If you’re interested you can share your take on the game with the always pleasant Jets fans on The Fifth Down - NY Times Blog
It seems the basic feeling in New York is Mangini got out coached and Favre got outplayed. For all the ‘improvements’ the Jets made - there seems to be some doubt as to whether it’s going to make any difference.
The great coach beat the great quarterback with a career backup named Matt Cassel and turned him into Frett Favre at the end of a day that began with a Giants Stadium standing ovation for Favre.
Just for the record, the fans were already showing their backsides to the Jets even before Brett Favre’s 38-year-old body was inelegantly slung for a 20-yard loss late in the fourth quarter.
By the end of the long season things may be different, but for now, the Jets are not in the Patriots’ class. And Mangini is not closing the gap on his mentor and former friend in the gray hoodie with the cut-off sleeves.
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.
The football gods didn’t agree with Roger Goodell’s punishment for spygate so they took it upon themselves to dish out some of their own. Karma’s a bitch. At least according to Paul Woody of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in his article - Patriots’ bad break is payback. Few short quotes -
The time has come for the Patriots to lose.
The Patriots are due for a comeuppance.
That is what the Patriots deserve, and they will have no one to blame but themselves
Sounds like jealousy to me - I understand success breeds jealousy but to say Brady is out for the season and the Patriots had it coming? Come one.
Brett Favre had a good game last week-although it was against the Miami Dolphins (1-15 last year) - but what can we expect from Favre and the Jets this week?
On the offensive side the Patriots may not have Brady at QB but they still have great offensive weapons. The added depth this season at running back should be a big help for Cassel to get comfortable and set the pace of the game when the Patriots have the ball. We’ve seen so little of Cassel in real game situations so I don’t think anyone is sure how he’ll respond when it comes to passing. He played well overall against the Chiefs ad I think the biggest thing he did was to not turnover the ball. If he can limit turnovers I think the rest of the team is good enough to make up for any of Cassels weaknesses.
Defensively the Jets have tended to play well against the Pats in the past and I don’t think that will change this weekend. The defense played well against the Dolphins last week limiting the running game of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown and pressuring Chad Pennington all game who was sacked 4 times. The big difference with the Patriots is the quality of the offensive line - which the Dolphins are lacking this year. The Pats offensive line is stacked and while they didn’t play well in pre-season they played well in week 1 and there’s no reason to believe they won’t play with greater intensity and focus this week against the Jets.
Defensively the Patriots are essentially the same team they were last year - missing Asante Samuel the most. We saw the old bend-dont-break style of play against the Chiefs this past weekend with the stand on the Chiefs final possession. We will need to see more of that type of play against New York. With Brett Favre I don’t think you need to worry so much about him executing the standard plays its when he starts slinging it down field trying to make a play you need to worry. Sometimes those plays will kill you - he tossed a hail-mary TD against the Dolphins that could have just as easily been an interception. Against a defense like the Patriots those plays will be more difficult to pull off and I’m sure Hobbs and Harrison and ONeal are hoping he tries them more often.
I see the Pats with the advantage in this game (what a surprise) in most areas except for QB. Otherwise on offense the Patriots have better running backs, wide receivers and offense line - I think these advantages more than outweigh the difference at QB. And the Pats are better on defense overall. As long as Cassel doesn’t turn over the ball I think everything else will take of itself.
Anyone who waches Sportscenter enough will eventually here the name Dr. James Andrews - most recently with Josh Beckett and Shawne Merriman. I know I’ve heard his name often enough but knew nothing about him - until now. Fast Company has an interesting article about Dr. Andrews up on their site - more from a business perspective but definetly worth a read.
No surprise here - mentioned over the past couple of days I thought Gutierrez would be back. Gutierrez knows the system and fits in well - I was surpised when they cut him. I thought he outplayed Matt Cassel in the preseason but understand the team needed roster spots to make the cut down to 53. Anyway - he’s back now.
I’m seeing stories all over the web - Open Sports, PatriotsBlog - where Daunte Culpepper keeps getting mentioned as a possible fill in for Brady. While I wouldn’t rule anything out - I think the Pats would be crazy to bring in Culpepper. I know Randy Moss would love it but what does Daunte have to offer? Since his knee was blow out in 2005 he has never been the same and he hasn’t fit in anywhere since 2004. He hasn’t even finished a season since 2004 due to injuries.
According to an article on ESPN.com - Chris Simms and Tim Rattay did make their way to Foxboro today but were told to go home when they arrived because ‘circumstances have changed’. Not sure what that means but I would guess Matt Gutierrez has something to do with it. He’s still available and knows the system so he could be just plugged into the offense with minimal work. During Belichik’s weekly interview on WEEI this evening - he said it would typically take a QB at least a few weeks to learn a stripped down version of the Patriots offense. Based on his comments and if the Patriots aren’t working out other quarterbacks - they’e got to be talking to Gutierrez.
Based on all the reports of Brady’s season being over due to a torn ligament in his knee - what next?
Cassel played well when he was called on - completing 13 of 16 passes for 152 yards and 1 touchdown for a passer rating of 115ish - but is this the guy to run the team the rest of the year? Even if Cassel is the best option - who should be the number 2 man on the QB depth chart - it can’t be O’Connell?
The waiver wire is pretty bare for quarterback talent - even backup talent - the best out there is Chris Simms from Tampa Bay. He got the Bucs to the playoffs as a backup in 2005 but has only played in 3 games since - not exactly confidence inspiring - but atleast he does have experience. NBC was reporting earlier that the Patriots will bring Simms in for a visit on Monday - we’ll see tomorrow if its true.
Obviously this hasn’t been confirmed by the team but according to this story on ProTrade.com - Brady is out for rest of season with knee ligament damage. Actually - as I write this I’m watching the Foxsports post game show and they mentioned there is some indication that Brady’s injury may be serious but he has a MRI scheduled for tomorrow so we can’t expect much from the Patriots before then.
