A wild start and finish to the 3rd quarter has helped the Patriots match their largest lead of the game at 24-14.
The opening play of the second half saw Tom Brady hit Wes Welker down the seam for 73 yards. The play would have gone for a touchdown if not for the blazing speed of Darrelle Revis to chase him down at the Jets seven yard line.
3 plays later, after a booth review allowed the Patriots to keep the ball after a Deion Branch fumble, Tom Brady found Deion Branch in the corner of the end zone for his first touchdown pass of the day.
Not to be outdone, Joe McKnight returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the Pats 20 yard line and set the Jets up to answer quickly. After a pair of Shonn Greene runs got the Jets to the 10, Mark Sanchez found Jeremy Kerley for a 10 yard touchdown pass and cut the Pats lead to 17-14.
Then the defenses stepped up again and forced four consecutive three and outs. But the Patriots finally found their offensive groove when they went to a spread offense and were able to dink and dunk their way down the field on an 11 play drive that was capped by the second Green-Ellis TD run of the day to give the Pats a 24-14 lead.