Patriots Do Just Enough to Squeak By Jets 17-16, Clinch 1st Round Bye

As usual, today's Patriots-Jets game at MetLife Stadium was ugly. Offense was at a premium and neither team could separate from the other but as is usually the case in this rivalry, New England (12-3 overall, 5-3 away) came out on top 17-16 over New York (3-12 overall, 2-6 home). Vince Wilfork helped to block what would have been the go-ahead field goal by Nick Folk in the fourth quarter and the Pats survived what was surely Rex Ryan's last home game as the Jets head coach.

With no Dan Connolly, New England's shaky offensive line was a mess as Tom Brady (23 of 35 for 182 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was constantly hurried which resulted in one of his worst games of the season. This is what you expect against Rex, his defense almost always shows up particularly when they play New England. In the right situation (with a good quarterback!), Ryan could be a good NFL head coach. Otherwise, he needs plenty of help since he can't coach offense at all. It doesn't help that New York has one of the worst rosters in the league, largely devoid of talent or any game-breakers.

Julian Edelman and LeGarrette Blount were also out with injuries so New England really struggled to move the ball (231 total yards) against New York's solid defense. Danny Amendola (8 catches, 63 yards; 5 kick returns, 91 yards; 3 punt returns, 63 yards) finally started to earn some of the money from that ridiculous contract. Brandon LaFell (7 catches, 64 yards) was the only other Patriot offensive player that could move the sticks.

After a scoreless first quarter, that we'll agree to never mention again, the Pats got on the board first with a 3-yard touchdown catch by Rob Gronkowski in the second quarter. The Jets responded with a 20-yard touchdown grab by their tight end-Jeff Cumberland from Geno Smith (17 of 27 for 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT). With 52 seconds left in the first half, Folk hit a 26-yard field goal to hand New York a 10-7 halftime lead.

New England's defense stood tall again in the red zone as they held Folk to a 23-yard field goal in the third quarter that made it 13-7. The Patriots cut it to 13-10 on Stephen Gostkowski's 24-yard field goal. Jonas Gray put the Patriots back ahead for good with a 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Of course New York's last points came on Folk's 37-yard kick.

Jamie Collins (11 tackles, 6 solo, pass deflected) had the interception for New England while rookie cornerback Marcus Williams (not the former UConn point guard) can always tell his grandkids about the time he picked off Tom Brady. Dont'a Hightower and Sealver Siliga each had a sack for the Pats. New York combined for four sacks of Brady.

Depending on how Denver does tomorrow night in Monday Night Football at Cincinnati, the Pats would earn the No. 1 seed if the Broncos lose. If Denver wins, New England probably has to beat Buffalo (8-7) next Sunday (1, CBS) at Gillette Stadium in the regular season finale. The Bills pulled off a classic Buffalo sports moment this afternoon as they lost 26-24 at Oakland, thereby crushing their playoff hopes. For our interests, that means I can basically guarantee that Buffalo will have already mailed it in well before they take the field on Sunday.

UPDATE 12/23: Denver lost on Monday Night Football to Cincinnati which handed New England the No. 1 seed and home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Tweet

Only the Jets Could Lose A Game That They Dominated So Much With No Turnovers Either

It took seven weeks but we were finally treated to a competitive Thursday Night Football game. Unfortunately it had to involve the Patriots as they held on for a bizarre 27-25 victory over the Jets at Gillette Stadium. New York (1-6 overall, 0-3 road) actually had a chance to win it on the final play but Nick Folk's 58-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Chris Jones. That was ironic since his shady penalty last year cost New England (5-2 overall, 3-0 home) a win at Metlife Stadium.

The Pats won their third straight game while the Jets dropped their sixth in a row, leaving head bobo I mean coach Rex Ryan destined for the unemployment line sometime soon. In a short week, anything can happen-hence why the Thursday Night games are usually trash (plus NFL players can't recover that quickly between contests). The Jets deserved to win this as they amassed 12 more first downs (28-16), 100 more total yards (423-323) including 155 more on the ground (218-63) and over 20 minutes more time of possession (40:54-19:06) than the Patriots. Neither team had a turnover so you can't point to that for the reason that they lost.

The only explanation for why New England came out on top is because New York settled for four field goals (22, 47, 46, 27) by Folk in the first half. If just one of those, particularly the red zone opportunities, had been a touchdown then it would have been a different outcome. Life without Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley was rough for the Patriots, especially with so little time to readjust. They made the Jets look like a competent offense, led by Geno Smith (20 of 34 for 226 yards, 1 TD; 37 yards rushing) and Chris Ivory (21 carries, 107 yards, TD), which is pretty hard to do.

