With the [Insert Disease Name Here] freezing life as we know it, the NFL has been throwing on full broadcasts of games from years past on YouTube. One of the games now available on the NFL YouTube channel is the 2010 AFC Divisional Playoff between the New York Jets and New England Patriots.
Given the recent history of the Jets, I wanted to go back and relive this game. But first, let’s take a look at…
The Regular Season
The Jets started the NFL regular season with a 9-2 record and visited Gillette Stadium to face the Patriots on Monday Night in Week 13. At the time, the Jets were riding a four-game winning streak and won nine of their last 10 games. It was the cocky up-and-comers against the established elite of the NFL. In Week 2, The Jets ran all over the Pats at MetLife Stadium, shutting out one of the league’s best offenses in the second half. The defense forced three turnovers, including two interceptions off of Pats QB Tom Brady.
The rematch in Week 13 would be an entirely different story. Before the Jets and their fans could say, “What the Hell?!?,” the Pats went up 17-0. K Nick Folk’s field goal would be the only points the Jets would muster the entire day. The Pats scored four more touchdowns in the game on the strength of three interceptions by Jets QB Mark Sanchez. \
An embarrassing 45-3 loss sent the Jets limping back to New York. They split the final four games of the season and finished 11-5, earning a playoff spot as one of the wild cards.
The Playoffs
On Wild Card Weekend, the Jets traveled to Indianapolis and shocked the Colts on a last-second field goal, 17-16. The win avenged their loss the previous season in the conference championship game when they lost to the same Colts team. The win meant a date with the Patriots one more time for a shot at the conference championship.
Entering the game, the Patriots were 9.5-point favorites. Justifiably so since the Patriots trounced the Jets six weeks earlier in front of a national TV audience in NFL Week 13. But this was a Jets team that learned from the mistakes made in December.
First Half
The Jets’ defense established their dominance early in the game as LB David Harris picked off Brady and ran all the way to New England’s 12-yard line. The offense couldn’t capitalize as Folk missed a short FG. But the defense continued to press the issue against the Patriots offense, sacking Brady three times in the first half.
The Jets held the Patriots to only three points in the first half, a Shayne Graham FG toward the end of the first quarter. This was the one lead New England would have all game long.
The Jets’ offense capitalized on the momentum created by the defense; following a three-and-out, the Jets took the lead on a six-play, 51-yard drive capped by Sanchez’s touchdown pass to RB LaDanian Tomlinson. The big play on the drive was Sanchez’s 37-yard pass to WR Braylon Edwards. Each team traded stalled drives until Patriots coach Bill Belichick made a risky call with nearly a minute left in the first half: a fake punt.
But the direct snap to DB Patrick Chung was fumbled and what would have been a sure first down was foiled. This was the defining play of the game as the Jets took control with Sanchez’s second touchdown pass of the quarter to Edwards: 14-3, Jets, after the extra point.
Second Half
Both teams tightened up defensively in the third quarter as neither team scored on their two opening drives. The Patriots finally scored their first touchdown of the game at the 14:45 mark of the quarter and a two-point convert brought them within three. Then came the fourth quarter…
The Jets started their third drive of the half after the Patriots scored. If the offense couldn’t come up with a touchdown, the momentum would have stayed with Brady and the Pats would have gone on a run. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Sanchez hit WR Jerricho Cotchery on a crossing pattern and Cotchery galloped down the sideline for a 58-yard gain. Two plays later, Sanchez found WR Santonio Holmes on a corner fade route to essentially put the game away.
(A thing of beauty if you ask me.)
The Patriots’ offense got the ball back and proceeded to go on a 15-play drive that resulted in… bupkis. WR Deion Branch dropped what would have surely been a first down on fourth-and-13. New England would get the ball back with 3:29 remaining and score a touchdown with two minutes remaining in the game. Then came The Dagger: the Patriots attempted an onside kick, which squibbed through several players before DB Antonio Cromartie picked up the ball and ran 23 yards to the Patriots’ 20. Two plays later, RB Shonn Greene put the game away with a 16-yard touchdown.
The Patriots would score another TD in garbage time and attempt another onside kick, which was recovered by the Jets. A Sanchez kneel-down ended the game as the Jets’ sideline ran onto the field, players flying around with arms out like airplanes. The Jets’ defense sacked Brady a total of five times and although Brady had 299 yards passing, he was harassed all game long by the Jets’ pass rush.
What Might Have Been
Since that game, the dichotomy between the Jets and Patriots in recent NFL history has ben exceptionally different. The Jets traveled to Pittsburgh the following week for the AFC Championship. They fell behind 24-3 in the first half and stormed back, but fell short in the end.
Jets fans are too familiar with the aftermath. The next season, the offense went from well-balanced to pass-heavy and relied too much on Sanchez to win them games. One of the league’s best defenses was still respectable but wasn’t the defense it was in 2009 and 2010. The team continued a downward spiral and head coach Rex Ryan was fired after the 2014 season. The Jets haven’t been to the playoffs since and have ONE winning season since 2010.
The Patriots, though, remained the Patriots. They appeared in five Super Bowls in the 2010s, winning three. And continued one of the most dominant runs in sports history.
But Jets fans will always remember January 16, 2011, one of the greatest wins in team playoff history.
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