NEW YORK: The New York Jets upset the New England Patriots 28-21 Sunday as Mark Sanchez threw three touchdown passes, Tom Brady was sacked five times and Rex Ryan's team put itself one win away from backing up his Super Bowl boast. Holmes Holmes, best-known for a brilliant grab that won the 2009 Super Bowl for the Steelers, took a leaping touchdown catch and now is close to a shot at another title with his new team. Brady and the Patriots (14-3) lost their third straight postseason game, this defeat coming to the team they beat 45-3 during the regular season, a team that became media darlings with their preseason appearance on HBO's “Hard Knocks” reality show. The Patriots – who had the league's best record during the regular season – were beaten less than 24 hours after National Football Conference top seed Atlanta went down with a 48-21 rout by Aaron Rodgers and the streaking Green Bay Packers. “We came here for a reason,” said Ryan, the Jets' brash coach. “We believed we were the better team. I knew if we applied ourselves, we would beat them.” The Jets will travel to Pittsburgh for their second straight American Football Conference championship game, looking for their first Super Bowl appearance since Joe Namath boldly predicted a win in the 1969 title game – then backed up his words against the heavily favored Colts. In Sunday's other contest, the Chicago Bears completed a matchup between two of the NFL's most storied teams by cruising past the under-.500 Seattle Seahawks 35-24. Jay Cutler passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Bears. He especially enjoyed scoring twice with his feet, reaching the end zone from 6 and 9 yards out. Chicago will face the Packers in the NFC title game – the 182nd meeting between the teams over the last 90 years, but, amazingly enough, only the second time they've faced each other in a playoff. Way back in 1941 – just days after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and a quarter-century before there was even a game known as the Super Bowl – the George Halas-coached Bears beat the Packers 33-14 at Wrigley Field for the Western Division title. The playoff was needed after each team went 10-1 during the regular season. After knocking off the Packers, Chicago went on to beat the New York Giants for one of its nine NFL titles. But the Bears haven't won it all since shuffling to the Super Bowl championship during the 1985 season with Jim McMahon, Walter Payton and amp; Co. Green Bay has won a record 12 NFL titles, most recently during the 1996 season with Brett Favre at quarterback. “It's a big deal. We have a lot of history with them,” said Brian Urlacher, the Bears' star linebacker. “We don't like them, they don't like us.” Both conference championships games will feature No. 2 seeds (Chicago and Pittsburgh) against No. 6 seeds (New York and Green Bay) that are playing some of their best football at just the right time.
