Sanchez & Jets lay an egg in mega-clash with Patriots

PATRIOTS 37
JETS 16

The New York Jets have nothing to left to be proud of. They are dead team walking.

Sunday night's display of ineptitude was so disturbing and infuriating it is clear that the Jets need to do the rest of us a favor: shut up and sing! For an entire week the Jets squawked about how this would be the turning point in the division, that it was their time to become the beasts of the AFC East. Woody Johnson lauded about how raucous the Jets crowd would be as they stomped on the Patriots; Dustin Keller even guaranteed victory.

Instead the Jets showed to the nation why they have been called and will always be called the Same Ole' Jets, because only the Same Ole' Jets could come up with the kind of stinker on a grand stage like they did last night.

The night started with a 25-yard field goal attempt by Nick Folk that he pushed to the left, typical of any clutch kicks by this incompetent kicker who's history is to miss and miss badly before giving way to Mark Sanchez, who bumbled and stumbled his way through the game, and a defense that couldn't even tackle a pee-wee football team.

It was a complete performance of incompetence.

The Jets allowed Tom Brady to stand in the pocket all night and pick them apart with Rob Gronkowski, Deion Branch and even Chad Ochocinco who, while being covered by his arch-nemesis Darrelle Revis, Ochocinco, who has had a horrible season, caught a 53 yard slant to help set up a field goal to give the Pats a 6-0 lead.

Brady danced in and out of potential sacks, and the Jets couldn't get a hand on him. Just before halftime with the Jets lead 9-6, Brady got red hot. He completed three straight passes to get to the Jets 23 yard line, including a 25 yarder to Gronkowski, who went up into the air to get the extra yardage. Three plays later, Brady found Gronkowski in the end zone for the touchdown to give New England a 13-9 lead. At that point, the game was pretty much over.

Brady and the Pats can thank Mark Sanchez for that last minute touchdown drive. After the Jets recorded a safety to cut the Pats lead to 6-2, Sanchez moved the Jets to the Patriots 10, before he decided to call timeout with a 1:24 to go before the half, a decision that Rex Ryan called the dumbest in NFL history. Sanchez eventually scored to give the Jets a 9-6 lead, but Brady had a 1:15 with which to work, ample time for the future Hall of Famer to work his magic.

For his part, Sanchez was pathetic. He was sacked four times, hit over a dozen times, and was once again fairly inaccurate with his passes as his throws either hit the ground or sailed over the heads of his receivers. Even though Sanchez threw for 306 yards, it didn't make up for the fact that it was another hideous performance for this quarterback. Not only was he sacked four times, he was picked off twice, including the game clinching pick by Rob Ninkovich, who took the Sanchez interception back to the house for a touchdown to give New England a 37-16 lead.

Even though at one point in this game the Jets crawled back to within seven at 23-16, you couldn't feel confident that this Jets team was going to come back. They weren't clicking offensively and Tom Brady was eating the Jets secondary for dinner. Brady led the Pats on a 13 play 84 yard drive that ate up 6:51 on the clock, culminating in an eight yard touchdown strike to Dieon Branch to give New England a 30-16 lead. At that point the Jets fate was sealed.

The Jets now get ready for a short week as they will travel to Denver on Wednesday for a game Thursday night. The Broncos aren't the most impressive team in the world, and Tim Tebow hasn't lit the league on fire, then again neither has Mark Sanchez. If the Jets should lose this game, heads are sure to roll.