Thanks To Zach Wilson, The Patriots Win Their 15th (!!!) Straight Game Against The Jets 15-10

 

    The wins for the Patriots (1-2) this season will probably be few and far between so we have to celebrate them-albeit briefly-no matter how ugly they are, including today's 15-10 tractor pull at MetLife Stadium against the hapless Jets (1-2). In the wind and rain, the Jets' offense was non-existent (171 total yards) while the Patriots never made it into the red zone and missed two field goals. Did I mention that the only touchdowns of the game were scored by New England's third tight end-Pharaoh Brown-and New York's fullback-Nick Bawden? Yeah, it was that kind of extremely forgettable and ugly game just as you knew that it would be but at least the Pats are not 0-3 and talks of firing head coach Bill Belichick will calm down for a few days. New England almost gagged it away too as it came down to the final play: Jets quarterback Zach Wilson's (18-of-36 for 157 yards, 3 sacks) hail mary attempt was knocked down at the goal-line but receiver Randall Cobb dropped the ball that was deflected right to him. Yeesh, never in doubt for the Patriots who have now won 15th straight contests against New York-the longest current streak in the NFL-dating back to 2016. 

    Other than not losing, it is hard to feel that great about this hollow victory for the Pats since if they faced a competent quarterback, let alone an elite one, we realize that this would have surely resulted in another loss. Instead, thanks to Aaron Rodgers' season-ending injury in Week 1, they got to face Wilson who appears on the fast track to being one of the great busts of his generation. What a clown, only the Jets would refuse to sign a veteran QB to help them or at least give backup Tim Boyle a shot. Can he really be worse than Wilson who is the worst starting quarterback in the league (and I am sure that many backups are better than him as well)? By comparison Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (15-for-29, 201 yards, TD) who is the definition of average at this level looks like a future Hall of Famer. 

    It is scary that this game was not decided until the final play. Pats rookie kicker Chad Ryland hit two long field goals-from 48 yards in the first quarter and from 51 yards in the third quarter-but he also missed two others after a pair of bad snaps from Joe Cardona. New England's lack of explosive players and chunk plays is pathetic. Brown's 58-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter came solely because New York somehow left him wide open down the seam. Ryland's PAT made it 10-0 and the only thing that saved New York from getting shut out in the first half was a 52-yard field goal by veteran kicker Greg Zuerlein late in the second quarter. 

If you thought that the first half was dull (and boy was it ever!), the second half was even more unwatchable as the lone points came from that Ryland field goal, Bawden's one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and then the requisite safety allowed by Wilson who could not get rid of the ball before Patriots defensive end Matthew Judon sacked him in the end zone. The win gets New England out of the basement of the AFC East although Miami (3-0) and Buffalo (2-1) each looked infinitely better than these sorry clubs this afternoon as the Dolphins beat the Broncos (0-3) 70-20 (yes, that is a real NFL score) and the Bills (2-1) nearly shut out the Commanders (2-1) in DC 37-3. Next Sunday's matchup (4:25, Fox) in Dallas (2-1) looks a little less hopeless as the Cowboys clearly did not take the Cardinals (1-2) seriously in Arizona and paid for it by losing 28-16 in a surprising yet very Dallas like choke job.

    Despite what happened today, the Cowboys still have an excellent defense so it is hard to imagine that the Pats will be able to move the ball and more importantly, score many points against them. Perhaps it will be a revenge game for ex-Cowboy Ezekiel Elliott (16 carries, 80 yards)? You will remember that New England has not even topped 20 points so far this season in their first three games which is a recipe for disaster. They should be a double-digit underdog and it feels like a bounce back spot for Dallas (if they are a true contender) after that no-show. The Pats' only real advantage is Belichick vs. the Cowboys' buffoon head coach Mike McCarthy but that can only get you so far when your roster is not in the same area code in terms of depth and talent. An upset in Dallas would be one of New England's best wins in the post-Tom Brady era but I cannot see it happening in real life unless something truly crazy occurs deep in the heart of Texas at Jerry World. 

A Terrible Season For The Patriots (8-9) Thankfully Ends Without An Undeserved Postseason Berth

 

    For months, this doomed to fail season for the Patriots needed to end and finally, it all came crashing down on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, NY as they fell 35-23 to the Bills (13-3). They would have made the playoffs if they had beaten Buffalo, something which they can't do anymore without the help of a biblical storm. Besides having very little free time to write these days (haha who knew that a baby was so much work?), this version of the Pats gave me few reasons to bother mentioning them during this utterly pathetic campaign. I never openly rooted against them (although it was close more than a few times in 2022-2023) but I am truly happy that we can move on with our lives now until free agency and the NFL Draft this spring. Head coach/GM Bill Belichick gave us no reason to believe in this team from the start and hopefully finishing with a regular season record two games worse than last year and missing the postseason for the second time in three seasons brings about some real changes that they so desperately need.

    You don't have to be a football genius to know that having two complete bozos (say hi Matt Patricia and Joe Judge) take on roles that they have never had before-after each guy flamed out as head coaches in other places-would not go well. Second-year quarterback Mac Jones regressed big time this season but how much of that can you blame on him since he had a quarterbacks coach (Judge) who is best suited as a special teams coach while his offensive coordinator (Patricia) had only ever worked with defenses and offensive lines before this? It is also tough to objectively evaluate Jones when Bill's drafting history in recent years has been mostly terrible and his free agent moves have also been spotty. Did I mention that New England's offensive line was awful-one of the worst in the NFL-and their skill position guys were average at best? 

    This is now three years post-Tom Brady and it has not been a pretty picture for Belichick who has been seriously exposed without the greatest quarterback in NFL history by his side. Being the second oldest head coach in the league probably doesn't help either along with surrounding himself with nothing but yes men, his sons and his friends. The gap between the Bills and Patriots is scary-like it used to be in the opposite direction. With quarterback Josh Allen leading them, Buffalo has won three AFC East titles and they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Thanks to the Pats' loss and Miami's win in the regular season finale, the Dolphins snuck into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs (where they will have the honor of getting blown out by the Bills next weekend). New England swept their two games with the Jets this season as usual but if New York can just get steadier quarterback play, they will be right there with the Patriots if not ahead of them. 

