Brady, Pats shoot down Jets
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady and the Patriots were dominating the Jets after three quarters.
Not good enough for Bill Belichick’s bunch.
New England found little resistance in the fourth, too, turning a much-hyped matchup between AFC East co-leaders into a 45-3 blowout Monday night.
“I’ve seen some pretty crazy things happen,” Brady said. “We’ve got to continue to find ways to produce in the fourth quarter.”
The Patriots scored on their first four possessions of the game and their first two of the final quarter in wrapping up the start-to-finish rout.
“I thought we were going to have a huge game,” New York coach Rex Ryan said, “and it was just the opposite.”
In the 103 meetings between the teams, the only score that was more lopsided was the Patriots 56-3 win on Sept. 9, 1979. It was the Jets’ worst loss since falling 45-3 to Miami in 1986.
The Patriots’ first three series in the second half ended with touchdowns.
“It’s not shocking because we have a great offense,” said tight end Aaron Hernandez, who was wide open for a 1-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the fourth quarter as the Patriots boosted their lead to 38-3.
With Brady throwing for four touchdowns for the second consecutive game — and no interceptions for the seventh straight — the Patriots improved to 10-2, tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the best record in the NFL.
“We know that this division goes through New England,” Ryan said after his team fell to 9-3 and ended a four-game winning streak. “They’ve still got Belichick as coach and they’ve still got Brady at quarterback. We’ll never underestimate the New England Patriots.”
The offensive show was no surprise; the Patriots still lead the league in scoring after their second game in a row with exactly 45 points. But the defense, ranked last in yards passing, intercepted Mark Sanchez three times and held him to 164 yards.
Brady set an NFL record with his 26th straight regular-season win in a home start, breaking a tie with Brett Favre. The last team to beat him in the regular season there was the Jets, 17-14 in 2006.
They had beaten him in New York in the second game this season. Another loss and the Jets would not only have a better record but also an edge in the first tiebreaker by beating the Patriots twice.
“We couldn’t afford to lose to them again,” Brady said. “If you want to win the division, you can’t lose to same team twice.”
