NFL Old School Game of the Week: Brady Leads Patriots to Comeback Win over Jets

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed 20 of 28 passes for 213 yards in the Patriots' win over the New York Jets.

When it comes to the New England Patriots and the beginning of their dynasty, many will point to the play in second game of the 2001 season when starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe was knocked out of action thanks to a hit by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, which lead to Bledsoe being sidelined for several weeks and being replaced by Tom Brady.

Some might point to the moment when head coach Bill Belichick named Brady the starter for the rest of the season even though Bledsoe was now healthy as the moment that changed New England's fortunes.

But if you look closely at the 2001 season, you may need to pay attention to the Patriots' second meeting with Jets on December 2, 2001 as the moment the Patriots morphed into a championship team.

The Patriots came into the game with a 6-5 record in contention for a Wild Card spot but two games back of the Miami Dolphins in the race for the AFC East division championship.

New England traveled to the Meadowlands to face the Jets who also in the race to make the playoffs as they entered the game with a 7-3 record, just half a game behind the 8-3 Dolphins, meaning the winner of this game would bolster their hopes at making the playoffs and keep them in the hunt for the AFC East title.

 The Jets got the ball to start the game where after the first two plays picked up only two yards, quarterback Vinny Testaverde connected with Santana Moss for a 33-yard completion to give the Jets a 1st down at the Patriots' 38-yard-line.

Then after two short passes that gained four yards, Testaverde found Laveranues Coles for a 34-yard touchdown to give the Jets a 7-0 lead with 11:52 to go in the first quarter.

Following a New England three-and-out, the Jets got the ball back at their 45-yard-line when Testaverde hit another long pass, this time for 24 yards to Coles to give New York a 1st down at the Patriots' 31-yard-line.

From there, the Jets would drive to the Patriots' two-yard-line on the legs of running back Curtis Martin, who ran for 21 yards on four of the next six New York plays.

However, Martin's fifth carry would go for no gain as he was stopped by the Patriots' defense on 3rd & goal from the two-yard-line, forcing the Jets to settle for a 19-yard field goal by John Hall which increased New York's lead to 10-0 with 4:53 left in the first quarter.

Both teams would trade punts for the next couple of possessions until midway through the second quarter when the Jets drove 44 yards in nine plays as Testaverde completed four of six passes for 37 yards and ran for 12 yards to set up another field goal by Hall, this time from 40 yards out to increase New York's lead to 13-0.

Jets running back Curtis Martin carried the ball 20 times for 99 yards.

That would be the score after the first half came to a close with the Patriots' offense stuck in neutral as they gained only 61 yards and picked up just three 1st downs.

Things do not get any better when the Patriots got the ball to start the second half as they went three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Jets who took over at the New England 36-yard-line after Ken Walter shanked the punt as it went only 19 yards.

After dropping Richie Anderson for a three-yard-loss on 1st down, the Patriots' defense forced the first turnover of the game when linebacker Mike Vrabel picked off a Testaverde pass after it was tipped at the line of scrimmage by New England defensive end Brandon Mitchell.

Vrabel returned the pick 12 yards to the New England 43-yard-line giving Brady and the Patriots' offense their best field position of the game.

Brady would hit David Patten for seven yards on 1st down, then threw an incomplete pass for running back Antowain Smith to set up a 3rd & 3 at the 50-yard-line when Brady connected with Fred Coleman on a slant pass that picked up 46 yards to give New England a 1st & goal at the Jets' four-yard-line.

Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Brady handed the ball off to Smith on 2nd down who ran it in for the four-yard touchdown to put the Patriots on the board and the cut Jets' lead to 13-7 with 10:19 left in the third quarter.

The Jets would be given great field position to start their next drive as Craig Yeast returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards to the New York 48-yard-line.

From there, Martin would get the ball on the next two plays, running for 13 yards and then 17 yards to give the Jets a 1st down at the Patriots' 22-yard-line.

However, the drive would stall as Testaverde would be sacked for a nine-yard-loss by Patriots defensive lineman Bobby Hamilton and Richard Seymour, forcing the Jets to settle for another field goal by Hall, this one from 50 yards out, to push the New York lead to 16-7 midway through the third quarter.

