Jets vs. Patriots: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

When Tom Brady is the New England Patriots' leading rusher, you know something's gone awry. When Rob Gronkowski heads to the sideline with an injury, you know there's disaster afoot.

Good thing the Patriots are accustomed to playing through adversity.

Brady threw for 355 yards and Gronkowski turned out just fine as New England earned a 30-23 win over the New York Jets on Sunday.

The Patriots signal-caller found Gronkowski from 15 yards out with 1:13 remaining as New England increased its lead to 30-20 after it had trailed 20-16 earlier in the fourth quarter. The Jets had one final chance to even the score after recovering an onside kick with 15 seconds remaining, but the clock expired with a Brandon Marshall false start penalty. 

Gronkowski had left the game in the third quarter with an undisclosed injury but returned to the sideline not long after. He finished with a career-high 11 receptions for 108 yards and a score.

"Everybody has tried everything," New York head coach Todd Bowles said Thursday, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. "He's probably seen every coverage he is going to see in his lifetime. You've got to be able to make your share of plays."

Freddie Coleman of ESPN Radio called the game after Gronk's touchdown:

It was a strange offensive outing for the Patriots. They were without running back back Dion Lewis, and LeGarrette Blount and James White were their only healthy backs.

So, Josh McDaniels steered into the curve. Blount and White combined for a paltry five rushing attempts, and Brady had the team's longest carry (11 yards, which also tied for the game high), most carries (four) and scored a one-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It's just the sixth time in the last four seasons Brady has gone for double-digit rushing yards and the first time he's led the Patriots in rushing. 

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe is ready to anoint Brady as the next big thing on the NFL's growing list of mobile quarterbacks: 

But Brady did most of his damage, per usual, through the air. He completed 34 of his 54 passes for 355 yards and two scores and was particularly deadly in the fourth quarter. The two-time MVP was accurate on 14 of his 17 fourth-quarter attempts, accounting for 150 yards; the Jets had done a nice job of keeping him contained through the first three quarters. 

Brady also became the fifth quarterback in NFL history to pass for 55,000 yards. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Drew Brees are the only other players who have hit that milestone. It's the second big benchmark of 2015 for Brady, who also topped 400 touchdown passes earlier this season.

"I'd like to play a long time," Brady said Wednesday, per John Breech of CBS Sports. "There's a lot that goes into playing well. I've played with a lot of great teammates. But I want to play for a long time, maybe 10 more years. I think that's probably what my goal is."

ESPN's Mike Greenberg said it all:

The Jets were led by Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw for 295 yards and two scores and added 29 yards on five keepers. Eric Decker caught six passes for 94 yards, and Calvin Pace, Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson each recorded a sack as New York (4-2) proved it could play with New England—even if it took its seventh straight regular-season defeat at Gillette Stadium.

Chris Ivory, who has emerged as one of the NFL's best all-around backs in 2015, ran for a season-low 41 yards on 17 carries. He did make his first touchdown reception of the season, but that did little to help a rushing attack that got its longest gain (11 yards) from Fitzpatrick. Backup Zac Stacy picked up 19 yards on seven carries.

The Patriots improved to 6-0 for the third time with Brady under center. As SportsCenter noted, that's been an omen of good things to come:

If New England wins its next four games (versus Miami, Washington, the New York Giants and Buffalo), the Patriots will be 10-0 heading into their Week 12 showdown at Denver. Those teams will have to come up with something special if they're going to stop the offensive juggernaut.

Post-Game Reaction

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was as displeased with his team's performance as he was pleased with the result, per the Boston Herald: "It definitely wasn't our best performance. But in the end, we were able to make the plays we needed to make."

Belichick also went into (some) detail about why New England abandoned the run: "We felt like we had a good matchup throwing the ball, so we tried to take advantage of those matchups. The runs that we ran, we didn't get a lot out of."

Brady tried to stay positive, especially regarding his receivers, who spent most of the afternoon dropping well-thrown balls (via Boston Herald): "The receivers, they want to make every play, too. You know I have a lot of trust in all those guys."

The Patriots quarterback also seemed to be having fun with his new-found running ability, per Nick O'Malley of Mass Live: "I should enjoy this because it'll probably never happen again."

Jets guard Willie Colon bemoaned his team's loss in a winnable game, per the Boston Herald: "I am (angry)," he said. "I feel like we had them. I feel like we were the better team out there, but obviously we were not.

"They beat us fair and square, and that is the bottom line. We have to do better and execute better. We have to make more plays."

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.