Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels reached into their bag of tricks during their divisional showdown with the Jets on Sunday, and it worked.
It’s been a nightmare season for the Patriots, and the only possibly way it could’ve devolved was if the team had lost to the Jets in their season finale. Belichick has openly said he hates the Jets in the past, so of course he was going to do whatever it takes to prevent losing to them.
And that’s exactly what happened, with a trick play in the second half completely shifting the momentum in the game.
The Jets scored early in the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead, but the Patriots responded with a great drive of their own. It was capped off by Newton scoring a touchdown, except not like you’d imagine. He caught a first-down touchdown pass from teammate Jakobi Meyers from 19 yards out — tying the game.
The Patriots never looked back after that big play — outscoring the Jets 14-0 en route to a decisive two-score victory.