    This is all pretty grim if you are a Pats fan. Granted, we had an unprecidented run of success with Brady here that will never be duplicated again in our lifetimes. Still, is it too much to ask to be competitive year after year? Patriots owner Robert Kraft is not dumb at all and he is also not young so you wonder how much longer he will stand for this (being a middling team in the NFL)? I'm not suggesting that Belichick will be fired this week nor that he should be but if they simply run it back with the same flawed set of coaches and incomplete roster, why should we expect different results anytime soon? Without saying it after Sunday's loss, it seemed like two of the few remaining leaders from their glory days (safety Devin McCourty and special teams ace Matthew Slater) are both about to retire thus leaving a huge void in the locker room if that is the case. The 2023 offseason is upon us for the Patriots and they are due for some serious housekeeping if they want to get back to relevance leaguewide.

Zach Wilson (4 INTs) Implodes As The Patriots Roll To A 25-6 Victory Against The Hapless Jets

 

    There are few certainties in life anymore except the fact that the Jets (0-2) will be a doormat for the rest of eternity. The Patriots (1-1) were the lucky team that got to face New York this afternoon at MetLife Stadium. After a decent debut last week in a 19-14 loss at the Panthers (2-0), Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson-the No. 2 pick in the draft-was a complete disaster as he threw interceptions on his first two pass attempts and ended up with four interceptions for the game as New England cruised to an easy 25-6 win. 

    It was not pretty but Pats rookie quarterback Mac Jones (22-of-30 for 186 yards) didn't turn the ball over. The Patriots' defense added four sacks of Wilson while running back James White ran for a seven-yard touchdown and running back Damien Harris had the play of the game with a 26-yard TD run early in the third quarter (that made it 19-3 Pats) where he carried a host of Jets into the end zone before receiving a final push over the goal line by Jones and his offensive linemen. Pats kicker Nick Folk missed a PAT but nobody will remember that since he hit four field goals (46, 49, 32, 26). 

    If you are looking for troubling trends two games into the season with the Patriots, their offensive line is a bit of a mess (Jones got sacked three times) with right tackle Trent Brown out with a calf injury, their run defense stinks (they allowed 152 yards to New York) and their red zone offense leaves something to be desired. Still, Buffalo (1-1) destroyed Miami (1-1) 35-0 this afternoon meaning that three AFC East teams are all 1-1 while the Jets fittingly are alone in the basement. The Bills figure to pull away from the Dolphins and Patriots at some point later this season while New York will probably be one of the worst teams in the NFL yet again. 

    It was a good day to have New England's defense in fantasy football as cornerback J.C. Jackson had a pair of interceptions while safeties Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips also added picks and linebacker Josh Uche sacked Wilson twice. It was one of those situations where you could wonder if the Pats defense was that stout or if they simply took advantage of some awful mistakes by Wilson? This was never really that competitive as the visitors led 10-0 after the first quarter and 13-3 at halftime then 22-3 after three quarters. Time will tell who has the better NFL career-Jones or Wilson-but it is ironic that Jones' first NFL victory came at the expense of another highly-touted rookie in his draft class. 

    Next Sunday afternoon (1, FOX), the Pats return to Gillette Stadium where they will try to get their first home win of 2021 against the Saints (1-1). After embarassing the Packers 38-3 in Week 1 behind five touchdown passes from mercurial quarterback Jameis Winston, New Orleans came crashing back to Earth this afternoon with a 26-7 loss at Carolina. The Saints still have a bunch of great players and head coach Sean Payton is regarded as one of the best in the league so the Pats should have their hands full trying to get another win.

Worst Pats Season In 20 Years Fittingly Ends On A Bad Note As Their Top Draft Pick Drops To No. 15

 

    So this is what it's like to cheer for most other teams in the NFL? The last day of the regular season rolled around today and after the Patriots (7-9 overall, 5-3 home) stupidly beat the hapless Jets (2-14 overall, 1-7 away) 28-14 at snowy Gillette Stadium, we have nothing else to look forward to now-at least when it comes to our favorite football team-but the draft and free agency which are both months away. Woof. In what was hopefully his last game for New England, quarterback Cam Newton (21-of-30 for 242 yards, 3 TDs; 79 yards rushing; 19-yd TD catch) had perhaps his best performance in an otherwise terrible season (for him and the team). New York was already locked into the No. 2 pick (Ohio State QB Justin Fields?) and shortly after this most meaningless of affairs was over, they fired their woefully-overmatched head coach Adam Gase (he was 9-23 in 2 seasons in charge). 

    With a loss and some help from other teams with similar records, New England could have reached as high as the No. 10 pick in the first round (when's the last time they were up that high?) but they couldn't even do that right as the victory gave them their worst possible scenario-the 15th pick on April 29. As you would expect, there really was no new information to glean from this glorified fourth preseason game other than the fact that the Patriots should avoid Jets quarterback Sam Darnold (23-of-34 for 266 yards, TD, 2 INTs) at all costs if he becomes available because he stinks. Oh and Jarrett Stidham never saw the field this afternoon which tells you everything about what Pats head coach Bill Belichick thinks of him at this point. 

    If you were hoping for a Patriots loss like I was (along with any other halfwit Pats fan), the first half and much of the third quarter were promising. You knew right off the jump that it would be a weird one as running back James White caught a seven-yard touchdown from Cam on the first drive of the contest but Jets tight end Chris Herndon snagged a 21-yard touchdown from Darnold in the second quarter to make it 7-7 at halftime. NFL Films no doubt will fast-track the highlights of this instant classic to make some big money. New York scored on the first drive of the second half as running back Josh Adams found the end zone on a one-yard run. New York led 14-7 for most of the frame until New England's offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels went into his bag of tricks (polishing his resume and LinkedIn page before he finally leaves here again for another head coaching job?) and called for wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (6 catches for 68 yards on 7 targets) to toss a 19-yard touchdown to Newton. Did you know that Meyers played quarterback at NC State? Me neither, I just found that out today (JK!). 

