5 Plays That Decided It - Jets

1. Gronkowski's Over-The-Shoulder TD Catch The Patriots had tied the game at 7-7 with McCourty's kick return TD. The Jets committed a penalty on the kick return, and started inside their own 20. The Patriots Defense quickly forced a 3-and-out to give their Offense great field position. The series was highlighted by a Kyle Love sack of Mark Sanchez for -10. After the punt, The Patriots took over at their own 42 yard line. They ended in the endzone with a classic/non-injured Gronkowski play.

Brady led a 7 play, 58 yard drive to take the lead, 14-7. Brady faced two 3rd downs, and converted both with passes to Gronk. Although he couldn't corral a 2nd and 3 pass from Brady, Gronk converted the 3rd down with a 19 yard catch on the very next play. Then, on a 3rd and 6 from the 17, Brady looked to Gronk again. Brady lofted it over the defender, and Gronkowski made a spectacular play to catch it on his fingertips, over his outside shoulder. Also, he did well to possess the ball all the way through the catch. This was a great play in a huge moment because given the final score, a FG here would not have been enough. It was a big statement drive, and Gronk looked healthy and spry. On two 3rd downs, Brady looked to Gronk, and Gronk got it done. Not to mention, this TD catch would be tough for any WR. Without that injury in the SuperBowl... who knows what Gronk could have accomplished.

2. Wilfork Forces A Safety - Zoltan Mesko and his coverage team did well to pin Jeremy Kerley and The Jets at their own 12 yard line. On the very next play, The Patriots Defense delivered. Vince Wilfork looked like a wrecking ball off the line. He got a great jump on the snap count and he pushed LG Matt Slauson back like he was on ice skates. Greene and Sanchez nearly crapped their diapers when they saw big Vince barrelling down on their would-be hand-off. Sanchez tries to hand it off, but Greene was like a deer in the headlights.

Honestly, this wasn't really even a great Defensive play. This is just a major gaff in the QB-RB exchange. This won't statistically go down as a forced fumble by Wilfork, but stats are for losers anyway. If Wilfork doesn't penetrate the backfield, Shonn Greene might take this up the middle for 15 yards. Wilfork is the only guy that has a chance to make the play. And what a play it was. Wilfork's mere presence caused 2 points (a much needed 2 points) and a turnover. In the grand scheme of things, this might have been the most important play of the afternoon by The Pats. Vince Wilfork capitalized big on single blocking, and that call ended up hurting The Jets. Unfortunately, Brady wasn't able to capitalize on the extra possession, but those two points were huge..

3. Hightower Sacks Sanchez - McCourty had just fumbled. The 23-23 game had just been choked away by a Special Teams fumble, and The Jets were starting in FG range (inside the 20). The Jets brought it down to the 2 minute warning with a Tebow running play for 4 yards. They tried McKnight for 1 yard (Pats timeout) and then on 3rd down, Dont'a Hightower made what could have been the play of the game. His sack forced another Pats timeout, but it made a 33 yard FG into a (much harder) 43 yard attempt. Even though The Jets converted on the FG try, Hightower and The Defense stepped up and made a play in crunch time. Without a stop on this 3rd down, The Jets would have run the clock out before kicking a 25-yard game winner. As much as we want to hate on the Defense, they scored two points in this game, and limited The Jets to 2/4 in the red zone.

On this play, Vince Wilfork gets immediate pressure with help from a Jerod Mayo blitz.  They almost get to Sanchez as he rolls past the play-action, but it does slow down the route of RB, Joe McKnight, forcing him to go around Wilfork's big body. Dont'a Hightower gives McKnight a little push, and has to choose: rush Sanchez or stay with McKnight on the short route. Knowing the down and distance (3rd and 7) Hightower chooses to get after Sanchez. He gets his hands up, and charges at Sanchez to alter his passing lane. Sanchez gives him a pump fake, which gets him airborne, but Hightower gets enough to bring him down. Hightower gets the glory, but the coverage was actually pretty good, If Sanchez had thrown it when he pump faked, Alfonzo Dennard would have picked it off easily. Likewise, Arrington had an eye on McKnight after Hightower let him go. Great play all around, I wish we saw this kind of aggressive coverage/blitz scheme more often.

4. Cunningham/Ninkovich Sack/Fumble - The celebration of the crowd was akin to a baseball crowd witnessing a walk-off homer. We saw the sack happening on a 2nd and 10, but when the ball came out of his hand it was like, "its high, its deep, its, its game over!" The Jets had actually gained some yards to start, and they were aided by a Holding on Dennard. Sanchez hit Kerley for 17, and The Jets were driving. Then Wilfork stopped McKnight for no gain, and on 2nd and 10, the game ended with a great play by the D.

Jermaine Cunningham and Rob Ninkovich were lined up against the right side of the line, with Wilfork and Jones on the left. At the snap, Cunningham rushes to the inside toward Wilfork, and somehow squeezes through the gap. He starts to fall toward the feet of Mark Sanchez, and wraps up one leg as he goes down. Sanchez tries desperately to avoid a sack by moving backwards, but he leaves himself open to Rob Ninkovich, who beat his man on a speed rush. Ninkovich dives at Sanchez, and claps a big paw down on his arm to knock the ball free. Sanchez should have protected the ball, but Ninkovich did well to get solid contact. Even though the Offense wasn't able to seal the deal, we should be encouraged by the team win. No unit played great, but they all made huge plays.

5. McCourty's Kick Return TD - I am actually surprised that McCourty was not pulled from his return-man duties after his fumble. He continued to return kicks into OT, and I can't remember if Belichick has ever done that after a guy fumbles. I suppose its not too often that a return man gets a TD and fumbles in the same game. Also, there were serious depth issues on Special Teams. Either way, this TD was huge not only because the Offense couldn't get it going, but it was also a huge response to a Jets TD. The Jets had the lead in this game for two fleeting moments. Once at 7-0 and once at 26-23.

There's not much to say about this one, expect that Dan Connolly (with his illness) could have run this one back. The Jets sell-out on the Patriots blocking scheme, but McCourty decides to go the opposite way. He goes 104 yards untouched for a TD. I suppose he makes a nice footwork move to fake out the kicker, but c'mon, he's a kicker. All of McCourty's other returns were unsuccessful, so I don't expect him to become a spark in the return game. Nevertheless, The Jets were the best team in the NFL vs kick returns before McCourty soiled their stats, so that's impressive. Likewise, it was nice to get this TD from an unexpected place. These 7 points really helped to keep the team afloat as the Offense struggled.