Mark Sanchez Leads Jets To Second Half Beat Down Of Patriots 28-14

Looking more like Brady than even the record-breaking quarterback himself, Mark Sanchez threw a career-high three touchdown passes as the Jets overcame the loss of Darrelle Revis to beat their AFC East rivals 28-14 on Sunday.

“We’re back,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said, “to being who we think we are.”

Six days after an awful outing in a season-opening loss to Baltimore on Sept. 13, Sanchez looked in charge of a suddenly charged-up offense.

“It’s just tough when you lose that first game,” Sanchez said. “It feels like you’re 0-10. This game couldn’t come soon enough.”

The second-year quarterback completed a career-high 21 passes on 30 attempts for 220 yards and connected with Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller for scores.

“We did a lot of talking,” running back LaDainian Tomlinson said of the team that starred in HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this summer. “But at some point, you’ve got to prove it. That’s what it was about today.”

The victory over the Patriots (1-1) ended a tumultuous week for the Jets (1-1), who were investigated by the NFL for the treatment of a female reporter at practice last weekend. Commissioner Roger Goodell ruled that

the Jets’ conduct was unprofessional but there was no sexual harassment, and owner Woody Johnson apologized to TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz.

If the Jets were distracted, they certainly didn’t show it in this one.

“This was a huge game for us,” Ryan said.

They may have some more concerns now, however. Revis, New York’s All-Pro cornerback, left in the second quarter after Randy Moss made a jaw-dropping, one-handed 34-yard touchdown catch. Revis immediately grabbed his left leg, his hamstring tightening on him after being limited by it all week. He said it wasn’t a pull or a tear, but wasn’t sure how long he might be sidelined.

Cotchery caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez with 38 seconds left in the third quarter, and Edwards caught the 2-point conversion toss to give the Jets their first lead of the game at 21-14.

Tomlinson had a pretty 31-yard run, showing plenty of zip, to put the Jets at the Patriots 4 and set up the score.

Helped by two pass interference calls on Darius Butler, the Jets took a 28-14 lead on Keller’s 1-yard catch with 6:09 remaining.

With Brady trying to muster a comeback against his rivals, Jason Taylor sacked him and knocked the ball out of his hands with just over 4 minutes left and Bryan Thomas recovered.

“We couldn’t do anything in the second half,” Brady said. “We had a hard time gaining yards. We didn’t do anything on third down, we couldn’t gain anything on first or second down. We couldn’t run it. We couldn’t throw it.

“We just (stunk). That’s what it comes down to.”

The Jets then ran the ball out to seal the victory.

Brady finished 20 for 36 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“It’s going to be a long week, I can promise you that,” Brady said. “We’ve got to get better in a lot of areas.”