    Things really started to go off the rails in the fourth quarter as you could hear the Jets' team bus starting up in the background. Rookie tight end Devin Asiasi picked a fine time to make the first two catches of his NFL career including a 26-yard TD from Cam. Would you believe that was the first touchdown catch of the season for any Patriots tight end? You couldn't even make up that horrifying stat if you tried. Running back Sony Michel (76 yards rushing; 60 yards receiving) similarly chose to show off and in the process, to do something that he'd never done in three years in the NFL (!): he caught a pass and went 31 yards for his first TD catch. Three Patriots defensive players were able to pad their stats as well with cornerbacks J.C. Jackson (his 9th of the season, tied with Ty Law in 1998 for 2nd most in team history) and Jonathan Jones each notching an interception and defensive end Chase Winovich (6 tackles, 4 solo, 2 sacks, pass deflected, 3 QB hits) had his best game of this fruitless season.

    The scariest part about this rebuild for the Patriots is that it feels like they are miles away from winning the AFC East anytime soon let alone compete for a Super Bowl title (which used to be the main focus in these parts) since the Bills (13-3) and Dolphins (10-6) are way more talented and just getting started after years of laying down to New England year after year. Belichick is still one of the better head coaches in the league-not that he really showed it in 2020-but his constant failures as a GM have really come back to bite him and the franchise lately. Also, do you believe at this point in his Hall of Fame career that he will allow any other prominent voices in the room that heaven forbid might have a slightly different opinion on something than him? Probably not since both of his sons are assistant coaches along with one of his favorite ex-players (Jerod Mayo) that he coached here. 

    For weeks, we've been told over and over how much cap space the Pats have available going into next season but honestly, when is the last time they aggressively went out in free agency and spent top dollar to get one of the best players (a crazy concept, I know)? The unfortunate reality is that having Tom Brady for so long was a smokescreen for so many other flaws on the roster and in terms of Belichick's stubborn style of coaching that feels very outdated for the millennials in 2021. The only way any of this will change in the near future is if they get a legitimate quarterback and we saw how badly they whiffed this year with Newton and Stidham. Does that give you any hope that they'll strike gold next time? Getting Brady in the sixth round is like winning Powerball, the odds of anything like that ever happening again to you are basically impossible. 

Down 27-17 After 3 Quarters, The Pats Squeaked One Out Against the Soon-To-Be 0-16 Jets, 30-27

 

    I have to admit, for a game that pitted two mostly wretched teams who entered with a combined record of 2-13, tonight's special edition of Dollar Store Monday Night Football was way more entertaining than it should have been. In the end, there was actually a winner (no overtime needed!) when Nick Folk hit a 51-yard field goal as time expired for a dare I say ironically thrilling 30-27 win by the Patriots (3-5 overall, 1-3 away) vs. the Tank for Trevor Lawrence Jets (0-9 overall, 0-5 home). For Pats fans, it served as a painful exercise that showed just how hard it is to win a single game in the NFL, even against the league's worst team. This snapped a four-game losing streak for New England while also extending their win streak vs. New York to nine games. It is the first time in Jets franchise history that they have started a campaign 0-9 and they now have a bye week before their last seven games. PS Week 17 is at Gillette Stadium vs. the Pats. Haha imagine the possibilities for that must-see turd sandwich!

    After failing in all three previous chances this season (at Seattle, vs. Denver and last week in Buffalo) to put together a game-winning drive, Patriots quarterback Cam Newton (27-of-35 for 274 yards; 2 rushing TDs) was finally able to make it happen. Any other opponent would have put this to bed since the Jets led by 10 points not only at halftime (20-10) but also after three quarters (27-17). Luckily for Pats head coach Bill Belichick, Adam Gase somehow is still the Jets head coach and his truly miserable team managed to run four total plays in the final 15 minutes, good for three yards and 1:24 on the clock. Did I mention that Sam Darnold was out with a shoulder injury so former Ravens great and Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco (18-of-25 for 262 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) was left to shred the Pats secondary for most of the night?

    2020 continues to be the scariest and strangest year of our collective lives so naturally we are all here to witness Jakobi Meyers (12 catches, 169 yards on 14 targets) become the promising young wide receiver that New England has lacked for years. On his 24th birthday no less, the former NC State quarterback had his third solid outing in a row culminating in the best performance of his brief NFL career. Damiere Byrd (5 catches, 65 yards on 9 targets) also made some plays in the passing game including a clutch 31-yard catch-and-run which led to Newton's one-yard touchdown run that coupled with Folk's PAT tied it at 27 with 1:57 left in regulation.

    The Patriots' running game was a positive as well with Damien Harris (14 carries, 71 yards) showing some more nice burst before he left late with a chest injury after absorbing a big hit. Rex Burkhead (12 carries, 56 yards, TD) kept finding holes as well when he got the ball. Another former Raven-wide receiver Breshad Perriman (5 catches, 101 yards, 2 TDs on 7 targets)-toyed with J.C. Jackson for much of the evening but thankfully, the Pats cornerback had the last laugh as he picked off Flacco's stupid deep ball that led to Newton's tying touchdown run. He now leads the NFL with five interceptions and in the process, he set a Patriots record by notching a pick in four straight contests. For the first time as a Patriot, Newton was not sacked and Deatrich Wise Jr. (4 tackles, 2 assists) had New England's lone sack which was very timely: on the second play of New York's last drive that turned out to be a 3-and-out which stupidly stopped the clock and saved a timeout for the Pats. 

