Three bad second-half throws hurt Brady vs. Jets

The Jets were going to have to adjust their defense no matter what in the second half yesterday. Not having All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis, out with an aggravated hamstring injury, made for a much different secondary against the Patriots.

But the start of the second half coincided with coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine needing to make changes to stop the Patriots' offense. The changes were particularly needed in third-down situations, when the Pats' varied offensive weapons were hurting the Jets and keeping their defense from getting off the field.

"We used pretty much our whole arsenal," said safety Brodney Pool, who came in for Eric Smith and picked up a tipped interception to open the fourth quarter, one of two interceptions the Jets had after Revis left. "All the keys we use, we just threw everything out there to change it up."

Tom Brady had become particularly comfortable finding rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez over the middle - Hernandez had four catches for 80 yards in the opening half, including catches to convert a third-and-8 and a third-and-6 on the Pats' first scoring drive.

With Antonio Cromartie moved over to cover Randy Moss one-on-one, the rest of the Jets' secondary - with backup cornerbacks Drew Coleman and Marquice Cole on the outside in Cromartie's old spot and Kyle Wilson still manning the slot - locked down the middle of the field, forcing Brady into longer holds and allowing some heat from the defensive front.

"We got him moving his feet," Shaun Ellis said. "He couldn't get a bead on our looks like he did in the first half."

Brady was clearly looking for Moss in the matchup with Cromartie, but whether it was the Jets' pressure or perhaps some overconfidence in the Moss-Cromartie battle, Brady made three bad throws in the second half that were a huge difference in the game.

The first was a deep sideline ball for Moss in the third quarter, on third-and-13 from the Jets' 47. The Patriots had a 14-10 lead and points would have been killer; Cromartie, playing for inside leverage, had perfect position to pick the ball off.

The second came later in the third quarter. On second-and-9 from the Pats' 21, Brady had another rookie tight end, Rob Gronkowski, running a seam route over the middle, and he had Wilson by two steps. But Brady underthrew the ball and it fell incomplete.

The third was the tipped ball that Pool picked off in the fourth.

Brady was looking for Moss all the way on the curl route, and it was basically a jump-ball that Moss tried to tip over Cromartie's head.

But Cromartie got his body right on Moss, and Pool made the tiptoe catch that was reversed from an incompletion to an interception on review.

"If you can get your hands on a receiver, it makes things a whole lot easier," said Cromartie, who struggled against shifty Wes Welker in the first half.

With all the new faces in the second half, communication in the secondary was big.

"It could have looked like a fire drill out there," Jim Leonhard said, "but we talked really well, we made sure we knew who was where."

They knew who wasn't there, but somehow, it didn't matter.

"One player can help, but one player doesn't make the whole defense," Ellis said. "Everyone brought it up a notch."