Patriots down Jets; face Chargers next

Jan 7, 2007, 22:50 GMT

Foxborough, MA - Tom Brady completed 22-of-34 passes for 212 yards with a pair of touchdowns to lead the New England Patriots past the New York Jets, 37-16, at Gillette Stadium.

Brady is now 11-1 in the playoffs, including 6-0 at home, and will guide the Patriots into San Diego as New England plays the Chargers on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. (et).

Jabar Gaffney hauled in eight passes for 104 yards for the Patriots, who have won nine straight home playoff games. Stephen Gostkowski connected on all three field goal attempts in the victory.

Laurence Maroney ran the ball 18 times for 69 yards and Corey Dillon ran in a score for New England, which is 18-11 in the postseason in franchise history, including 5-1 against divisional opponents. That is a .621 winning percentage, ranking them second in NFL history among teams that have played at least 10 playoff games (Green Bay .632).

'I'm really proud of the way they played and their toughness and their competitiveness,' said New England head coach Bill Belichick. 'Now we're moving on to San Diego. We all know how good they are. We're going to have to continue to bring our A-game to be competitive this time of year. We all know that. A lot of guys played well today. It would be hard to single anybody out, but as a team, I thought they really played well as units and we executed things, probably, some of the best things we've done all year.'

Chad Pennington was 23-of-40 for 300 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Jets, who have lost eight of their last nine playoff games on the road. Mike Nugent kicked three field goals in the loss.

'They've (New England) only given up 15 points per game or something like that and there's a reason for that,' said Pennington. 'They have the ability to defend and play defense in the red zone and still stop the run with their front seven. That's why they're so good. They don't have to blitz, they don't have to leave a receiver one-on-one to get an extra rusher. They can play their front seven packages and then play all their combo coverages and it's very hard to get in down there.'

Jerricho Cotchery caught four passes for 100 yards and a TD while Leon Washington gained 50 yards on the ground and 25 through the air for New York, which finished the season with just two touchdowns in its last 14 red zone trips.

'Obviously (it's) an extremely tough loss,' said Jets head coach Eric Mangini. 'I thought we made some plays during the course of the game and they made some plays, but in the end they were able to execute more effectively than we were in some key areas.'

The Patriots opened up the game with a 10-play, 65-yard drive, capped by Dillon's 11-yard scoring scamper. Brady took advantage of New York's injured cornerback, Andre Dyson, by throwing three passes to Gaffney for 34 yards.

After a Dillon fumble was recovered by Hank Poteat on the New England 15, the Jets only gained five yards and had to settle for a 28-yard Nugent field goal, cutting the deficit to 7-3.

After gaining only 32 yards in the first quarter, Pennington put New York in front on the second offensive play in the second as Cotchery hauled in a pass in the middle of the field before breaking away from three defenders for a 77- yard catch and run and a 10-7 margin.

New England responded by covering 56 yards in 10 plays, highlighted by a 22- yard pass interference on Poteat. After a pair of plays to Dillon, Brady's third-down pass to Watson was knocked away before Gostkowski's 20-yard field goal tied the game, 10-10.

The Patriots moved back in front with a methodical drive that ate up almost seven minutes off the clock. New England gained 42 of the 80 yards on the ground, but it failed on two attempts from 1st-and-goal on the one-yard-line. On third down with 14 seconds left in the half, the Pats lined up with three tight ends and Brady found Daniel Graham with a play-action pass for a 17-10 score.

New York opened up the third quarter with a six-plus minute drive of their own. However, for the second time in the contest the Jets had the ball inside the red zone and couldn't come away with a touchdown, as Nugent booted a 21- yard field goal, narrowing the gap to 17-13.

The Patriots answered with a 40-yarder from Gostkowski for a 20-13 lead. A 31- yard pass to Gaffney put the ball at the Jets 18, but two plays later Brady took a 12-yard sack.

In an awkward state of events on the ensuing drive, Pennington threw a backwards pass that was nearly intercepted by Rosevelt Colvin. However, Vince Wilfork alertly grabbed the loose ball and trudged 32 yards to the New York 14, as a pass behind the line of scrimmage is a fumble.

Three plays later Gostkowski extended the lead to 23-13 on a 28-yard field goal with four seconds left in the third.

'I thought it was an incomplete pass, a forward pass but luckily Vince scooped it up,' said Colvin. 'That was a big turning point in the game. Our offense went in and got a field goal out of it but definitely to stop them and get points out of it is big.'

New York, utilizing the no-huddle offense, began picking up large chunks of yardage through the passing game. Pennington threw a 26-yard pass to Chris Baker and then followed that with an 11-yard strike to the tight end. A short pass to Washington put the ball on the Pats 19, New York's third trip to the red zone, but after two straight incompletions, Nugent came out and kicked a 37-yarder, pulling within 23-16 with 11:39 remaining.

The Patriots put the game away with a 13-play drive that took nearly 6 1/2 minutes off the clock. The possession culminated with a seven-yard TD pass to Kevin Faulk for a 30-16 advantage with a 5:16 to play.

On the second offensive play of the Jets' ensuing drive, Asante Samuel intercepted Pennington and ran it back 36 yards for a 37-16 lead.

Game Notes

The Patriots allowed zero opening drive points in 12 postseason games under Belichick.

Dillon gained his third career rushing touchdown in the playoffs. He also ran for his fifth TD in the last five games against the Jets. Dillon coughed up his first career postseason fumble (110 touches).

Cotchery's 77-yard TD in the second was the longest pass play in Jets playoff history.

Brady's TD pass to Graham gave him at least one in each of his last 10 playoff games, tying Joe Montana and Ken Stabler for third on the all-time list. He trails only Brett Favre (16) and Dan Marino (13).

Nugent has made his last 21 field goals.

The Pats haven't lost a home playoff game since December 31, 1978, when the Houston Oilers beat them 31-14 at Schaefer Stadium. They are 9-1 all-time at home in the postseason.

The Jets lead the all-time series 48-46-1, but New England has won nine of the last 11 meetings. This is only the second time these teams have met in the playoffs with the Super Bowl-bound Patriots winning a 1985 AFC Wild Card game (26-14) at the Meadowlands.

Brady is 10-2 as a starting quarterback against the Jets. He's thrown just three picks against Gang Green, while the Patriots have intercepted Jets quarterbacks 13 times since 2003.

It was Gaffney's first 100-yard playoff game.

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