    Not surprisingly given the halftime score, the Jets led for most of the game before the fourth quarter. Sergio Castillo hit a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter to open the scoring before Newton had a five-yard touchdown run later in the frame. Believe it or not, that was the first touchdown for the Patriots in any first quarter this season. Oof. The second quarter was much more of a Jets affair as Perriman caught a 50-yard bomb against Jackson for a 10-7 lead. Castillo added a 50-yard field goal, answered by Folk's 45-yard kick with 1:03 left in the first half. Going into the break down 13-10 wouldn't have been that awful all things considered (shoutout to NPR) but that wasn't enough of a deficit for the Pats. Nope, instead they allowed a touchdown drive that went 77 yards in two plays. Flacco hit rookie Denzel Mims (4 catches, 62 yards on 8 targets) with a 15-yard pass before Jason McCourty was called for pass interference on Perriman that went for 42 yards. On the next play, Flacco threw his best pass in years as Jamison Crowder used great footwork to drag both feet in the end zone before his momentum took him out of bounds. Initially it was called incomplete but then it was rightfully overturned on replay for a 20-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left in the half. 

    New England got the ball to start the third quarter and they had an awesome drive that took more than half (7:33) of the frame. They went 78 yards in 13 plays culminating in a one-yard touchdown plunge by Burkhead. Unfortunately, New York wasn't fazed by it as they responded with a nearly identical drive of their own (11 plays for 75 yards in 6:57). Their touchdown came on a 15-yard catch by Perriman after Jackson had slipped And-1 Mixtape style (remember those?!). With any sliver of hope for a playoff spot fading away in Tony Soprano Land aka North Jersey, the Patriots finally woke up and outscored the Jets 13-0 in the fourth quarter. All of their points actually came in the final 6:04 of regulation: Folk hit a 29-yard field goal, Newton powered his way in for the one-yard score and then Folk crushed his most important kick in years. 

    Nothing about this victory for New England was easy but needless to say, they will have to play infinitely better on Sunday night (8:20, NBC) to have any chance to begin their first win streak of the season as they host superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens (6-2 overall, 4-0 away) at Gillette Stadium. Miami (5-3) looks like a playoff team and they are two games ahead of the Patriots in the AFC East while the Bills (7-2) are setting the pace with their best start since 1993. I despise cliches but it really is a game-by-game type of focus for the Pats who aren't nearly talented enough to assume anything (for example: witness tonight where they came in as a 9.5-point favorite). Losing always sucks and multiply that during a pandemic where every low seems like it'll never end. Not to get too cheesy but it was refreshing to see the players and coaches on New England look genuinely happy and excited after this win. We all have been dealing with plenty of serious issues more important than football since mid-March but imagine on top of that, everyone in the region and around the country was also dumping on you non-stop for failing at your job. Good times!

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.

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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.

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Week 7 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Jets

Thursday Night Football is a disgrace; the games are terrible with one team usually blowing out the other that doesn't bother to show up. Having NFL teams play twice in five days is insane. Into this fray steps the Patriots (4-2) who host the Jets (1-5) tomorrow night (8:25, CBS) at Gillette Stadium. Did I mention that just like last year when they played on a Thursday night (possibly the worst football game in history), it is supposed to be pouring all night?

I'm not going to mention Jerod Mayo or Stevan Ridley (oops, I did) because they are clearly out for the rest of the season (although they haven't gone on IR, yet)after suffering injuries last Sunday in New Orleans. Other than them, offensive lineman Cameron Fleming and safety Nate Ebner remain sidelined with their finger issues (maybe they were all cut off?).

Seven Patriots are questionable: Brandon Browner (ankle), Jamie Collins (thigh), Dan Connolly (concussion), Dominique Easley (shoulder/knee), Dont'a Hightower (knee), Matthew Slater (shoulder) and Bryan Stork (concussion). Browner is looking to make his Patriots debut and he hinted the last few days that he'll play. Connolly and Stork are vital since New England had just started to sort out their horrible offensive line.

It is much more cut and dry with the Jets who have only one guy that is doubtful-safety Josh Bush (quadriceps). They don't list anyone as questionable while linebacker Trevor Reilly (knee) and former Patriots great-wide receiver Greg Salas (wrist/ankle) are out.

If I get a chance, or more likely if I remember, I'll be sure to update this tomorrow night before the opening kickoff.

UPDATE 10/16: Mayo and Ridley went on IR today while RB Jonas Gray and OL Chris Barker were activated from the practice squad. The Pats inactives are Ebner, Fleming, Stork, Connolly, RB James White, WR Aaron Dobson and CB Malcolm Butler. The Jets inactives are Reilly, Salas, DL T.J. Barnes, OG Dakota Dozier, OL Wesley Johnson, WR Chris Owusu and DB Josh Thomas.

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Patriots Take a Trip to Revis Island

What a difference 24 hours can make after NFL free agency begins. Last night, Patriots fans were all understandably pissed as Aqib Talib bolted for big money in Denver. The Broncos didn't stop there as they also added defensive end DeMarcus Ware this afternoon and let's not forget young safety T.J. Ward too. Was New England going to respond at all to the best team in the AFC?

As always, the lesson with this is we need to have a little patience. Last time I checked, the Super Bowl isn't won in March. So yes, we all want the Pats to be more aggressive and spend additional money while Tom Brady is still playing and Bill Belichick remains the head coach. Tampa Bay released franchise cornerback Darrelle Revis this afternoon and immediately the Revis to the Patriots rumors gained some traction. Fast forward to tonight: he signed a one-year deal with New England worth $12 million.

Even if you're not a Patriots honk, you have to appreciate the value (yes, that overused word in Foxborough) that they got on Revis. By waiting for the smoke to clear and not freaking out, the Pats were rewarded with the best cornerback in the NFL who turns 29 in July. It's not hyperbole to say that he can completely change their defense since he'll shut down one side of the field from day one.

The Broncos are New England's biggest rival in the JV conference but let's not forget how much this has to kill the Jets-their main rival in the sorry AFC (L)East. Revis made his money with the Jets: in four of his five seasons in NY, he played 16 games and he was an All-Pro three times.

All recovered from a torn ACL, he played in all 16 games for the Buccaneers last season after being traded there. For his career, he's amassed 21 interceptions, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, three touchdowns, 109 passes defended, 284 solo tackles and 60 assists. Revis is an old school cornerback in that he can actually tackle and he's not just a track star or guy afraid to tackle and help out in the run game. Plus he's got legit size (5-11, 198 pounds).

