Nick Mangold’s late hit on Aqib Talib at the end of the New England Patriots-New York Jets game on Thursday night led to a fourth quarter fight between the teams and resulted in two players getting ejected.
Talib picked off an underthrown Geno Smith pass in the final minute to essentially ice the 13-10 win for the Pats. Instead of immediately going down, Talib hung out on the field for a few seconds before stepping out of bounds. Even after stepping out, Jets lineman Nick Mangold decided to dive at the defensive back’s legs in the kind of dirty move that could cause serious knee damage. Talib avoided an injury, but his coaches and teammates on the sidelines were ticked off at Mangold’s play. Pats personnel got on Mangold’s case, leading to a fight by the sidelines.
Jets linemen Willie Colon and D’Brickashaw Ferguson were both ejected for their roles in the fight. Ferguson came over to protect Mangold, and he ended up throwing a slap/punch at Vince Wilfork. Ferguson was also in the middle of the scrap and had to be cleared out by an official.
Mangold was flagged for the late hit. Colon was penalized for doing something to an official, leading to his ejection. Ferguson was tossed for throwing the punch at Wilfork and another Patriots player during the scuffle.
A GIF of the play is below along with a video of the fight:
