New York Jets: Breakthrough Game against the New England Patriots

The New England Patriots, normally a contender in the postseason, represented the second test for the New Jets in as many weeks. But this time, Gang Green passed the test. Almost with, but not quite, flying colors.

Joe Namath was right: Mark Sanchez was a better quarterback than I, for one, had given him credit for. Maybe it "takes one to know one."

Sanchez had a breakthrough game yesterday. For the first time in his career, he passed for more than 200 yards and for all three Jets' touchdowns, representing some 22 points in themselves (counting one two-point conversion), out of a total of 28 

That's enough to win most games, given the Jets' defense. If only they could transfer a touchdown, or even a field goal, to last week's game against the Ravens.

Sanchez won't always be this good. And there is a danger that he will return to his old, not-so-good ways.

But here's the thing. We now know that Sanchez CAN do the job. We just don't know if he will—with any consistency. But at least we know where his ceiling is.

Sanchez wasn't the only reason the Jets won. It was the defense that managed to keep the game scoreless in the first quarter, even though the Patriots had the ball for nearly 14 minutes.The visitors did earn points in the second period, but only to the tune of two touchdowns.

Besides the touchdown that the Jets managed in the same quarter, Nick Folk's 49-yard filed goal kept the game close at 14-10. Another field goal early in the third quarter closed the lead to one point.

And in the second half, Antonio Cromartie shut down the Patriot's Randy Moss after fellow (and star) cornerback Darrell Revis was injured and forced out of the game. This was a major reason the Patriots didn't score after halftime. Meanwhile, the Jets scored two touchdowns in the second half, enough to win.

That's why the focus is now on the offense. And with that arm having kicked up its game a notch, I'm beginning to think that this week featured the "real" Jets and that last week was a fluke.

That's a sign of overconfidence, perhaps to a dangerous level. But the fact that such bravado is even plausible shows that the Jets have come a long way.

Even so, there are 15 more weeks in the regular season to win or lose. And they still need to do something about their left guard.