Tom Brady and the Patriots finally responded with a touchdown in the last seconds of the third quarter, adding a successful two-point conversion to pull within a field goal of the New York Jets at 14-11.
New England finally looked like New England again. Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski over the middle for a big 37-yard gain to get into New York territory, and then hit Deion Branch for the first time tonight on 3rd-and-9. Branch spun away from a tackle, and hurled himself past the marker for the first.
Again finding Branch, Tom Brady set the Patriots up in the red zone, but a false start on first down threatened to take the wind out of New England's sails. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was having none of it, though, picking up 10 yards to set up a first down toss to Wes Welker (who was hit hard and helmet-to-helmet on the play--no flag) and finally the touchdown to Alge Crumpler.
Down five, Bill Belichick called for the two point try, and Sammy Morris was up to the task, jumping over the line and into the end zone to pull within three.
And then the Patriots gave it right back. It took just over two minutes of game time and only five plays for the Jets to go 75 yards down the field. Jerricho Cotchery took the ball for 58 yards when Mark Sanchez found a hole in the Patriots' defense, and Santonio Holmes made a fantastic catch, laying out and getting a knee and both feet down in bounds for the touchdown.
The Patriots find themselves back where they started, just with that much less time on the clock.