SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 9, 2011
New England’s Wes Welker is so elusive he even managed to escape Revis Island on Sunday.
Welker, the NFL’s leading receiver, made five catches for 124 yards, including a 73-yard grab where he beat the one-on-one coverage of New York Jets All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.
That reception led to a Deion Branch touchdown and the New England Patriots held off their AFC East rivals 30-21.
Tom Brady, who won his 30th straight regular-season game at home, finished with 321 yards and a touchdown and the Patriots (4-1) got a career day from running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who rushed for 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
New York (2-3), which knocked the Patriots out of the playoffs last year, lost its third straight game. But despite being dominated in most facets of the game, the Jets closed the gap to 27-21 on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez to Santonio Holmes with 7:14 to play.
But led by Green-Ellis, New England managed to run more than six minutes off the clock before Steven Gostkowski kicked a 28-yard field goal to secure the victory with a 1:02 to play.
Sanchez also connected with Jeremy Kerley on a 12-yard scoring pass in the second half. Shonn Greene was effective running the ball for New York, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown and rushing 83 yards on 21 carries.
New England never trailed in the game. It got a 3-yard touchdown run from Green-Ellis followed by a 44-yard field goal by Gostkowski to take a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.