5 Plays That Decided It - Jets

After each game I go back and examine the 5 most influential plays that shaped the course of the win or loss. Sometimes these are big plays or turnovers, but often the most important plays fly under the radar.

1. Rump N' Tumble Fumble - I came up with this name, and I think I like it best. Other notables include "The Poop and Score," "The Ass Bash," or "The Bum-ble." I like Rump N' Tumble because that is exactly what Sanchez did on this one. I truly can't remember a more em-bare-ass-ing play in recent memory. I give credit to Wilfork for driving the lineman backwards, but this play was made by the one and only Mark Sanchez. His faceplant in the grass says it all, "What have I done to deserve this?" I can't even blame fireman Ed for leaving the game early. Sometimes its just easier to put your head in the dirt. That's what Sanchez did. If you have any other name suggestions for this play, please comment below. This play deserves to live on in infamy.

2. Fortuitous Bounce To Edelman - A lot of times football games are decided by fluky plays that are inches from another outcome. This play was certainly on of those plays. Obviously credit goes to McCourty for getting down the field and putting a heavy hit on the returner McKnight, but you've got to consider it fortunate that Edelman caught the ball in stride. A regular fumble would have been recovered in a heap of bodies, and the offense would need to finish the job. Not here though. This was not a normal fumble. Really, I can't remember ever seeing a kickoff unit score a TD. This one really rotated the dagger in the Jets' stomach.

3. Gregory Undercuts Route - When you re-watch this play its obvious that this is a trap coverage that is designed to yield an INT. Kyle Arrington is playing outside technique on the slot man, and he's just begging him to cut to the inside. Sanchez and his receiver have no idea that the middle zone is too good to be true. Steve Gregory is prowling the underneath middle-zone like a hungry lion, and Sanchez tosses him an easy meal. Obviously Sanchez and his receiver made a bad read on the field, but I give credit to Belichick and Patricia for drawing this one up just to confuse Sanchez. 

4. Almost Offsides on 3rd and 4 - This is that play where Dan Connolly "immediately" reacted to the defender jumping into the neutral zone. With the benefit of replay, this looks like the wrong call. That means that this should have been an offsides on Connolly, and it would have brought up 3rd and 9. Instead, the chains kept moving. The Patriots really benefitted from this call, and it helped them march down the field on 15 plays to score the first TD of the game. Who knows what would have happened if this call goes the other way. 

5. Vereen Pass - This wasn't a screen pass to Vereen, but he did take a short swing route for an 83 yard TD. It's almost more impressive that this wasn't a screen pass because Vereen took it the length of the field without being touched. And he did that all without blockers in front. The one thing that really springs Vereen is Welker rubbing his route against Bart Scott to delay his angle of pursuit. I am really putting the blame on Scott here though. Even without the pick play, Scott looked like he would have been a step late on Vereen. The real question is directed at Rex Ryan, "Why do you have Scott playing man-to-man against a receiving back with great speed?" Rex Ryan and Bart Scott just need to go away already...