FOLK, JETS TOP PATS
Former UA kicker Nick Folk takes advantage of a new rule and connects on his second chance to lift the Jets past the Patriots in overtime.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — 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 thought the Patriots (5-2) might have been called for 12 men on the field. So did a few other Jets.
“I think I heard the whole stadium saying, ‘Please be on them,’” Ryan said. Then Folk won it. “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.
“Yeah, we’re not going to talk about that right now,” he said, smiling.
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.
“Everyone has to look at themselves and do a better job,” Brady said, “because what we’re doing now isn’t good enough.”
Brady opened overtime with a 16-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, making his season debut. But the Jets stopped forced New England to punt.
Gronkowski almost made a one-handed grab late in regulation when he had a clear lane into the end zone. Gronkowski, who missed the first six games after off-season surgery on his back and broken left forearm, had eight catches for 114 yards.
“I’m still mad about that one,” Gronkowski said.
Brady threw a17-yard touchdown pass to Kenbrell Thompkins with 5 seconds left to beat previously unbeaten New Orleans last week — leaving defensive coordinator 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.