Pats humbled as Jets soar by
What went right for the Pats ...
1 All downhill from here for QB — Between Week 1’s comeback win and yesterday’s ugly loss, Tom Brady has seen it all in his brief return from a knee injury. He threw 47 passes against the Jets, bringing his season total to an even 100. It only gets easier from this point.
2 The defense wasn’t bad — Even without Jerod Mayo in the middle, the New England ‘D’ was pretty solid, holding the Jets to 16 points, 254 total net yards, 14 first downs and three third-down conversions in 11 attempts. Sure, the numbers aren’t studly, but they’re enough for a Bill Belichick-coached team to win about 90 percent of the time. Fill-in MLB Gary Guyton was the team’s leading tackler, making seven total stops.
3 The new Welker — Julian Edelman was a pleasant surprise playing the role of WR Wes Welker, who was out with a knee injury. The rookie caught eight passes, and looked explosive.
What went wrong ...
1 The offense flopped — Stephen Gostkowski accounted for all nine Patriots points, kicking field goals of 45, 25 and 29 yards. That’s because New England was totally average on the offensive side of the ball. Tom Brady completed 48.9 percent of his passes, and Randy Moss (four catches) was human.
2 The Jets played their game — Watching the game, it was impossible to miss the momentum on the field — it was all New York’s. From beginning to end, the Jets were able to do what they wanted to (within reason, given the team they were playing). The Pats have lost in recent years, but they’re rarely beaten. The latter is what yesterday was.
3 The running game stunk — Again this time, we’ll laud the Pats for using all their RBs. The problem? Their ineffectiveness was apparently not a one-week fluke. What happened to the good Laurence Maroney?