Let's be clear: the Patriots need a bunch more talented players (DE, TE, WR and S to name a few positions) but this is a perfect start. He'll be motivated to get a long-term deal and his name value should help attract other quality free agents to join him in a run at the Super Bowl. I don't want to get ahead of myself but this could have been the night that the Patriots finally got their mojo back thanks to Revis.

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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.

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Week 7 Injury Report: Patriots at Jets

I don't want to jinx it since it has been such a long time coming, but it appears that Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will finally make his 2013 debut on Sunday (1, NBCS) vs. the Jets (3-3) then home vs. Denver on Sunday Night Football. Today's injury report came out and both teams are banged up.

Danny Amendola (concussion), Tommy Kelly (knee) and Leon Washington are all out for New England while former Patriot/Invisible Man Greg Salas (knee) and Santonio Holmes (foot) leave New York with some pretty grimy options for rookie Geno Smith to pass to. Aqib Talib is doubtful (hip) so I'd be shocked to see him on the field on Sunday.

There are many things to loath about the Jets: their players, coaches or fanbase all make it way too easy for others. What I'm trying to say is that despite all that, I admire how New York doesn't screw around with its injury report. Salas and Holmes are the only guys they mention that aren't probable.

The Patriots were not impressed with that refreshing honesty as they piled eight guys that are questionable onto the report: Michael Hoomanawanui (knee), Dan Connolly (concussion), Brandon Bolden (knee), Matthew Slater (wrist), Julian Edelman (thigh), Marcus Cannon (shoulder), Tavon Wilson (hamsting) and Gronk (back). It's interesting to note that they don't mention his arm anymore.

I learned my lesson from Week 2's ugly ugly win by the Patriots that while they own the Jets at the moment, they always seem to have tight games vs the Jets for whatever reason. Stay tuned as I update this while the weekend goes by.

UPDATE 10/19: Wilson and Talib are out but the good news is that Gronk made the trip to NY/NJ so he appears to be playing tomorrow. We shall see.

UPDATE 10/20: Patriots inactives are Wilson, Talib, WR Josh Boyce, OL Chris Barker, Amendola, Kelly and Washington. Jets inactives are Brady Quinn, Holmes, Salas, LB Troy Davis, G William Campbell, T Ben Ijilana and T Oday Aboushi.

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Just When You Think The Patriots Can't Suffer Another Devastating Injury, They Do

I can't remember the Patriots ever getting bombarded with so many serious injuries-to key players no less-this early in the regular season. That troubling trend continued tonight as reports surfaced on Twitter that linebacker and defensive captain Jerod Mayo had surgery on a torn pectoral muscle so he's not expected to play for the rest of the season. Ah! It happened last in Sunday's improbable win against the Saints and comes only a few days before they face the Jets (3-3) on Sunday (1, CBS) in New Jersey.

This is absurd, it's fruitless to whine about injuries since every team in the NFL gets them but are you kidding me right now? After only six games, the Patriots have lost Shane Vereen, Danny Amendola (multiple times), Matthew Slater, Vince Wilfork, Tommy Kelly and now Mayo. Oh and Rob Gronkowski has been the most talked about player in the NFL (or so it seems around here) the last few weeks but he has yet to step foot in an actual game. Ugh.

New England (5-1) has been able to survive this raft of injuries so far but at some point, this will all eventually catch up with them. Nobody has the type of depth to withstand losing all these vital players for significant periods of time. Replacing Mayo (55 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 pass deflected) with Dont'a Hightower is OK if not ideal. When you start talking about untested rookie Jamie Collins or special teams hero Dane Fletcher stepping in for the two-time Pro Bowl and 2010 All-Pro, well then you have a problem.

If nothing else, this unfortunately will prove to us one way or another if Mayo was overrated or not. Many people maintain that he piles up inflated statistics but never really makes game-changing plays. I'm not firmly in that camp but I will say that if you're looking for a big play linebacker, Mayo isn't necessarily your first or second option in the NFL. Still, I think we can all agree that he's a very effective player and a guy that has fit in with the Pats seamlessly from day one.

PS how miserable must it be to cover the Pats? Anytime there is a big story like this, it is broken by a national outlet (in this case Yahoo). You spend all that time covering the team but you can't build any good sources so in turn you get scooped every time for the most important stuff that people want to know. Yikes. I'll stick to just blogging about the Patriots thank you very much, no wonder why a majority of their beat writers are so beaten down.

UPDATE 10/16: The Pats publically acknowledged Mayo's injury today, putting him on season-ending IR and re-signing defensive tackle Andre Neblett.

UPDATE 10/17: Devin McCourty regained his captaincy with Mayo gone and the Patriots signed cornerback Travis Howard to their practice squad.

UPDATE 10/18: Rob Ninkovich was also named a captain, in place of Vince Wilfork.

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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.

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Week 2 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Jets

It's hard to believe but the Patriots will be playing another game a little more than 24 hours from now. New England (1-0) welcomes the Jets (1-0) to Gillette Stadium for the first installment of their yearly double dose of AFC East hatred. It is also New England's 2013 home opener. For the last few days, we've been focused on all the Pats injuries and now we know the status' of Shane Vereen (wrist) who is out until at least Week 11 while Danny Amendola (groin) and Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm) are both doubtful as expected.

For the Jets, three players have already been ruled out: defensive lineman Quinton Coples (ankle), wide receiver Jeremy Kerley (concussion) and quarterback/punching bag Mark Sanchez (shoulder). Everyone else on New York is listed as probable so we won't bother with them. We'll have to wait until tomorrow night (8:25, NFL Network and ABC) to see what other four guys are inactive for Rex Ryan's squad.

In addition, eight Patriots are questionable: Brandon Bolden (knee), Aaron Dobson (hamstring), Nate Ebner (ankle), Duron Harmon (hamstring), Matthew Slater (knee), Zach Sudfeld (hamstring), Will Svitek (knee) and Leon Washington (knee). Slater and Sudfeld are the ones I'll be keeping a close eye on since they played vs. Buffalo on Sunday afternoon. The other six guys didn't suit up against the Bills but I expect Dobson to play since Amendola will be on the sideline.

