New England Patriots vs. New York Jets: Grading Each Team's Performance
Monday Night Football this week didn't exactly treat us to a thrilling game, but we got to witness absolute mastery.
For the second straight week Tom Brady was unbelievable. Even though he might not have achieved a perfect quarterback rating as he did last game, this was an even better performance.
On the other hand, Mark Sanchez was terrible.
Read on to find out how this highly-anticipated matchup of two 9-2 teams unfolded.
New England Patriots' First Drive
1 of 22
Drive Stats:
9 plays, 52 yards, 4:03 elapsed, field goal
The Analysis:
After the New York Jets won the coin toss and deferred, the New England Patriots chose to receive. Following a Brandon Tate return for 21 yards, Tom Brady strode onto the field for the first time at his own 25-yard line.
Just five plays later, the Patriots had already picked up three first downs on three runs and two passes.
But then the drive stalled thanks to three straight incomplete passes from Brady.
Shayne Graham then came on and kicked a 41-yard field goal right through the uprights.
The Grade:
B
New York Jets' First Drive
2 of 22
Drive Stats:
12 plays, 39 yards, 4:07 elapsed, missed field goal
The Analysis:
The New York Jets started out in promising fashion on their first drive, quite similar to the Patriots' opening possession.
After picking up one third down conversion on a seven-yard pass from Mark Sanchez to Jerrico Cotchery, the Jets failed on their next third down. But Shonn Greene ran for two yards on fourth-and-1 and the drive was kept alive.
After one more first down on the next play, the drive stalled and Nick Folk missed a 51-yard field goal attempt.
The Grade:
C+
New England Patriots' Second Drive
3 of 22
Drive Stats:
6 plays, 57 yards, 2:48 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
Thanks to a 36-yard pass interference call against the Jets defense, the Patriots marched down the field quite quickly.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis, The Law Firm, was the star of this drive. He carried the ball four times and despite only gaining seven yards, he got the touchdown on a 1-yard run.
The Grade:
A
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
New York Jets' Second Drive
4 of 22
Drive Stats:
3 plays, -1 yard, 1:28 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
It's always a good response to a touchdown when you go three-and-out while losing yards, right?
That's what I thought. . .
It's even better when your punter bombs a punt all of 12 yards.
The Grade:
F
New England Patriots' Third Drive
5 of 22
Drive Stats:
4 plays, 32 yards, 1:30 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
The Patriots already had a 10-point lead at this point and were handed the ball on the Jets 32-yard line. Not a bad position to be in at all.
Tom Brady though almost ruined it when he was sacked for a loss of 12 yards on the first play of the drive. Then he threw an incompletion and it was quickly third-and-22.
However, after a 19-yard pass to Deion Branch and then a 25-yard touchdown pass to the same man on fourth-and-3, the Patriots had a 17-point lead.
The Grade:
A+
New York Jets' Third Drive
6 of 22
Drive Stats:
8 plays, 46 yards, 3:47 elapsed, field goal
The Analysis:
Now down 17 points, the Jets ran two plays before the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter began with three Shonn Greene runs for 18 yards, but Mark Sanchez failed to pass his way to a second first down.
Nick Folk came on just outside of the red zone and made a 39-yard field goal.
Not exactly what the Jets wanted, but they were at least on the board.
The Grade:
B-
New England Patriots' Fourth Drive
7 of 22
Drive Stats:
7 plays, 67 yards, 3:59 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
In response to the Jets' field goal, the Patriots marched down the field yet again.
Tom Brady pretty much did it all on this drive, even overcoming an offensive pass interference call against Deion Branch.
Brady was 4-for-4 for 57 yards and the touchdown, which came on a 4-yard pass to Brandon Tate. The touchdown pass was the 250th of his career, making him the 14th player to ever reach that milestone.
The Grade:
A+
New York Jets' Fourth Drive
8 of 22
Drive Stats:
4 plays, 26 yards, 1:56 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
The drive started out promisingly when Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes for 17 yards on the first play.
But then three plays later, the Jets were punting yet again.
The Grade:
C
New England Patriots' Fifth Drive
9 of 22
Drive Stats:
3 plays, 9 yards, 2:02 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
Not much need for an analysis here as the Patriots went three-and-out. Get used to seeing that sentence for the next few slides.
The Grade:
C
New York Jets' Fifth Drive
10 of 22
Drive Stats:
3 plays, 0 yards, 1:37 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
Not much need for an analysis here as the Jets went three-and-out.
The Grade:
C
New England Patriots' Sixth Drive
11 of 22
Drive Stats:
3 plays, -10 yards, 1:16 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
Not much need for an analysis here as the Patriots went three-and-out.
