FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Jets stand alone atop the AFC East standings — barely.
Jay Feely kicked a 34-yard field goal on the first series of overtime after New England tied the game on Matt Cassel’s pass to Randy Moss with one second left in regulation, and the Jets survived a Tom Brady-like comeback with a 34-31 victory Thursday night.
The win broke a tie for the division lead between the teams and gave the Jets (7-3) sole possession of first place for the first time since Nov. 19, 2001, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“It’s a great, great feeling for us,” Jets coach Eric Mangini said. “Everybody understands that this game was extremely important, and it’s important because it allows us to make the next game (against Tennessee) extremely important. It’s a really positive step.”
The Jets, who led 24-6 in the first half, won their fourth straight game and are a game in front of New England (6-4) and 1 1/2 games ahead of Buffalo and Miami in the division.
The loss wasted a brilliant performance by Cassel, who completed 30-of-51 passes for 400 yards, all career highs, and three touchdowns. He ran eight times for 62 yards.
“It’s not enough,” Cassel said.
The Patriots got the tying touchdown on Cassel’s 16-yard pass on fourth down. Moss’ diving sideline catch was reviewed when he was pushed out of bounds by cornerback Ty Law, but the touchdown stood.
New England had marched to Moss’ touchdown from its 38-yard line with no timeouts and 1:04 left. Stephen Gostkowski’s extra point tied it.
Brett Favre made his 263rd consecutive regular-season start, an NFL record, and went 26-of-33 for 258 yards and directed the only drive of overtime, covering 64 yards on 14 plays in 7:50. His 16-yard pass to Laveranues Coles brought the ball to the Patriots’ 24, Thomas Jones’ 6-yard run moved it to the 18 and Feely connected for his second field goal of the game.
N.Y.Jets 10 14 0 7 3 — 34
New England 3 10 8 10 0 — 31
First quarter
NY—L.Washington 7 pass from Favre (Feely kick), 9:26. NE—FG Gostkowski 42, 4:25. NY—FG Feely 22, :06.
Second quarter
NE—FG Gostkowski 31, 9:44. NY—L.Washington 92 kickoff return (Feely kick), 9:32. NY—Cotchery 15 pass from Favre (Feely kick), 4:57. NE—Gaffney 19 pass from Cassel (Gostkowski kick), :15.
Third quarter
NE—Watson 10 pass from Cassel (Gaffney pass from Cassel), :00.
Fourth quarter
NE—FG Gostkowski 47, 4:25. NY—Jones 1 run (Feely kick), 3:10. NE—Moss 16 pass from Cassel (Gostkowski kick), :01.
Overtime
NY—FG Feely 34, 7:10. A—68,756.
NYJ NE
First downs 23 26
Total net yards 375 511
Rushes-yards 39-140 25-125
Passing 235 386
Punt returns 0-0 3-14
Kickoff returns 6-189 6-135
Interceptions ret. 0-0 0-0
Comp-att-int 26-33-0 30-51-0
Sacked-yards lost 3-23 3-14
Punts 5-42.6 4-44.0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 4-25 5-29
Time of possession 39:18 28:32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — New York, Jones 30-104, L.Washington 5-18, B.Smith 1-17, Favre 3-1. New England, Cassel 8-62, Faulk 8-38, Morris 5-14, Green-Ellis 2-9, Evans 2-2.
PASSING — New York, Favre 26-33-0-258. New England, Cassel 30-51-0-400.
RECEIVING — New York, Keller 8-87, Cotchery 5-87, Coles 5-38, Baker 3-11, L.Washington 2-17, Jones 2-15, Stuckey 1-3. New England, Watson 8-88, Welker 7-108, Gaffney 7-86, Faulk 4-49, Moss 3-26, Aiken 1-43.
