Clock management error costs Jets big

At the end of the 1st half of the Jets-Pats Sunday night game, the Jets got a 1st down at the 2 minute warning at the Patriots 10 yard line. Both teams were left with 2 timeouts in the half. The Jets clearly had plenty of time to score and should have tried to make sure they didn't give the Pats a chance to score again in the half.

On 1st down Sanchez tried to force it to Burress in the endzone, who was double covered, and the pass was incomplete. Up to that point in the game the Jets had run it 13 times for an average 5.6 a carry. They clearly had the ability to run it there and run the clock down or make the Pats use a timeout. Passing isn't completely terrible if you have a safety valve or if Sanchez is smart enough to just run it for a few yards. The key is to keep the clock running on that play.

On 2nd down the Jets passed the ball to Dustin Keller and got the ball down to the 2 yard line. When the play ended there was 1:42 left on the clock. In a huge surprise, Bill Belichick decided to not use a timeout here. Lucky for Bill, Sanchez bailed him out. When the play came into the huddle, Sanchez decided that he didn't like the call and called a timeout. There was 1:24 left on the clock when he did. Rex clearly looked unhappy with his young QB for the mistake. He gave the Patriots an extra 21 seconds at the end of the half. Sanchez then ran it in for a touchdown on the next play to give the Jets a 9-6 lead.

The Patriots now had 1:20 and 2 timeouts to try to score before the end of the half. They should of only had 59 seconds to drive down the field if Sanchez lets the clock run down. The Patriots drove right down the field and scored a touchdown with 9 seconds left.

Belichick didn't call a timeout on the 2nd down play so I doubt he would have called one if the Jets had run on the 1st down play. If they had run on that play they would have left the Patriots with less than 20 seconds to score at the end of the half.

I know your main goal is to score touchdowns, but you have to think about who you are up against here. The Patriots are one of the best offenses in the league and seemed to have mastered the quick scoring drive to end the half. By not making the right calls here, the Jets gained nothing with the touchdown. They still left themselves down 4 and in the same spot they were in before.