Jets vs. Patriots: Score and Twitter Reaction for Thursday Night Football

The New England Patriots got all they could handle from a gutsy New York Jets team before walking away with a hard-fought 27-25 win at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.

New York made it interesting in the fourth quarter, as tight end Jeff Cumberland caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Geno Smith with two minutes and 31 seconds to play. The Jets attempted a two-point conversion to tie the game, but Smith's pass for tight end Jace Amaro was off the mark.

Patriots wideout Danny Amendola recovered the Jets' ensuing onside kick attempt, but New York had one more chance to win after holding New England to a three-and-out.

With no timeouts remaining, the Jets had just over a minute to get within field-goal range for kicker Nick Folk. They got close enough to line up for a 58-yarder, but Folk's kick was blocked to end the game.

Patriots defensive tackle Chris Jones recorded the block, which Grantland's Bill Barnwell felt was poetic, given his error in what proved to be a Jets victory on a game-winning field goal in 2013:

The two teams had previously met four times on Thursday night, with the Patriots owning a 3-1 advantage. Their Thanksgiving 2012 meeting featured the infamous "Butt Fumble," a fact which wasn't lost to New England's Twitter account before the game:

"

#TBT to another #Patriots-Jets Thursday night game: pic.twitter.com/MRYi4bdqDa

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 16, 2014"

As if that image wasn't bad enough for Jets fans, they had to endure seeing Darrelle Revis line up against them for the first time since he joined the Patriots.

Entering the game, the All-Pro cornerback said his talents may not be limited to the defensive end when he took on his former team, per Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald:

"

I mean, I'm very confident in catching balls. I know that. We've got some great receivers on this team. Usually when something happens like that, it's the depth chart, maybe injuries. Knock on wood, I hope we don’t get to that point. But if there was an opportunity, if Bill came to me and said we need help, I'm willing to do whatever coach says. And that's any position. That's just what it is. We get asked to do some crazy things sometimes. Whatever coach needs me to play, I’ll be up for the challenge.

"

Although Revis was never afforded the opportunity to show off his receiving acumen, his play on the defensive side was more than enough for the Pats. He helped limit New York's best wideout, Eric Decker, to four catches for 65 yards.

Smith was solid if unspectacular under center, completing 20 of his 34 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown. He was helped out massively by Chris Ivory's 21 carries for 107 yards on the ground.

Tom Brady continued his strong run of form, going 20-of-37 for 261 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target on the night was running back Shane Vereen, who had five receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns. Vereen added 47 yards rushing as well.

Although the Patriots only possessed the ball for 19:06 of the game, they had the big-play ability that was lacking in the Jets offense Thursday.

The Patriots needed all of 90 seconds to take a 7-0 lead. Brady moved the team 80 yards in four plays, with the drive culminating on a 49-yard touchdown pass to Vereen. Brady nearly missed the wide-open running back, but Vereen made a great diving catch and rolled into the end zone:

"

9 seconds. 7 points. Brady being Brady. #NYJvsNE #TNF http://t.co/eggaOhVW42

— NFL (@nfl) October 17, 2014"

NFL on CBS caught Vereen in full flight:

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the TD pass was Brady's first throw from outside the pocket since Week 4:

New York answered with a healthy dose of Folk. He connected on two field goals in the first quarter to get the Jets to within a point, 7-6, heading into the second stanza.

And the second quarter began as the first ended, as Folk hit his third field goal of the night to get New York its first lead, 9-7, with 7:52 remaining until halftime.

CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora spoke for fantasy football owners everywhere:

On New England's first drive after Folk's third field goal, Vereen handed the lead back to the Patriots, 14-9, with a three-yard touchdown reception.

The Jets weren't surprised with the pass play so close to the goal line. Yet somehow, Vereen managed to find enough room to get open for the quick throw from Brady. Bleacher Report's Michael Tanier wondered if New York's defenders suffered from the bystander effect:

Folk wasted little time before hitting his fourth field goal on the night to get the Jets to within two points, 14-12, with 1:01 left in the first half.

Football Outsiders' Aaron Schatz imagined the euphoria experienced by fantasy football owners who started both Vereen and Folk:

Stephen Gostkowski restored New England's five-point lead, 17-12, after hitting a 39-yard field goal as time expired on the first half.

The Jets were knocking on the door in the opening half, with the running game in particular showing up in a big way. Ivory had a lot of success on the ground over the first and second quarters, and sooner or later, he was bound to provide the breakthrough for New York.

After an impressive, time-consuming 80-yard, 6:02 drive to begin the second half, Ivory found the end zone for New York's first touchdown of the game. That score put his team ahead once again, 19-17. He leaped over the Patriots defense to cross the plane:

Ivory broke the century mark for the game on that drive, which nearly doubled his combined production from the last two games, per NFL on ESPN:

Both ESPN New York's Robin Lundberg and The Cauldron's Andy Glockner believed that Ivory firmly ended the discussion as to whom was the Jets' No. 1 option at running back:

The Patriots quickly recovered, with Gostkowski providing the fourth lead change of the night after a 36-yard field goal.

New England's lead increased to eight points, 27-19, after Amendola caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brady. The score came with 7:49 to play in the fourth quarter, leaving plenty of time for New York to make a late comeback.

Jets fans will undoubtedly be dispirited by the loss, but the running game showed signs of life in addition to Smith's promising display. The team has a couple of winnable matchups on the schedule ahead in the coming weeks.

New York is at home for two of its next three games. The Jets play the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers at MetLife Stadium. In between, they travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. Their bye comes in Week 11.

The Patriots will be at home for the next two weeks. They get the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos before their bye in Week 10.