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| December 4, 2001 | Tuesday | Ramazan 18, 1422 |
Magnificent fight back by New England Patriots
EAST RUTHERFORD (New Jersey), Dec 3: The New England Patriots won a tale of two halves Sunday as they rallied back from a 13-point deficit to beat the New York Jets 17-16 and put themselves in the middle of the playoff chase.
After being totally outplayed in the opening half that ended with the Jets on top 13-0, the Pats dominated the last 30 minutes of play, riding the precision passing of quarterback Tom Brady to beat their AFC East rivals.
“It was a tale of two halves,” said Patriots linebacker Bryan Cox, a former Jet. “They controlled the first half. We dominated the second half. It was big for us, we clawed and clawed stayed in the game and found a way to win.”
The win boosted New England, losers of their first two games this season, to 7-5 and was the seventh victory directed by Brady in 10 games since he took over for injured starter Drew Bledsoe.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Jets (7-4), who fell one game behind Miami (8-3) in the AFC East.
“I thought we had a real courageous effort out there,” said Pats coach Bill Belichick. “Being down early on the road and in the division, they hung in there and fought back. We’re 7-5 and a lot of people didn’t think we’d be in this position.”
A sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2000, Brady completed 20-of-28 passes for 213 yards with no interceptions. In the second half he was 15-of-17 for 160 yards as the Patriots scored on three straight possessions.
Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde was nearly flawless in the first half, but threw two key interceptions in the second half in the battle of AFC East rivals.
The second-half collapse spurred memories of dismal Decembers past for the Jets, who own a post-November record of 18-42 since 1986. Last year, the Jets lost their final three games after starting 9-4 and missed the playoffs.
“We have to find a way to change that,” first-year Jets coach Herman Edwards said of the December struggles.
In Miami, the Dolphins scored three touchdowns in a 4:21 span of the fourth quarter for a 21-10 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Defensive end Kenny Mixon contributed one of them with a 56-yard interception return for a score as Miami (8-3) took over sole possession of first place in the AFC East.
Denver dipped to 6-6 despite the return of Terrell Davis, who rushed 20 times for 97 yards.
Three games went into overtime, and two of them were won by field goals from the Gramatica brothers.
Sunday’s results (home team in CAPS):
BALTIMORE 39 Indianapolis 27
CHICAGO 13 Detroit 10
Tampa Bay 16 CINCINNATI 13 (OT)
Tennessee 31 CLEVELAND 15
MIAMI 21 Denver 10
NEW ORLEANS 27 Carolina 23
New England 17 NY JETS 16
PITTSBURGH 21 Minnesota 16
SEATTLE 13 San Diego 10 (OT)
St Louis 35 ATLANTA 6
Arizona 34 OAKLAND 31 (OT)
Dallas 20 WASHINGTON 14
SAN FRANCISCO 35 Buffalo 0
HURRICANES BLANKED
NEW YORK: Mike Richter waited nearly three years between shutouts before blanking the Hurricanes on Thursday but three days later the New York Rangers netminder turned the trick again.
Richter made 20 saves against the Tampa Bay Lightning as the Rangers registered a 1-0 victory for their third consecutive win.
Brian Leetch scored the game’s only goal and decided a goaltending duel between Richter and Nikolai Khabibulin by firing a slap shot from the blue line past a screened Khabibulin at 7:03 of the third period.
Khabibulin made 26 saves and fell a goal shy of his fifth shutout of the season.
At Carolina, Dmitri Khristich and Jeff Halpern scored the one-two punch that gave the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Khristich scored the equaliser with 56 seconds left in regulation and Halpern won it 3:24 into overtime in the come-from-behind victory.
Ulf Dahlen had a power-play goal and an assist for the Capitals, who swept the home-and-home series with their Southeast Division rivals, winning Friday night’s game 6-2.
Sunday’s results (home team in CAPS):
Washington 4 CAROLINA 3 (OT)
MINNESOTA 4 St Louis 4
NY RANGERS 1 Tampa Bay 0
ANAHEIM 4 Nashville 2
Dallas 4 VANCOUVER 2—Reuters
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