New York Jets: Beating Patriots in 2010 playoffs, a look back

We take a look back at the New York Jets 2010 playoff victory over the New England Patriots.

The New York Jets were riding high in January of 2011. This marked their second straight trip to the playoffs under head coach Rex Ryan, missing the Super Bowl by one game the previous year. Leading up to this game, the Jets had topped the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round on a last second field goal by Nick Folk. Let’s just say the team was ready for this one.

Of course, the man who wanted to beat the Patriots more than anything, coach Ryan, was ready as well. He remembered the 45-3 blowout the Jets suffered earlier in the season and put this one on his shoulders:

"“I never had my team prepared the way it should have been prepared, and that falls right down on me. I recognize that. This week, it’s Rex Ryan against Bill Belichick, it’s personal, it’s about him and myself, that’s what it’s going to come down to.”"

One could argue that he put more emphasis on beating New England than getting all the way to the Super Bowl. That’s not for today’s discussion, though.

The Jets decided to bring along some inspiration to help them get through this one. Specifically, that came in the form of Dennis Byrd. He gave the team an inspirational speech at the hotel prior to the game. His jersey was brought to midfield for the coin toss, remember?

That’s one way to get inspired.

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The first quarter was fairly uneventful, with the Patriots leading 3-0 on a 34-yard field goal by Shayne Graham. Halfway through the opening frame, however, we did get a thrill on an interception by David Harris.

After two play action fakes, Tom Brady looked to drop the ball off short to his right. Fortunately for the Jets, Harris was having none of it. He read the play all the way and picked it off. It was nearly a pick six until he was caught deep in Patriots territory.

Take a look:

The Jets went ahead in the second quarter thanks to two Mark Sanchez touchdown passes, one to LaDainian Tomlinson and one to Braylon Edwards. Fans were pumped and the team was excited, headed into the break with a 14-3 lead over the Patriots. Title game here we come, right!

Not so fast. Did anyone really think that Brady wouldn’t make this one interesting? In the third quarter Brady hit Alge Crumpler from two yards out, and the ensuing two-point conversion made the game 14-11 after three quarters.

Why would anything be easy right?

Early in the fourth quarter, Sanchez’s third and final touchdown pass of the game put the Jets ahead to stay:

Ah, memories. Whatever happened to that Sanchez guy anyway?

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A late Shonn Greene touchdown followed by a Rex Ryan chest bump topped off the Jets scoring as they won by the score of 28-21. One might call this game the high watermark of the Rex Ryan era with the Jets. Did he put too much emphasis on beating this team? Maybe. But the win was a special day in the history of the team. Enjoy the memory.

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