Jets Talk The Talk, Patriots Walk The Walk - Embarrass Jets 45-3
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Rex Ryan and his N.Y. Jets sure talk a mean game. However, Monday night they resembled a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. You get the picture. Ryan and his Jets talked the talk but it was Belichick’s Patriots who walked the walk. New England humiliated the Jets 45-3 in Foxboro.
This game was hyped up as the “game of the year” for the past 10 days featuring the two best teams in the AFC. Both entered the game with identical (9-2) records tied atop the AFC East. They knew that the winner had the inside track at winning the division title and possibly the top overall seed in the AFC playoffs. The loser would likely be the #5-seed and have to play all of their playoff games on the road as a Wild Card team.
For all the hype, this one was virtually over after the first quarter when New England jumped out to a 17-0 lead.
A Shayne Graham field goal, a 1-yard TD run by BenJarvis Green-Ellis and a big 25-yard TD pass from Tom Brady to Deion Branch on 4th and 2 accounting for the Patriots scores in the first quarter. It was if the Jets hadn’t stepped off the bus at Gillette Stadium.
An 8-play 46-yard drive by the Jets set up their first score – a 39-yard Nick Folk FG. But the Patriots had an immediate answer. On the ensuing drive, they took the ball 67-yards on 7 plays. Brady hit Brandon Tate in the end zone from 4 yards out to make it 24-3 New England. That was the score at the half.
The Jets mounted what appeared to be a promising drive to start the third quarter taking the ball all the way down to the Patriots 9 yard line. But Mark Sanchez was intercepted by Patriots rookie LB Brandon Spike at the 2.
To make matters worse for the Jets, Brady and the Patriots offense proceeded to march 93 yards down the field on 8 plays. On the 8th play of the drive, Brady connected with Wes Welker for an 18-yard TD strike and the rout was on 31-3.
A pair of 4th quarter touchdowns by New England put the finishing touches on what was a complete blowout at the Razor.
Tom Brady had another superb performance going 21-29 for 326 yards, 4 TD’s and 0 INT’s. His quarterback rating was just shy of perfect for the second consecutive game at 148.8.
Meanwhile, his Jets counterpart Mark Sanchez completed 17-33 passes for 164 yards, 0 TD’s and 3 INT’s for an abysmal quarterback rating of 27.8.
Am I mistaken? I thought that it was the Jets who had the dominant defense and the Patriots who had the porous defense. Not last night.
NOTES:
-At (10-2), New England is now in the driver’s seat for the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs. They lead the Steelers (9-3) by one game and defeated Pittsburgh this year meaning the Pats hold the tie-breaker. The Pats also lead the Jets (9-3) by one game and should they finish tied for the division lead at season’s end, the Patriots would likely win the AFC East on the fifth tie-breaker which is strength of victory. This assumes that both the Pats and Jets will win their remaining two division games against Buffalo and Miami with the Patriots tripping up once against either Chicago or Green Bay and the Jets running the table.
Under that scenario, the teams will have split head-to-head which is the first tie-breaker. They will have finished with identical (5-1) division records which is the second tie-breaker. Their win-loss percentage in common games would be identical which is the third tie-breaker. And they would have identical conference records which would be the fourth tie-breaker.
That would take them to the fifth tie-breaker which is strength of victory. The Patriots lost to the Browns and beat the Ravens. The Jets did the opposite, beating Cleveland and losing to Baltimore. That, in the end, could give the Patriots the AFC East in the event of a tie with the Jets.
-Last night’s win was the 26th consecutive regular season home win for Tom Brady. That streak breaks the previous record of 25 straight regular season home wins by Brett Favre when he played for Green Bay.
-All week long the New York scribes were making a big deal about the Patriots defense ranking near the bottom of the league in total defense and in 3rd down defense thinking that it would allow for easy pickings for Mark Sanchez and the Jets offense.
The stat they should have emphasized is turnovers. It, traditionally, is one of the most important stats in the NFL. New England has turned it over a league-low 9 times through 12 games. Meanwhile, their much-maligned defense has forced 23 turnovers. That’s a +14 turnover ratio! That’s all you need to know.
-On a few occasions, the Patriots moved the pocket and rolled Brady out to avoid Jet pressure up the middle. Brady has struggled in the past against Rex Ryan coached defenses and this appeared to be an adjustment to alleviate that pressure on Brady.
-Former Jet and current Patriot Danny Woodhead had a very good game against his former team. Woodhead had 4 receptions for 104 yards to go along with 2 carries for 11 yards. Some of that receiving yardage was courtesy of the shovel pass which is an extension of the running game.
-The Patriots game next week at Chicago (9-3) has been moved from a 1pm start to 4:15pm.
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