The Patriots have taken command of the AFC East by throttling the Jets at the MetLife Stadium in what was a highly anticipated Sunday Night Football encounter. Rob Gronkowski turned out to be Tom Brady’s top target with 8 receptions and 2 touchdowns as the Patriots buried the Jets. Things look even better for the Patriots as the Buffalo Bills, the other team in contention for clinching the AFC East, got blown out by the Dallas Cowboys 44-7.

The Jets made many mistakes that were acknowledged by the coach Rex Ryan and the quarterback Mark Sanchez in the post-game press conference. Sanchez was picked off twice by Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich with both resulting in touchdowns and one being returned 12 yards for a touchdown by Ninkovich late in the game. Also, Joe McKnight fumbled a punt at the start of the third quarter that was recovered by the Patriots and it led to a field goal.

The Jets went up 9-6 with a minute to go for halftime when Sanchez dived into the end zone. But Brady drove the Patriots down the field and set up a long pass to Gronkowski that ended the half with the Patriots back on top 13-9 and having momentum heading into the third quarter. Rob Gronkowski would make an incredible catch in the end zone to put the Patriots up 23-9 and this would really put the Patriots in a great position to finish the game off in the fourth quarter.

The Jets showed signs of making a comeback at the start of the fourth quarter when Plaxico Burress made a touchdown grab to keep the Jets within reach of the Patriots at 23-16. But it was downhill from there for the Jets as Brady found Deion Branch to give the Patriots a two touchdown lead with 8 minutes to go. At this point was the Rod Ninkovich pick six that I mentioned earlier which pretty much iced the game for the Patriots.

The highlights are right here on this link.

Brady finished 26 of 39 for 329 yards and this would be the 40^th time that he has passed for 300 yards in a regular-season game. This breaks a tie with the Hall of Famer Joe Montana for eighth on the NFL’s list. Additionally, Brady and Belichick became the winningest quarterback-coach duo since 1966 when they broke a tie with Dan Marino and Don Shula who had held it earlier with 116 victories with the Miami Dolphins.