Patriots vs. Jets: New England Deserved the Win Despite Jets Mistakes

It doesn't get much better than Patriots vs. Jets, and last night, the New England Patriots emerged deserved winners despite a first half that portrayed a lackluster Pats offense and a self-imploding Jets team.

Until Tom Brady's late second-quarter touchdown drive, the highly anticipated matchup looked like a Jets vs. Jets rivalry—and the Jets were trumping themselves.

Despite lacking a top-ranked offense, Mark Sanchez and his receivers were given a ripe opportunity to carve up a Pats D plagued by injuries at nearly every roster spot. And the Jets blew it, setting the pace for their spiral when a seemingly unstoppable opening drive ended abruptly with Nick Folk missing a 24-yard chip shot.

And the mistakes just kept piling on. Later in the half, Kyle Wilson missed a pick that was thrown to him as if Brady mistook him for wearing a Pats jersey.

Even on the Pats' last drive of the half, the Jets can take partial credit for the resulting touchdown. A 15-yard facemask penalty brought the Pats within the Jets 20, and the touchdown play began with an offsides flag that left many Jets defensive players looking distracted after the snap (probably hoping for a false start call).

Despite the Jets' poor first half play, you have to hand it to the Patriots in the latter part of the game.

Tom Brady finally looked like—well, Tom Brady. He executed plays quickly and used the no-huddle effectively, taking advantage of an exhausted Jets defense.

The veteran quarterback also looked like his former self as he evaded tackles and scrambled around in the pocket on a third-quarter play in which a touchdown was recalled after replay showed Rob Gronkowski coming from out-of-bounds to snag the ball.

Defensively, the Pats looked impressive for a unit that included many no-name players and featured Julian Edelman as a slot corner for several snaps. They were light on penalties and only gave up 14 points (the final score of 16 resulted from a safety), allowing Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to break the record for most wins by a coach/quarterback duo.