I'll update this tomorrow before the opening kickoff. In other Patriots roster news, they picked up rookie defensive lineman Chris Jones off waivers from Tampa Bay. To make room for him, they waived offensive lineman Josh Kline who I feel like has been involved in a million moves over the last few weeks.

UPDATE 9/12: The inactives for the Patriots are Bolden, Amendola, Svitek, linebacker Steven Beauharnais, Gronk, Sudfeld and Jones. The inactives for the Jets are quarterback Brady Quinn, guard William Campbell, tackle Ben Ijalana, tackle Oday Aboushi in addition to Coples, Kerey and Sanchez.

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Shane Vereen Broke A Bone In His Wrist, Welcome Back From the Doghouse Stevan Ridley!

Fortunes change so quickly in the NFL since there is an absurd amount of injuries every week. That's why talk of a longer regular season is always borderline insane, if there were any more games teams would be left with a totally shredded roster and who wants to see practice squad bums playing in December and January?

This is a long-winded way of saying that the Patriots (1-0) could have their hands full in Week 2 with the Jets (1-0) on Thursday (ABC & NFL Network, 8:25) because reports surfaced today that promising young running back Shane Vereen (159 total yards vs. Buffalo) broke a small bone in his wrist on the first play of the game so he'll be out for a few weeks following today's surgery. Oh and rookie tight end Zach Sudfeld (a temporary starter) pulled his hamstring, why he sat out the fourth quarter, so his availability is in doubt too.

The ripple down effect of this means that Stevan Ridley will have to get his head out of his ass and hopefully stop fumbling all the time. After he coughed the ball up twice yesterday (one wasn't technically ruled a fumble cause replays were inconclusive) in the first half, he didn't see the field again all afternoon. Ridley has plenty of talent, this is the same guy who had 1263 rushing yards and 12 TDs last season. He was even on his way to a good game in Buffalo, with nine carries for 46 yards before his bad habit bubbled up yet again.

Should Ridley struggle, there are other options: Brandon Bolden, LeGarrette Blount and Leon Washington. Granted, they are low on the depth chart for a reason. The injury reports will come out tomorrow so we'll get a better idea if the Pats will need to sign another tight end assuming Sudfeld is out. If he can't play, New England would be left with one healthy tight end on the roster: Michael Hoomanauwanui. Yikes.

Even with these injuries, the Patriots will be heavily favored against the Jets in their 2013 home opener at Gillette Stadium but these setbacks won't help an offense that looked very shaky against a mediocre at best Bills squad that they absolutely own.

UPDATE 9/10: Undrafted rookie defensive tackle AJ Francis was re-signed to the practice squad. To make room for him, rookie wide receiver Quentin Sims was released. The Pats put Vereen on injured reserve, designated to return which means at the earliest he can play in Week 11 (they have a bye the week before). To take his roster spot, they re-signed tight Matthew Mulligan who was with the team last week before the latest cut.

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Patriots Certainly Know How To Spice Up The Offseason: By Signing Tim Tebow

Nobody would ever question the NFL's status as the most popular sport in the United States. Still, a reminder every once in a while is always important. Two days before the Bruins meet the Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals and while the Red Sox have the best record in the American League, the Patriots stole all the local and even headlines this afternoon with one simple move: reportedly signing Tim Tebow.

In many ways, we should have seen this coming for years (Tebow has been in the NFL since 2010). New England head coach Bill Belichick went to dinner with Tebow before the 2010 Draft and even though the Pats didn't end up taking him, Belichick has always been enamored with Tebow's intangibles. There is no more polarizing figure in pro sports than Tebow, you either love him or hate him. There really is no in between with him.

The good news is that unlike his last stop-the Jets-the Patriots are the exact opposite franchise in terms of winning, stability, direction and purpose. Yes it will be a media frenzy the first time he shows up at minicamp tomorrow and during training camp in August (assuming he makes it that far) but eventually New England will shut it down in terms of non-stop ESPN hype I mean coverage. Keep in mind this is all forgotten if he's gone before the regular season starts in September.

Since he can't throw, Tebow's role in the NFL has always been up in the air. Know it alls like to say that he could play tight end and the Jets traded two draft picks for him although they ended up just using him as a punt protector and in very predictable running plays. Tom Brady is still one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL so he won't feel any additional pressure from Tebow, a guy that supposedly couldn't get any other offers after the Jets released him.

As flawed as he is, I still think Tebow is a better quarterback than untested and unproven Ryan Mallett. Tebow took Denver to the playoffs in his first season as a starter (2011) and they upset Pittsburgh before getting blown out in New England-ironically his last start. At the time, Denver's head coach was Josh McDaniels who is now the Patriots' offensive coordinator. He obviously saw something in him to draft him 25th overall in 2010 (way higher than he was projected).

Studying a couple years behind Brady wouldn't be a bad thing. We all hate to think about it but at some point, Brady will retire and the Pats need to think of a successor. Tebow is a winner, a great teammate and a leader. Those are all good qualities to have and who knows, maybe being in a better environment like the Patriots will allow his career to get back on track. It's a no-lose situation for the Patriots since they'll pay him peanuts on a team friendly deal and Belichick can look like a genius again if he gets anything out of Tebow. Conversely, if he stinks then they can say they tried and dump him without any issues.

Belichick has always been tight with Tebow's head coach at Florida-Urban Meyer-and having two former teammates-Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Spikes-in the locker room should help him quickly adjust to this very different culture here.

UPDATE 6/11: ESPN's Adam Schefter reports it is a two-year deal for Tebow with no guaranteed money.

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Did That Game Really Just Happen Or Was I In A Food Coma?

I think we all knew the Jets were a mess but that still couldn't have prepared us for what transpired tonight at MetLife Stadium as the Patriots embarrassed the home team 49-19 in a game that wasn't nearly that close. Bill Belichick celebrated his 200th career win (including playoffs) by probably ending the Rex Ryan/Mike Tannenbaum era in New York. Look for major changes to be made there in the offseason.

