Coming off their loss to the Colts, the Patriots returned home to face the Jets, who had lost six of their last eight games after defeating the Patriots in Week 2. After an exchange of punts to begin the game, the Patriots moved into Jets territory on their second drive with a 25-yard catch by Faulk. Two plays later, Edelman fumbled a direct snap as he went in motion, but recovered his fumble, setting up a 4th-and-1. Maroney then had a 2-yard run to convert, but on the next play fumbled; this time the Jets recovered it at their own 34-yard line. Four plays later, Sanchez was intercepted by Bodden at the Patriots' 47-yard line; Bodden returned the interception 53 yards for a touchdown, giving the Patriots a 7-0 lead. The Jets went three-and-out on their ensuing possession. The Patriots then began a 9-play, 76-yard drive, ending in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Moss, extending the Patriots lead to 14-0 on the final play of the first quarter. After another Jets punt, from their end zone after a Banta-Cain sack, the Patriots began their next drive from their own 41-yard line. Seven plays later, Maroney ran in from two yards out to give the Patriots a 21-0 lead. Following a 44-yard kickoff return by Dwight Lowery, the Jets again turned the ball over, with Sanchez throwing his second interception of the game to Bodden, who returned it seven yards to the Patriots' 48-yard line. The Patriots' next drive again reached the red zone, but this time the Patriots could not score a touchdown and were forced to settle for a 26-yard Gostkowski field goal, giving the Patriots a 24-0 lead. Another Jets punt gave the Patriots the ball with just over two minutes remaining. With just under a minute left in the half, Hanson's punt attempt was blocked by Eric Smith and returned four yards for a touchdown by the Jets' Brad Smith. With 45 seconds remaining, the Patriots quickly advanced downfield, but a 40-yard Gostkowski field goal attempt with 15 seconds left in the half fell wide right, keeping the Patriots' lead at 24-7 going into halftime. With possession at the start of the second half due to their deferral of the opening coin toss, the Jets moved 80 yards on 11 plays, scoring on a 29-yard pass from Sanchez to Cotchery. With a 10-point lead, the Patriots responded with an 11-play drive that reached the Jets' 49-yard line before sack eventually forced a punt. The Jets reached midfield on their next possession before punting as well, with Jets punter Steve Weatherford pinning the Patriots at their own 8-yard line. This forced another Patriots punt, on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Patriots received the ball right back after Sanchez threw his third interception of the day, again to Bodden, at the Patriots' 26-yard line. The Patriots could not capitalize on the turnover though, and were again forced to punt. Three plays later, Sanchez threw his fourth interception of the game, this time to Meriweather, who returned it four yards to the Jets' 25-yard line. This set up an 8-play, 25-yard Patriots drive that ended in a 1-yard Maroney touchdown run, extending the Patriots' lead to 31-14. The Jets responded with a 37-yard kickoff return by David Clowney followed by a drive to the Patriots' 24-yard line. On a 1st-and-10, Sanchez was strip-sacked by Banta-Cain; the fumble was recovered by Burgess at the Patriots' 29-yard line. With 3:24 left in the game, the Patriots ran the clock down to 25 seconds before punting, giving the Jets the ball to end the game. With the 31-14 win, the Patriots improved their record to 7-3, while the Jets dropped to 4-6. Statistically, Welker had 15 catches for 192 yards on the game, second most in team history, trailing only Troy Brown's 16 receptions in an overtime game on September 22, 2002.. Who scored the first touchdown of the game?