The Grade:
C
New York Jets' Sixth Drive
12 of 22
Drive Stats:
8 plays, 31 yards, 1:03 elapsed, end of half
The Analysis:
With just 1:03 remaining in the first half, the Jets got the ball back on their own 17-yard line.
They didn't have much time to work with, but desperately needed to score to avoid going into the locker room trailing by three touchdowns.
They moved down the field methodically, all the way to the Patriots' 37-yard line, but ran out of time.
The Grade:
B-
New York Jets' Seventh Drive
13 of 22
Drive Stats:
9 plays, 64 yards, 5:45 elapsed, interception
The Analysis:
The Jets got the ball back to start the second half and promptly started to drive down the field.
During the drive LaDanian Tomlinson passed Eric Dickerson for sixth on the all time rushing yardage list.
Once the Jets had driven all the way down the field to the Patriots nine-yard line, Mark Sanchez threw over the middle of the field and was picked off by Brandon Spikes, the first interception for the former-Gator.
The Grade:
C
New England Patriots' Seventh Drive
14 of 22
Drive Stats:
8 plays, 93 yards, 4:35 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
Tom Brady was kind of good on this drive. Again.
No. 12 completed all five of his passes for 85 yards and a 18-yard touchdown toss to Wes Welker.
No big deal.
The Grade:
A+
New York Jets' Eighth Drive
15 of 22
Drive Stats:
1 play, 8 yards, 0:50 elapsed, interception
The Analysis:
Jets fans probably didn't think this was possible, but this drive was even worse than the last.
After Shonn Greene ran for eight yards on the first play of the possession, Mark Sanchez threw a deep pass to Braylon Edwards but it was picked off by Devin McCourty.
The Grade:
F
New England Patriots' Eighth Drive
16 of 22
Drive Stats:
8 plays, 94 yards, 3:53 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
Wait, Tom Brady was good on this drive again? What?
This time, the superstar quarterback completed five of his six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, this time to Aaron Hernandez. The scoring play came on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Patriots led by 35 points at this point. Game over.
The Grade:
A+
New York Jets' Ninth Drive
17 of 22
Drive Stats:
4 plays, 42 yards, 2:11 elapsed, interception
The Analysis:
Mark Sanchez made it three straight drive-ending interceptions on this one.
The Jets picked up one first down on this drive before Sanchez threw an interception on 3rd-and-7 to James Sanders.
The Grade:
F
New England Patriots' Ninth Drive
18 of 22
Drive Stats:
6 plays, 28 yards, 3:26 elapsed, touchdown
The Analysis:
For once Tom Brady didn't do much. But the Patriots still scored another touchdown thanks to Green-Ellis.
After catching a seven-yard pass on the opening play, The Law Firm took the next four handoffs. He gained 21 yards, including a five-yard score.
The Grade:
A+
New York Jets' 10th Drive
19 of 22
Drive Stats:
9 plays, 51 yards, 3:31 elapsed, turnover on downs
The Analysis:
Now down 42 points with just under 10 minutes to play, there wasn't really any hope for the Jets.
But they tried anyway, probably more for pride than anything else.
Sanchez led them all the way down the field to the New England nine-yard line, but threw an incomplete pass intended for LaDanian Tomlinson on 4th-and-5, and the drive came to a halt.
The Grade:
C+
New England Patriots' 10th Drive
20 of 22
Drive Stats:
5 plays, 14 yards, 3:19 elapsed, punt
The Analysis:
I know what the Patriots were thinking here.
"Guys, we've got this in the bag. Let's just run out some of the clock and then let good ol' Zoltan get some work tonight."
Zoltan Mesko did indeed get to punt on this drive.
The Grade:
C
New York Jets' 11th Drive
21 of 22
Drive Stats:
4 plays, 23 yards, 2:30 elapsed, end of game
The Analysis:
Four running plays, one by Shonn Greene and three by Joe McKnight, and the game was over.
The Jets hung their heads and walked to the sideline to end this drive.
The Grade:
Incomplete
Overall Grades
22 of 22
New England Patriots:
45 points scored on a 9-2 team? Only allowing three points to a 9-2 team?
A+
New York Jets:
Allowing 45 points as a 9-2 team? Only scoring three points as a 9-2 team?
F
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Post-June 1 Trade Candidates ☎️")
.JPG?w=600 "TO Talks Cowboys Relationship")
.jpg?w=600 "Taylor Heinicke Retiring")
.jpg?w=600 "49ers OC Hypes Mike Evans 🤩")