New England (8-3, 4-2) won its fifth consecutive game thanks to an explosion in the second quarter that included three touchdowns (3!) in 52 seconds. Believe it or not, it was scoreless after one quarter before New York (4-7, 2-4 home) decided to self-destruct to an unbelievable level.

Lighting up the scoreboard in the past four games has been a common occurrence for the Pats. They've put up 190 combined points which is the most in a four-game span since the Rams in 1950 (208 points). Tom Brady (18 of 28, 323 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) was nearly perfect again; he's had 14 TDs and 0 INTs in their last five games. New England's 108 points in the last two blowout victories is the third highest total in NFL history.

For the second week in a row, the Patriots scored touchdowns in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams. Wes Welker's (7 catches, 71 yards) 3-yard TD catch got the feast started in the second quarter. That was followed by Shane Vereen taking a swing pass 83 yards for a score, Steve Gregory (2 fumble recoveries, INT) scooped up a fumble 32 yards and took it to the house while Julian Edelman returned a fumble on a kick return 22 yards for the third touchdown in under a minute.

Speaking of Edelman, for good measure he added a 56-yard touchdown grab which put New England up 35-0 in the second quarter. Their 35-point quarter tied a franchise record. It also gave him four touchdowns in the last two games. The only downside is that he got crushed in the third quarter by LaRon Landry and it looked like he sustained a concussion.

New York couldn't get out of its own way and seeing Mark Sanchez (26 of 36, 301 yards, TD, INT) comically run into the back of his own lineman (in the most Jets play of all-time) and fumble then having Joe McKnight cough it up on the next play was something out of Football Follies. All that was missing was some Benny Hill music.

Credit to Rex Ryan and his team though as they scored 12 straight points to make it interesting. Haha yeah right. Nick Folk's 32-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half broke the shutout. A chop block in the end zone led to a safety for the Jets and Bilal Powell had a 4-yard TD run in the third quarter.

New England went back to trolling New York as Brady had a 1-yard quarterback sneak and Stevan Ridley (21 carries, 97 yards) was rewarded for a solid night with a 9-yard touchdown run.

For some reason, the Jets dressed Tim Tebow even though after the game he admitted that he has two broken ribs. That meant all the Tebow talk during the broadcast and chants by their miserable fans were pointless, he wasn't coming in no matter what. Third-string quarterback Greg McElroy must feel good about his work situation.

Dustin Keller had a 1-yard touchdown catch with 2:21 left in the fourth quarter for the final margin. New England leads the NFL with 32 takeaways, they improved to 7-1 against the AFC and 4-0 against AFC East foes-they are done with the Bills and Jets. Jerod Mayo had 11 tackles (8 solo), a sack and tackle for loss while Dont'a Hightower had four tackles (3 solo), a sack and tackle for loss.

It was a very physical game and especially considering the short week of preparation, the Patriots were outstanding. Yes, the Jets helped them out with most of their five turnovers but New England also made the plays. Like last season, they are showing the knack for getting turnovers on defense which is a great sign. The No. 3 team in the AFC will get this weekend off and then next week they'll begin work on the Dolphins (4-6, hosting Seattle on Sunday). The Patriots travel to Miami on Sunday, December 2 (1 p.m., CBS) to face a team that started out looking so promising but they have lost their last three.

UPDATE 11/23: Kyle Arrington was fined $23,000 today for his helmet to helmet hit on Colts quarterback Andrew Luck on Sunday. No word yet on any fines from last night's game vs. the Jets. Also, Greg Salas was claimed off waivers by the Eagles.

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Week 12 Injury Report: Patriots At Jets (Thanksgiving Night)

While you are falling asleep tomorrow night and fighting over the remote with your dear extended family, the Patriots and Jets will be hard at work. New England (7-3) travels to New York (4-6) for a sneaky big AFC East matchup at 8:30 p.m. on NBC. If the Pats win, they could effectively bury the Jets for good this season. If the Jets come out on top, they could actually make a playoff run since the rest of their schedule is cake.

Today, the injury report was released with three New England players out already. Of course, Rob Gronkowski (forearm) won't play for a while. Also, Chandler Jones (ankle) and Logan Mankins (ankle) will be on the sidelines for the holiday.

13 Patriots are questionable: Tracy White (foot), Steve Gregory (hip), Ron Brace (elbow), Wes Welker (ankle), Dont'a Hightower (hamstring), Aaron Hernandez (ankle), Dan Connolly (back), Sebastian Vollmer (back), Patrick Chung (shoulder), Trevor Scott (hamstring), Nick McDonald (shoulder), Brandon Spikes (knee) and Brandon Lloyd (knee).

For the Jets, seven guys are questionable: cornerback Aaron Berry (quad), linebacker Bart Scott (toe), defensive tackle Sione Pouha (back), running back Joe McKnight (ankle), quarterback Tim Tebow (ribs), wide receiver Jeremy Kerley (heel) and defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis (knee).

If I can push away from the dinner table for a second before the game, I'll try to update who else will be inactive.

UPDATE 11/22: Greg Salas was waived and the Pats activated offensive tackle Greg Zusevics from the reserve/non-football injury list. Hernandez is active while Vollmer, Marquice Cole, Jake Bequette and Zusevics are all out. Kerley, Tebow and McKnight are all active for the Jets. New York's inactives are quarterback Greg McElroy, running back Kahlil Bell, Berry, defensive tackle Damon Harrison, guards Caleb Schlauderaff and Hayworth Hicks plus tight end Hayden Smith.

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Devin McCourty Named AFC Special Teams Player Of The Week

The Devin McCourty roller coaster was in full effect on Sunday in the Patriots' 29-26 overtime win against the Jets. He moved to safety-where he become more effective late last season-and returned a kickoff 104 yards for New England's first touchdown of the game. Oh and he fumbled another kickoff late in the fourth quarter that should have the reason they lost.

