yards on third-and-5 and Jeremy Kerley caught a 31-yard TD pass against Butler to make it 14-0.
And the Pats offense’s response? A three-and-out.
But the defense began to figure it out on its ensuing series, and Brady led a 93-yard march to cut the deficit in half. Gronkowski got it started with a 25-yard catch over Lee. Lewis capped the scoring jaunt from the 1-yard line, his first run inside the 2 in his three seasons with the Pats.
The Pats forced another threeand-out after that, but the offensive woes resurfaced. Brady’s deep heave for Phillip Dorsett was intercepted by a leaping Skrine.
The defense backed up Brady’s second interception of the season with its fourth three-and-out. And after Stephen Gostkowski’s first missed field goal of the season, Butler jumped McCown’s throw for Robby Anderson for his second pick of the year to set up Brady at the Pats’ 37 with 35 seconds remaining in the half.
The best way to traverse a long field in a short time? Brady connected with Cooks for a beautiful 42-yard deep ball past Morris Claiborne down the left sideline. Two plays later, Gronk easily beat Jamal Adams, the sixth overall pick in April’s draft, on an out route for a 2-yard TD that tied the game, 14-14.
The Pats took the lead in the third quarter when Gronk took advantage of both of the Jets’ rookie safeties. He beat Adams through traffic to catch a pass from Brady, and Gronk highstepped past Marcus Maye for a 33-yard TD and 21-14 advantage.
McCourty kept the momentum rolling when he intercepted McCown’s fourth-down pass at the Pats 28. Gostkowski closed the ensuing drive with a 28-yard field goal.
McCown and Seferian-Jenkins appeared to connect for a 4-yard touchdown with 8:24 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the play was taken to a standard video review where it was determined Butler forced Seferian-Jenkins to fumble out of the end zone for a touchback to keep it 24-14.
Chandler Catanzaro made a 28-yard field goal with 3:40 remaining to trim the deficit to 2417, but sacks by Hightower and Kyle Van Noy propelled a gameclinching stop.