New England's touchdown right before the half gave the Pats the lead for good. It came on a third and twelve play. Kyle Wilson had just tackled Wes Welker on a quick throw for a two yard loss. The clock was still running inside the last twenty seconds of the half.
New England has Tom Brady in the shotgun with Danny Woodhead next to him. He has two men split wide to each side of the field. The Jets have two men with their hands on the ground, Muhammad Wilkerson and Calvin Pace. David Harris and Jamaal Westerman are standing as linebackers. There are seven defensive backs.
The Jets drop eight into coverage, rushing only three. Wilkerson jumps early. The Jets fail to generate a pass rush in part because New England has Danny Woodhead protect, who takes out Westerman. Wilkerson and Pace get double teamed. This is still a good situation for the Jets. The Pats have four receivers running patterns against eight in coverage. Brady seems to lock onto the matchup he wants, Rob Gronkowski running a post to the end zone.
Even though the Jets have Gronkowski bracketed, and he has help with Marquice Cole in front of him available to take away the outside, Eric Smith somehow allows Gronkowski to get on him inside. Brady saw this matchup all the way, waited for his guy to beat Smith, and delivered a good throw to the end zone. Jim Leonhard left his area to try and help. He delivers a hit to try and jar the ball loose, but it is of no avail. The Pats take a lead they would never surrender.