Luckily for him and Patriots fans, they were facing the Jets so New York only managed a field goal to put them ahead 26-23 after his ghastly miscue. For the first kickoff return for a touchdown in his career (and New England's first in over two years), today he was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

When Jeff Demps was put on IR in the preseason, things did not look good for the Patriots' kick return game. Luckily, McCourty has done a good job in that respect. He has been their main kick returner and averaged 28.3 yards on 12 returns so far this season.

New England (4-3) is getting ready to hop across the pond for their game on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS) against St. Louis (3-4) at Wembley Stadium. It's the second time (2009) that the Patriots have invaded the UK. That time, they blew out the Buccaneers 35-7. That Tampa Bay team was a joke and at the time, New England was playing better than now.

The Pats have opened up as a seven-point favorite but they were a 10.5 point favorite against the Jets last weekend. What I'm saying is that at this point, you can't overlook almost any team on their schedule. Expect a closer than expected contest. Some more good returns by McCourty and keeping him at safety would help the Patriots' cause.

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Patriots Almost Suffer Another Crushing Loss, Recover To Beat Jets 29-26 In Overtime

The Patriots have pretty much left me speechless with their inability when it comes to closing out games this season. Today they were up 23-13 heading into the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium against the Jets who came in with statistically the third worst offense in the NFL.

Wouldn't you know it, New England (4-3, 2-1 home) nearly blew it as New York (3-4, 1-2 away) rallied for 13 straight points. Thankfully for once, the Pats were able to drive for the tying score and then won it with another field goal in overtime as their 29-26 win put them in sole possession of first place in the AFC (L)East. Buffalo lost earlier today and Miami had a bye week.

I suppose there are two ways to look at this win if you are a Patriots fan. 1) If they struggled so much against a team as bumbling as the Jets, what will happen when they play a legitimate playoff contender? 2) The AFC is awful and other than Houston (who got blown out last week at home by the Packers), who else is there to fear? Don't get me wrong, I don't know if I've ever felt less satisfied after a victory but bigger picture, I hope that maybe this game will serve as some sort of rallying point for a team that was going nowhere fast.

Perhaps most disheartening for New England was that they made Mark Sanchez (28 of 41, 328 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) look like a quality NFL quarterback. Of course, the clinching play was a strip-sack of Sanchez and recovery by Rob Ninkovich (6 tackles, 4 solo, 1.5 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, 2 quarterback hits). Nobody better illustrates the up and down nature of this team like Devin McCourty (5 solo tackles): the much maligned cornerback/safety had a 104-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He also coughed up the ball on a kickoff late in the fourth quarter that led to New York's go-ahead field goal.

Tom Brady (26 of 42, 259 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) wasn't at his best but he was able to lead New England to the tying field goal-a 43-yard kick by Stephen Gostkowski-as regulation expired. Likewise, after the Patriots received the kickoff to begin overtime, he led them down the field for what turned out to be the game-winner: a 48-yard kick by the suddenly clutch Gostkowski.

Both quarterbacks spread it around to eight receivers. Jeremy Kerley set a career-high with seven catches for 120 yards while Dustin Keller added seven catches for 93 yards. Rob Gronkowski (6 catches, 78 yards) had one of his best games of the season with two touchdowns while the Jets neutralized Wes Welker (6 catches, 66 yards) and Aaron Hernandez (5 catches, 54 yards). Brandon Lloyd's first dose of the Patriots-Jets rivalry was not a memorable one as he had one catch for six yards. I shudder to think what he would do if Darrelle Revis had played.

New England's rushing attack didn't seem to miss Brandon Bolden that much as Stevan Ridley (65 yards), Shane Vereen (49 yards) and Danny Woodhead (17) combined for 131 rushing yards in the win. After blowing up against the Colts last weekend, Shonn Greene (54 yards rushing, TD) was back to his usual level.

New York scored a touchdown on its opening drive, a sign of things to come in this nail-biter. Greene ran it in from a yard out. McCourty's kick return to paydirt answered that and Gronk's first TD put New England up 14-7 after the first quarter. It was a diving grab from 17 yards out, proof of why Brady needs to target Gronkowski more in the red zone than he has so far this season.

In the most Jets play of all-time, Sanchez fumbled a handoff to Greene when they were backed up near their own end zone. Rather than have Vince Wilfork (7 tackles, 5 solo) or another Patriot recover it, Sanchez kicked it out of the back of the end zone for a safety. It was New England's first two-pointer since Week 1 in 2006 (miss you Ty Warren).

Nick Folk showed that he has a bigger leg than we knew by drilling a 54-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half. New York only trailed 16-10 at halftime in one of the strangest halves of football in recent memory.

New England got a red zone stop so the Jets had to settle for a 21-yard goal from Folk to cut it to 16-13 early third quarter. Gronkowski's 2-yard touchdown catch put the Patriots up 10 (23-13) and I think naively that's when we thought they would pull away.

In basically a four-minute span late in the fourth quarter, Keller caught a 7-yard touchdown (Sanchez's best throw of the day) then Folk hit identical 43-yard field goals. I had little faith that Gostkowski would make not one vital kick but two. I'm happy to say he proved many people wrong and maybe that will get him over that mental hurdle.

The Patriots linebacker crew of Jerod Mayo (11 tackles, 10 solo), Brandon Spikes (10 tackles, 7 solo) and Dont'a Hightower (7 solo tackles, sack) all had big games. Kyle Arrington added seven solo tackles and rookie Alfonzo Dennard recorded the first interception of his NFL career.

Next Sunday, the Patriots play the Rams (3-4) in London (1:00 p.m., CBS) at Wembley Stadium. I won't get into how the NFL should just give up on trying to market the league in the UK and simply hope that the Patriots don't keep getting sent there. St. Louis lost 30-20 to Green Bay today at home, their second loss in a row. They present a somewhat similar challenge that the Seahawks did. They have a very solid defense and their offense remains a question mark led by inconsistent quarterback Sam Bradford. After losing to Seattle and Arizona, New England can ill-afford another loss to an NFC West squad they should beat.

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