Tom Brady’s nametag – or what was left of it - said it all. For the majority of Sunday’s divisional skirmish between the Jets and the Patriots, Brady’s uniform, from top to bottom, was entirely caked with mud and sod. It was a simple indicator of how aggressive and efficient the Jets defense was on Sunday afternoon.
“A lot of the things that you saw here today were elements we have had in place throughout the whole course of the season,” said Jets head coach Eric Mangini of the defense. “I think we are getting better at running them; I think we are getting better at executing them. That was a point of emphasis over the bye week. The defense did a nice job throughout the game disguising fronts, moving around, disguising coverages, and that really helped us.”
With a little help from the swamp-like stage, the destructive Jets defense kept Brady and the rest of the Pats offense off-balance for all four quarters en route a 17-14 win. While most NFL critics anticipated Brady to break out with a dominant performance following his four-interception display in last week’s loss to the Colts, the Jets defense had his number and often buried it and him into the soggy turf.
“You have to play aggressive against a guy like that,” said safety Erik Coleman, who had six tackles – tying him for the team high. “You can’t let him sit in the pocket because he will pick you apart. He is a great quarterback and he has some good receivers he can get the ball to.”
The win moved the Jets to 5-4 and just one game behind the Pats for first place in the AFC East. For the majority of the players on the Jets roster, this was more than a win on the road – it was a feat that finally broke a seven-game winless streak that began in 2003.
“This is big. New England has been on top of the division for so long and I haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here with the Jets in four years,” said linebacker Victor Hobson. “This is my first victory against them. In order to get to the top, you need to take down the team who is at the top, so we were able to do that today.”
With five seconds remaining in the scoreless first quarter, defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen grabbed Brady in the backfield for the game’s first sack. The 13-year veteran’s first sack of the season couldn’t have come at a more crucial time as the eight yard loss on third and goal forced the reigning AFC East champs to settle for three points.
“We made the plays when they came to us and we played aggressive. That is how we set the bar and that is how we have to play for the rest of the year,” Coleman said.
On the next Pats possession, the Jets defense continued to stymie Brady’s usually-balanced attack. Hobson and rookie cornerback Drew Coleman converged on Doug Gabriel after a 22-yard reception in Jets’ territory and forced the Pats wideout to fumble the ball away to safety Kerry Rhodes at the 19-yard line.
“That first drive when they came down and scored - that hurt, but we knew we had to come back onto the field and get things done for the next drive,” Coleman said. “We knew it was going to be up to us and we came down and we came through.”
That turnover paved the way for Chad Pennington and Kevan Barlow to take over as the offense completed their most time-consuming drive of the season, an 81-yard, 9:12 possession. During that march, Pennington hit Jerricho Cotchery for 17 yards on a third down and then converted a fourth and inches with a sneak. Finally, Barlow capped the drive with his sixth score of the season.
On the ensuing Pats possession, the Jets defense looked to have completely overwhelmed Brady as a Hobson blitz forced Brady to erroneously underthrow Troy Brown for a Drew Coleman pick. However, Hobson’s burial of the Pats quarterback was flagged for unnecessary roughness and the play was called back. The Pats continued on but were stalled at the Jets two-yard line and were forced to kick another field goal.
“I felt like he had the ball and I wasn’t trying to drive him into the ground. I don’t feel like I hit him with my helmet,” Hobson said. “But it’s one of those things where you got to get up and continue to play, it’s one of those calls that you can’t get back.”
This incident was all too familiar for the second place Jets. Hobson’s penalty was the third of its kind for the Green and White defense so far this season. Even though he is a strict enforcer of penalty-free football, Mangini appreciates the aggressive fight his defenders have displayed in getting to the pocket and disrupting the passer.
“We are trying to coach it the right way; we’re not trying to play dirty. We are not trying to break rules,” Mangini said, following his first victory over his former club. “It is just difficult. We have had three of those now where we’ve had sacks and turnovers and good things happen for us, but they are taken back due to the penalty. We like hitting the quarterback - we just don’t like getting the penalties.”
At the start of the fourth quarter with a four point lead, Bob Sutton’s defense used a multitude of defensive looks to battle through a five minute Patriots drive and eventually force punter Josh Miller onto the murky field. Sutton’s call for pressure paid off as defensive linemen Bryan Thomas and Dewayne Robertson accounted for consecutive sacks, pushing the Pats back to the 42-yard line and out of field goal range.
Brady was held to just one touchdown and the seventh-year vet from Michigan threw his ninth interception of the season. With 6:54 in the fourth, safety Erik Coleman picked a pass over the middle intended for Laurence Maroney. Coleman brought it back to the New England 35, which set up a Pennington 22-yard touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery.
“When I looked up, the ball was there so I tipped it up and grabbed it, and was able to make the play,” Coleman said of his interception. “Our defensive line and linebackers did a great job of coming up and supporting the line and the secondary came up as well. We are being aggressive. When the plays come to us, we are making the tackles and we are trying not to miss a lot of tackles and just be there when we’re supposed to.”
Brady finally found the end zone, but it came in unusual fashion. On second and ten from the Jets’ 15, Brady’s ball was tipped by a blitzing Rhodes at the line of scrimmage that teetered through the air clumsily before finding Reche Caldwell. Upon receiving the end-over-end grab ball, Caldwell scampered into the end zone with 4:22 remaining to bring the home team within striking distance.
But with just 1:08 left, defensive co-captain Shaun Ellis stepped up and abolished the final Patriots drive with another quality play. After Brady led the Patriots downfield, Ellis took down the passer from the right side and caused the two-time Super Bowl MVP to cough up the ball as the clock ran out, giving the Pats their second loss in as many weeks.
“We just wanted to move around and have fun playing the defense that we know we can play, and that is getting after people and putting pressure on people, and just executing, and we were able to do that,” said Hobson, who finished with four tackles. “We had a little scare at the end but when it came down to it, we came through.”
