Epic On-Field Video Shows 66,000 Patriots Fans EXPLODE During Historic Walk-Off Kick Return That Saw The Jets Go Out Sad
The Jets went full Jets as the Patriots walked them off in demoralizing fashion on Sunday afternoon. Video of the fans at Gillette Stadium watching their team pull off the win in improbable fashion is everything that is great about football and sports.
New York, which traveled north to Foxboro for its second of two meetings with New England this season, entered at 6-3. The home team entered at 5-4.
Not only did the game have big implications for the AFC East standings, it also put a lengthy streak on the line. The Jets had not beaten the Patriots in any of their last 13 matchups.
That number was extended to 14, which now marks the longest winning streak of any team against one single opponent in NFL history. No NFL franchise, prior to this weekend, had beaten another team 14 times in a row.
Not only did New England change the record books with its win, it did so in remarkable fashion.
The score was tied at three with 26 seconds left in regulation and New York lined up to punt on 4th-and-3 from its own 32-yard-line. Braden Mann booted the ball away, but committed a "no-no."
He punted to the middle of the field. Never punt to the middle of the field.
On the other end, Patriots return specialist Marcus Jones caught the kick and took off up the right side. He ran past a group of would-be Jets tacklers near the sideline, cut back across the middle, and took it to the house for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
As the kick return played out, fans in the stands were on the edge of their seats. And once Jones broke loose with nothing but green in front of him, they exploded into a frenzy.
On-field video of the return and New England fans reacting to the play is incredible:
Late game heroics like Jones' return and reactions like the one at Gillette on Sunday are what make sports so awesome. It's not about the wins and losses, it's about the passion, emotion and camaraderie that comes with those wins and losses.
Okay fine, it's definitely about the wins and losses. But you know what I mean. Watching 66,000 fans go absolutely bonkers as their kick returner takes history to the house is special.