EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Rex Ryan sent a message to the fans. His New York Jets delivered one of their own.
Rookie Mark Sanchez outplayed a Super Bowl champion quarterback and the Jets backed up their big talk, shutting down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 16-9 on Sunday.
“We believe that we are the better team today,” Ryan said. “We went out and showed it. “
The victory was the first for the Jets (2-0) over Brady at home, and the first over the Patriots (1-1) at the Meadowlands since 2000. And it came after a week in which Ryan reiterated his offseason comments that he didn’t come to “kiss Bill Belichick’s rings” and sent a voicemail to season-ticket holders, urging them to be loud.
The fans clearly answered the call, causing a tough time for the Patriots’ offense all game. Brady was forced into consecutive delay-of-game penalties in the third quarter.
“I’ve got to do a better job,” Brady said. “They don’t come up very often, but when they do, they hurt.”
A few days before, Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said New York wanted to “embarrass” New England.
“Kerry made a statement, we stood behind him and we had his back,” defensive end Shaun Ellis said.
Sanchez came out throwing in the second half after a quiet first two quarters and connected with Dustin Keller on a go-ahead touchdown, and the Jets’ defense clamped down on the Patriots.
“It’s a major win for us,” Ellis said. “To close that out and put an end to that, it’s great.”
Brady had a chance to tie it for the Patriots, getting the ball at the Patriots’ 10 with 1:48 left, but the Jets’ defense stopped him as Dwight Lowery knocked away a pass to Joey Galloway on fourth down.
“We had a chance there,” Brady said. “We just didn’t execute in that 2-minute possession. It’s something we’ve been good at, but the Jets were better at it today. It’s frustrating. I think we had really high expectations for this game. We just didn’t put it together very well.”
