“We couldn’t let last week beat us twice,’’ linebacker Adalius Thomas said.
With their convincing 31-14 victory over the Jets yesterday, the Patriots offered an emphatic response to their crushing loss in Indianapolis last weekend and continued the Jets’ spiral out of contention in the AFC East. They also earned revenge against the once-swaggering, now-tumbling Jets, who in Week 2 humbled the Patriots in New York.
The Patriots bullied rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez into five turnovers, including three interceptions by cornerback Leigh Bodden, one of which he returned for the game’s first touchdown. The irrepressible Wes Welker gained more than 200 yards from scrimmage in the best game of his remarkable career, an epic 15-catch performance. Laurence Maroney, a goat last week for his late end zone fumble, scored two touchdowns, including the score that sealed the game with just more than five minutes left.
With another showdown looming a week from tonight against the undefeated Saints, the Patriots maintained their two-game lead in the division over the Dolphins. They still have not lost consecutive games since Nov. 12, 2006, and they stamped their resiliency on yesterday’s victory.
“That’s what makes your team and that’s how you know what team you have,’’ running back Kevin Faulk said. “It was a very physical and emotional loss we had last week, but at the same time we knew as a team that we were coming back to play a team that [beat] us the last time we played them. We had to really focus.’’
Said Belichick: “That was a real good performance by our football team today. We came off, obviously, a tough weekend last week, night game and all that. They were ready to play this afternoon. I’m really proud of the way our guys stepped up.’’
