New England Patriots Survive New York Jets 29-26 in Thrilling OT Battle

Mark Sanchez almost led the Jets to a huge win over the New England Patriots on Sunday, but a disastrous fumble in overtime handed the Patriots a 29-26 victory.

With around two minutes left in regulation and the score tied 23-23, it appeared that the game was destined for a trip to overtime. However, New England's Devin McCourty coughed the ball up on a kickoff, giving New York the ball at the Patriots' 18-yard line.

From there, the Jets couldn't get anything going. However, that didn't stop Nick Folk from knocking home a possible game-winner from 43 yards out.

That forced Tom Brady to answer the question posed by Bleacher Report's Matt Miller in the only way he knows how:

"

1:32 left for Brady. 80 yards to go. What ya got, Tom?

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) October 21, 2012"

In response, Brady was able to lead the Patriots all the way down the field on the final drive of regulation. Stephen Gostkowski's 43-yard field goal matched Folk's, tying the game at 26 in the process.

When New England won the toss and elected to receive the ball first, it wasn't hard to predict what Brady was going to do. He was 26-of-42 for 259 yards and two touchdowns on the day, not to mention that he is one of the great clutch quarterbacks in NFL history.

New England struggled at times on its overtime drive, but Gostkowski was able to hit from 48 yards out to give his team the lead to start the extra period.

Sanchez's fumble on the ensuing drive sealed the deal, sending the Patriots to 4-3 on the season.

Being down 10 points to Brady entering the game's final quarter isn't a favorable position, but Sanchez and the Jets were able to stay the course.

Beginning with a 7-yard touchdown toss to Dustin Keller with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth, the Jets cut the lead to three points. That allowed Folk to hit the game-tying field goal with 2:11 left and game-leading try just seconds later.

Sanchez turned in one of his best games of the season, going 28-of-41 for 328 yards and a touchdown. He benefited from the health of Dustin Keller (seven catches, 93 yards and one touchdown) and the dynamic play of Jeremy Kerley (seven catches, 120 yards).

Prior to the game's exciting fourth-quarter action, it was all New England. After Shonn Greene started the scoring with a 1-yard score, McCourty answered with this:

Brady then found Rob Gronkowski for a 17-yard score, and Sanchez fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone to give New England a 16-7 lead early in the game. The Jets' second-half comeback made the game extremely interesting, but in the end, the song remained the same. 

Sanchez's critical mistake overshadows his fine statistical game and added to the Jets' woes this season.

New England heads to St. Louis next week, while the Jets will welcome Miami.