Surprising blowout puts Patriots alone at the top

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Mike Parente, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Forget the victory cigar. Bill Belichick should light a cigarette after what he and the Patriots did to Rex Ryan last night.

In what was branded as the biggest regular-season game of the Robert Kraft era, the Patriots laid the wood to the New York Jets in front of more than 12 million homes Monday at Gillette Stadium while the Jets simply laid an egg in their attempt to launch a changing of the guard in the AFC East.

Tom Brady all but wrapped up his second NFL MVP award with four touchdown passes in New England’s surprising 45-3 win. The Patriots out-hustled, out-classed and out-coached the Jets in not only one of the most lopsided games in Monday Night Football history, but also one of the biggest primetime flops by a team expected to show some testicular fortitude in a hostile environment.

The Jets entered this week 5-0 on the road and posed a major threat to end Brady’s ridiculous home winning streak of 26 consecutive games, but instead looked like a high-school team with severe case of stage fright. Wide receiver Braylon Edwards dropped two catchable passes in the first half while Ryan channeled his inner Wade Phillips, curiously challenging the spot on a third-down play in which he subsequently went for it on fourth down anyway and then surprisingly not challenging a suspect touchdown catch by Brandon Tate later in the half.

You’d have thought the Jets had never played an important game in their lives. Everything they tried to do blew up in their faces while the Patriots pushed every right button and made every correct call possible in turning this highly-anticipated showdown into an absolute rout from the start. New England scored on each of its first four possessions, building a 24-3 lead before the Jets had a chance to catch their breath. And even after they finally settled down, opening the third quarter with a solid drive to the Patriots’ 9-yard line, they ultimately shot themselves in the foot again with the usually-reliable Mark Sanchez throwing an inexplicable interception in the red zone to kill the Jets’ last real chance at getting back in the game. The Patriots scored another touchdown eight plays later to make it 31-3.

Without getting too complicated, let’s just call this a case of one team seizing the moment with the opponent dropping the ball in hilarious fashion. The Jets, for all intents and purposes, could’ve wrapped up the AFC East with a win last night. They would’ve had a one-game lead over the Patriots and would’ve owned the tie-breaker as well by virtue of sweeping the season series, something the Jets haven’t done since 2000. The euphoria of a primetime victory in front of a national audience in New England’s backyard would’ve done wonders for the Jets’ psyche and established Gang Green as the new team to beat in the AFC.

You can toss that premise in the garbage, along with whatever game plan Ryan crafted for last night’s disaster. By not showing up to play in arguably their biggest regular-season game since Eric Mangini returned to Foxboro as their head coach, the Jets assured themselves of nothing more than a wild-card berth, which means they’ll more than likely need to win three consecutive road games to make it to the Super Bowl. Good luck – especially if the road to Arlington travels through Foxboro.

There are no excuses for the Jets’ incomprehensible meltdown last night. Not even the presence of injured safety Jim Leonhard would’ve made a difference. Leonhard – the quarterback of New York’s defense – broke his leg last week during practice and has since been canonized as if he were the white Ronnie Lott. Leonhard is a fine player, but not nearly good enough to erase six touchdowns. And the Jets were not one or two players away from being competitive, unless those players were Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.

The Jets needed this win a lot more than New England did, if not for the fact it would’ve provided a major shot in the arm for their Super Bowl hopes, then at least to silence the critics who’ve knocked them for talking the talk without truly walking the walk. Instead, the Patriots saved their most complete performance for their biggest game of the year, limiting the Jets to 301 yards – the fewest yards they’ve allowed all season – and reestablished their presence as the best team in the NFL. Say what you will about their defense, which is still shaky at times, but the Patriots are tied for the best record in football with Atlanta and own the league’s largest point differential, having scoring 110 more points than they’ve allowed. And their quarterback has been ungodly all year (27 touchdowns and only four interceptions), which might be more than enough to put a fourth ring on Belichick’s finger.

Spark that victory cigar, or cigarette – whichever you prefer. The AFC East race is over and the best might be yet to come.