At the end of the first half, the Jets had scored 13 unanswered points and even though they were down by a score of 28-13, they looked like they would make a game of it and possibly mount a second-half comeback. That wasn't the case, though, as the third quarter belonged to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Jets started the third quarter by moving the ball 19 yards on six plays before they decided to punt from the Eagles' 39-yard line on fourth-and-six. The Eagles started their first drive of the second half from the 11-yard line and, thanks to a 74-yard pass from Michael Vick to Brent Celek, they scored on a LeSean McCoy one-yard touchdown run in just five plays. They took a 35-13 lead at that point.
The Jets got the ball back and moved backwards nine yards in three plays before they punted again. The Eagles got the ball back on their own 47-yard line and in five plays marched into the red zone. They were stopped on the 16-yard line, though, on third down, setting up Alex Henery for a 28-yard field goal, which he made.
The Eagles had a 38-13 lead at that point.
The Jets turned the ball over again, which is a major trend in this game. On the second play of the drive, Mark Sanchez threw an interception off a deflection to linebacker Jamar Chaney. The Eagles got the ball back on the Jets' 26-yard line but thanks to a bad string of penalties, they found themselves in third-and-32 on the Jets' 48-yard line. The Eagles failed to pick up the first down and punted back to the Jets.
The Jets promptly went three-and-out in the shadow of their own goal posts and punted right back to the Eagles.
The Eagles will start the fourth quarter with the ball in Jets territory. They have a big lead and unless Rex Ryan has a wizard on his coaching staff, it looks like this game is all but over.
That's good news for the Bengals.