Final Reflection on Patriots-Jets

Oh how the mighty have fallen.  First the #1 seeded Falcons succumbed to the #6 seeded Packers, and now the #6 seeded Jets defeated the powerful New England Patriots, who had looked unstoppable the past two months, specifically the last time they played these same Jets.  In this AFC East showdown, the game ball goes to the New York Jets defense.  Darrelle Revis had great coverage on Deion Branch all night, knocking a few balls loose and disrupting a few passes.  Antonio Cromarite had a key onside kick return inside the New England 20, which all but sealed the outcome.  David Harris had, in my opinion, the most important play of the game, an interception which stopped a New England drive which seemed destined for the endzone.  Nevermind the fact that Nick Folk barely missed a field goal three plays later, missing an opportunity to score three points is much better than being in the whole seven points.  An early lead and strong defense in the first half allowed the Jets to control the clock and run the ball with LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene, who combined had 27 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown (LT also caught a touchdown). 

Due to their excellent coverage in the secondary, the Jets were able to put pressure on Brady all night, sacking him five times and hitting him seven times.  As composed as Tom Brady is in the pocket and although he had a strong performance today, he looked flustered and uncomfortable for most of the afternoon.  The Patriots went 5-14 on third down, mostly because of excellent coverage in the secondary. 

Several concluding thoughts on this slugfest: (1) Props to Mark Sanchez for a solid game and no mistakes.  Just one or two bad decisions by Sanchez could have swung the game in the Patriots favor, but Sanchez was calm and collected and faced little pressure from the Patriots most of the game.  Certainly it helps when you sport D'Brickshaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold on your offensive line, but Sanchez played a very smart football game.  (2)  Why did Belicheck go for that fake punt?  The risk was not worth the reward on the fake punt attempted by the Patriots.  Why risk giving the Jets the ball with less than half the field to score when the Patriots would have needed at least twenty more yards to kick a field goal, no guarantee against a strong Jets defense?  (3)  Props to Rex Ryan for getting his team fired up for this game.  The combination of the trash talk and the humiliation of the 45-3 loss last time the Jets visited Gillete Stadium must have instilled a fire in their team.

Update on Patriots-Jets: Halftime reflection

Looks like the boys from New York are backing up all the trash talk from earlier in the week as the Jets are up 14-3 on the Patriots at halftime.  In terms of yardage this has been a pretty even ballgame, the Jets have 157 total yards to 127 for the Patriots.  However, a key interception by Tom Brady in Jets territory stalled a Patriots drive, and a fumbled fake punt led to a Jets touchdown to Braylon Edwards with less then a minute left in the first half.  As much as I love Braylon and David Harris, I can't say I'm rooting for them to continue with their antics as it would hurt to see the Patriots lose this game. 

Looking at Tom Brady's stats, he is 10/17 for 99 yards and an interception.  Lets see if he can get the ball a bit more downfield.  The Jets are pretty talented in the secondary with Darrel Revis, Antonio Cromarite, and Dwight Lowery back there playing defense, but if anyone can slice this secondary up it is Brady.  I am looking forward to a strong second-half showing from Brady and the Pats that hopefully will lead them to victory!

Update on Patriots-Jets: The end of a streak... and Wide Left!

Well... All good things must come to an end, and Tom Brady's streak of pass attempts without an interception just did. At least he was intercepted by former Michigan Wolverine David Harris!  Tom Brady had not thrown an interception since Week 6 against Baltimore, a span of 12 games and 323 pass attempts.  However, Brady and the Patriots looked pretty good on their opening drive despite one errant pass.  The combination of the 'Law Firm' and a 'Woodland Creature' running the football has been pretty effective, and should set up some pass plays later in the game.  Tom Brady is blessed with so many weapons on this football team, and is not limited to Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Brandon Tate, Sam Aiken, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Alge Crumpler, etc.  Expect Brady to keep spread the ball around throughout the game. 

I am currently sporting my new Tom Brady shirt, which I received as a Christmas present from my wonderful girlfriend.  We will see whether this shirt is good or bad luck for the Patriots... who just went up 3-0 following a missed field goal by Nick Folk with a made kick of their own by Shayne Graham...

Drivin toward in-game reflections plus a recap of yesterday's playoff games.

Hey guys, welcome back to the blog.  Today I am going to do some in-game reflections of the Patriots-Jets game, which starts at 4:30 ET / 3: 30 CT.  Considering my love for former Michigan Wolverine Tom Brady, I will be analyzing his play throughout the game!  Yesterday I received a comment that I forgot to mention Tom Brady in my blog about the Patriots-Jets and Bears-Seahawks matchups.  Thanks to Marilynn for pointing that out, as it was unjust of me to neglect my favorite player! (ps. I am wearing my Tom Brady shirt right now!)  Anyways, yesterday's football games were great to watch!  The Ravens-Steelers game will certainly be discussed for a long time, as the Steelers came out with such intensity in the second half.  Like I predicted in my blog on Friday, superior Quarterback play from Ben Roethlisberger helped lead the Steelers to victory, while some mistakes by Joe Flacco doomed the Ravens.  This was the same case for the Packers-Falcons game later last night, as Aaron Rodgers played a phenomenal game while Matt Ryan threw some suspect passes. Lets take a look at each quarterbacks respective statlines:

                               C/ATT   YDS   AVG   TD   INT   RATING
Ben Roethlisberger    19/32     226     7.1      2        0         101.8
Joe Flacco                16/30     125     4.2      1        1          61.1
Aaron Rodgers          31/36     366    10.2     3       0          136.8
Matt Ryan                 20/29     186     6.4      1        2         69.0

Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers both posted at least 100 yards passing and 40 points more in passer rating than their respective opposing quarterbacks, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan.  Aaron Rodgers performance is especially significant, considering he led the Packers to only 17 points last month against Atlanta and had not won a playoff game until this year.  Looks like the Packers made a great decision getting rid of Brett Favre and installing this guy into the offense.  Besides, it's too cold to text a lot in Green Bay anways!

Check back here soon for your updates on the Patriots-Jets game!  I'm sure Rex Ryan is rooting for a lot of punting, as he likes players with good feet, like this guy, whose name is more synonomous with 'Dude? Where's my Car?' than football!