All that talk of Tom Brady being washed up that dominated our lives just a few short weeks ago seems silly now. He's played very well the last three weeks since all the Patriots/TB12 haters circled Foxborough. Tonight, he was 20 of 37 for 261 yards and three touchdowns. New England didn't muster much of a running game (63 total yards) but four guys had four or more catches: Shane Vereen (5 catches, 71 yards, 2 TDs), Rob Gronkowski (5 catches, 68 yards), Brandon LaFell (4 catches, 55 yards) and Julian Edelman (4 catches, 44 yards). Stephen Gostkowski made two field goals, a 39-yard kick at the end of the first half and a 36-yarder in the third quarter.

I guess with Chris Jones making the play of the game on defense for the Pats, it was only fitting that another nobody-Danny Amendola-had his biggest contribution in 1.5 years with New England. His one catch was huge-a 19-yard touchdown when Brady was scrambling in the pocket and it put the Patriots up 27-19 with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter. The Jets went right down the field and scored, Jeff Cumberland caught a 10-yard pass across the middle by Smith but they couldn't convert the two-point conversion as his fade intended for Jace Amaro went too far. Sweet play call.

It's been a busy stretch for New England with three primetime games in four weeks: Monday, Sunday night, Sunday afternoon and Thursday night. They earned the extra break and they'll need it since their opponents get way tougher starting with Chicago a week from Sunday (1, Fox) at Gillette. After not playing an above average quarterback in their first seven games, you could make the case that New England gets six elite quarterbacks in a row (Cutler, Peyton, Luck, Stafford, Rodgers and Rivers) sandwiched around a bye in three weeks.

The AFC East is still a dumpster fire and the NFC remains far superior so at least their non-division matchups look like they'll be a challenge. That should only help them as they go into the postseason.

Tweet

Patriots Fall to Jets in OT 30-27 on Obscure Rule that Nobody Knew About Before Today

I'll save the vitriol for local sports talk radio for the next few days since this topic should dominate it: the Patriots (5-2 overall, 2-2 away) got jobbed this afternoon at MetLife Stadium as the Jets (4-3 overall, 3-1 home) "beat them" 30-27 in overtime on Nick Folk's 42-yard field goal. Folk had missed a 56-yard field goal (don't ask my why the Jets attempted it) before that but was bailed out by a penalty that was supposedly called for the first time in the NFL: Chris Jones (10 tackles, 2 sacks) pushed a fellow Patriots defensive lineman forward to try and block the kick.

I realize that nobody outside of New England will feel bad for the Patriots, in fact I'm sure many fans of other teams were eating this shit up. I will admit that they didn't play well (Jets had the ball for 46:13 to Patriots' 23:40) but nobody deserves to lose in the bogus manner that they did. I can't remember a Patriots game ending in more controversial fashion.

In a way, New York should have captured this in regulation but the Pats got the ball back late to drive for a tying 44-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski with 16 seconds left. With a different outcome, this would have been remembered as Rob Gronkowski's (career-high 8 catches, 114 yards) remarkable 2013 debut. Instead, we get to hear about that stupid penalty for weeks or at least until the Red Sox start play in the World Series on Wednesday.

Give credit to the Jets as well, rookie quarterback Geno Smith (17 of 33 for 233 yds, TD, INT) is definitely improving. Not having Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo and Aqib Talib caught up with the Patriots who made Jeremy Kerley (career-high 8 catches, 97 yards; 12-yard touchdown catch) and David Nelson (4 catches, 80 yards) look like Pro Bowlers. Oh and Chris Ivory ran for 104 yards.

This wasn't the first time in his up and down season that Tom Brady (22 of 46 for 228 yds) looked human. In fact, both him and Smith threw pick-6s: rookie Logan Ryan intercepted Smith and returned it 79 yards for a score late in the first quarter while Antonio Allen stepped in front of Gronk on the second play of the second half and returned it 23 yards for the touchdown.

Other than Gronkowski, nobody else on the Patriots offense could get anything done. Brandon Bolden (1-yard) and Stevan Ridley (17-yard) both had touchdown runs but they didn't do much other than that. Kerley opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown catch. Bolden's jaunt and Ryan's return gave New England a 14-7 lead after the first quarter. Folk cut it to 14-10 early in the second quarter but the Pats were in good shape following Ridley's run.

The Patriots had won six in a row against the Jets and 12 straight vs. the AFC East. The Jets did all the scoring in the third quarter, to retake the lead, on Allen's interception return, a surprisingly mobile (for one play at least) 8-yard run by Smith and a 37-yard field goal by Smith. Gostkowski's 39-yard field goal were the only other points in the fourth quarter.

New England got the ball first in overtime and could have won it if they marched down the field and scored a touchdown but it wasn't to be. This victory pulls New York to within a game of the Pats and they split the season series. Chandler Jones (11 tackles, 8 solo, 2 sacks) was a beast but he could have used more help from some of his lesser talented teammates on the defensive side of the ball.