The Patriots would begin their next drive at their 18-yard-line looking to continue the momentum they got from their previous drive which ended in a touchdown.

The drive would start with Brady hitting Troy Brown on back-to-back passes for 14 yards to give New England a 1st down at its 32-yard-line.

After the next two plays picked up only one yard, Brady threw a screen pass to Smith on 3rd & 9, who proceeded to turn the short pass into a 40-yard gain to give the Patriots a 1st down at the Jets' 27-yard-line.

From there, running back Kevin Faulk would run the ball on the next three plays, gaining 23 yards to set up fullback Marc Edwards' four-yard touchdown run to bring the Patriots to within a field goal of taking the lead as they trailed 16-14 with 2:11 left in the third quarter.

Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown caught eight passes for 59 yards.

The Jets would get the ball back at their 30-yard-line and drive into New England territory until another sack by Seymour pushed the Jets back into their own territory as they would be forced to punt when Tom Tupa's punt only went 22 yards, giving the Patriots the ball at their 33-yard-line with 12:16 to go in the fourth quarter.

The drive began with a 12-yard pass from Brady to Patten, followed by an incomplete pass intended for Patten, then two more completions to Patten that totaled 32 yards to give the Patriots a 1st down at the Jets' 23-yard-line.

Following a two-yard run by Smith on 1st down, Brady went back to the air as he connected with Brown for seven yards to set up 3rd & 1 which the Patriots converted as Edwards picked up the one yard New England needed for the 1st down.

Smith would pick up the next six yards, first on a three-yard run, then on a three-yard pass to set up 3rd & 4 at the Jets' seven-yard-line when Brady threw a short pass to Brown, only to have Brown be tackled Jets linebacker Mo Lewis two yards short of the 1st down.

Adam Vinatieri would come on to attempt a 22-yard field goal which became a 27-yard field goal following a New England false start as Vinatieri made the field goal to give the Patriots their first lead of the game at 17-16 with 6:29 remaining in the game.

The Jets would take over at their 25-yard-line and drove to the Patriots' 49-yard-line as Testaverde was able to convert on two straight 3rd down situations, first connecting with Cherbet for nine yards on 3rd & 7, then finding Moss for seven yards on 3rd & 3 at the New York 44-yard-line.

Martin would carry the ball on the next two plays, picking up five more yards to set up 3rd & 5 where Testaverde's pass intended for Cherbet fell incomplete, forcing a 4th & 5 at the Patriots' 44-yard-line with 2:07 left in the game.

With time winding down, the Jets had no choice but to go for the 1st down as Testaverde dropped back to pass and threw a pass for tight end Anthony Becht, only to have Patriots cornerback Terrell Buckley, step in front of the pass to make the interception to give New England the ball at its 33-yard-line and a chance to run out the clock with 2:02 remaining.

Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri(right) and punter Ken Walter celebrate after Vinatieri's go-ahead field goal.

The Jets had one timeout and the two-minute warning so it was imperative that the Patriots pick up a 1st down to put the game away.

Two runs by Smith gained eight yards to set up the crucial 3rd & 2 at the New England 41-yard-line when Brady called his own number and ran it up the middle to pick up the two yards needed for the 1st down which allowed Brady to take two knees to run out the clock as the Patriots came away with the 17-16 win.

Despite the loss, the Jets would make the playoffs with a 10-6 record thanks to a 24-22 win over the Oakland Raiders on the final Sunday of the regular season as Hall made a 53-yard field goal with under a minute left in the game, only for the Jets to be eliminated the following weekend by the same Oakland Raiders as New York lost their AFC Wild Card Game 38-24.

As for the Patriots, the win over the Jets helped propelled them to the AFC East division title as they finished with a better division record(6-4) than the Dolphins(5-5) as both teams finished with identical 11-5 records with the tiebreaker going to New England which not only game them the division but also the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs.

From there, the Patriots would knock off the Raiders 16-13 in overtime in the Divisional Round in the controversial "Tuck Rule" Game, then upset the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-17 in the AFC Championship Game(Click on the highlighted link to check out my article on that game: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/12/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-bledsoe.html), and then wrapped their "Cinderella" run with a 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams on Adam Vinatieri's game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired in Super Bowl XXXVI, for the first of six Super Bowl championships for the Patriots.