Foxboro Forum

Amazing - even without Tom Brady the Patriots can still win football games.

The Patriots didn’t listen to those in the media or vegas who said Matt Cassel had no chance against Favre and won the game with a complete team effort.  Beyond the normal Patriots-Jets hoopla there was a lot of questions coming into this game - most importantly How would Cassel perform in his first start since high school?  Are the Patriots able to win without Brady?  Are the Jets the new team to beat in the AFC East?

Cassel performed well tonight - doing enough to win the game but nothing to lose the game.  Looking at the stat line the Patriots and Jets performed essentially the same on offense. New England generated 260 yards of total offense against New York’s 256 yards.  Rushing yards were even at 104, 3rd down efficiency, and time of possession were also very close.  The big differences between the two teams were penalties - Patriots had 2 for 10 yards and the Jets had 6 for 60 yards - and the one interception thrown by Favre.  Its the defense that came through and made the key interception that allowed the Patriots to score their first touchdown.  Otherwise the defense on both sides performed well - neither team allowed a touchdown in the first half even though both teams were in the red zone multiple times.

New England kept the offense simple - relying on the run (for 33 plays) and short passes to Faulk, Welker and Morris.  This allowed Cassel to make quick decisions and put him in positions where he would make the correct decision which will only help his confidence going forward.  The Patriots avoided going long and Randy Moss - who suffered from double coverage most of the night - only had 2 receptions for 22 yards.  The offense was similar to the scheme the Patriots ran back in 2001 when Brady went from backup to starter (and on to the Superbowl).

Maroney Hurt?

There can’t be much to Laurence Maroneys injury since he came back at the end of the game - but he didn’t perform up to his own standards.  Interestingly Sammy Morris - the only Patriot with a TD - had 8 rushes for 0 (zero) yards.  Lamont Jordan was the man in the backfield - running 62 yards in 11 attempts.  I think there will be some Maroney fantasy owners questioning whether they want to stick with him due to the Patriots’ tendency to spread the ball around.