The Pats are back at Gillette Stadium on Sunday (1, CBS) vs. the Dolphins (3-3) in another early season AFC East showdown. Miami was predictably exposed today in a 23-21 loss at home to the Bills (3-4). Keep in mind that like the Jets, Miami always seems to give the Pats some trouble in at least one of their two annual contests. The sooner we can put this afternoon's debacle behind us, the better. In that way, it's a really good thing for our own sanity that the Red Sox will create a welcome diversion as much as we want.

UPDATE 10/21: The Pats waived defensive tackle Andre Neblett who I'm not quite sure if he exists or not.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

No Seriously, What the Hell Did We Just Watch?

I have seen plenty of ugly football in my life, I used to cover high school football in Massachusetts after all, but tonight's Patriots-Jets debacle at Gillette Stadium was a new low. The Patriots (2-0) beat the Jets (1-1) 13-10 in their 2013 home opener that set the game of football back at least 20 years and made me want to huff ether.

How wretched did New England play against one of the worst teams in the NFL? Well I'm happy you asked. They had nine first downs, went 4 for 18 on third down conversions and only gained 232 total yards. Just like on Sunday when the Pats were lucky enough to be lining up against the hapless Bills, once again this evening they were rewarded by the NFL schedulemakers since there are only a handful of teams that would have lost to the Patriots with the level they played at.

New York lost because they had four turnovers (3 interceptions by rookie quarterback Geno Smith and a fumble by wide receiver Stephen Hill). Tom Brady (19 of 39, 185 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) had one of the most mediocre games of his legendary career and it's easy to see why: Julian Edelman (career-high 13 catches, 78 yards on 18 targets) was his main weapon in the passing game. A confluence of factors contributed to this being such a stinkbomb: short week, no Danny Amendola or Rob Gronkowski, poor execution and lack of chemistry. That about covers it, no?

Rookie Aaron Dobson was left wide open and as a result of New York's boneheaded blitz call, his first NFL catch was a 39-yard touchdown. After Aqib Talib forced a fumble on Stephen Hill's (4 catches, 87 yards) 33-yard catch and recovered by Devin McCourty. He returned it 44 yards to the New York 8-yard line but the Pats had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. Foreshadowing!

Nick Folk got the Jets on the board with a 37-yard field goal later in the first quarter and Gostkowski's 30-yard kick in the second quarter turned out to be New England's final points. That's right, the team that won this pig orgy didn't score for the final 34:55. New York made it somewhat competitive as Bilal Powell had a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter which cut it to 13-10. As you can see, neither squad scored in the listless fourth quarter. I feel bad for the poor saps that paid all that money to go to this awful game, get stuck in traffic for hours then sat through that complete with buckets of rain. Fun times!

Obviously the Patriots' defense was the key to the win: they had four sacks (2 for Chandler Jones and 1 for Tommy Kelly and Michael Buchanan), three interceptions (2 for Talib and 1 for Alfonzo Dennard) and they took advantage of the fact that they were playing a rookie quarterback for the second week in a row.

Smith did his part to piss the game away by tossing all three of his picks in the fourth quarter that some people call winning time. Dobson (3 catches, 56 yards on 10 targets) and KenBrell Thompkins (2 catches, 47 yards on 7 targets) were never on the same page with Brady. That's not to say that every throw was perfect to them but they each had numerous passes clank off their hands. There are reports of Amendola being out until Week 6 which is a scary proposition. I don't know who the Pats could get at this point but they need a dependable veteran that knows their system and can jump right in (Brandon Lloyd?) to help out the rookies-Josh Boyce didn't even get a snap for some reason.

With a very rainy night and nobody to throw to besides Edelman on like 5-yard catches, you figured that Stevan Ridley (16 carries, 40 yards) would get plenty of yards assuming (big if) he didn't fumble. There was no Shane Vereen so this was mostly Ridley in the running game but for the second straight contest he was held to under 50 rushing yards (granted Sunday he would have surpassed that if he hadn't gone to the doghouse).

Knock on wood, it seemed like the Pats made it through this game relatively unscathed despite the short week and quick recovery time. The best thing I can say for them is that now they get a couple extra days off before they host the Buccaneers (0-1) on Sunday, September 22 (1, Fox). For what it's worth, Tampa Bay lost to the Jets in Week 1 (on the luckiest sequence) which is good news for the Patriots. They need as much time as they can get to try and improve this sorry offensive unit.

UPDATE 9/14: It was a quiet day in Foxborough after last night's nailbiter vs. the Jets. The Patriots re-signed rookie guard Josh Kline to the practice squad and released offensive tackle R.J. Dill.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate