Patriots Game 2: Patriots 19 – Jets 10
Quarterback Matt Cassel was efficient running the offense in his first NFL start, leading the Patriots to a 19 - 10 win over Brett Favre and the New York Jets on Sunday.
The Good:
Quarterback Matt Cassel made his first career start completing 16-of-23 passes (69.6 percent) for 165 yards and a passer rating of 89.9.
Brandon Meriweather recorded his first career interception, picking off a Brett Favre pass at the Jets’ 44-yard line in the third quarter and returning it 13 yards to give the Patriots possession at the New York 31-yard line.
Kicker Stephen Gostkowski nailed all four of his field goals (21, 37, 28 and 27 yards) improving to a perfect 5-for-5 on the season. He tied his career high for field goals in a game, matching his 4-for-4 performance against Houston as a rookie on Dec. 17, 2006.
The Patriots defense held the Jets to a field goal after New York had gained a first-and-goal from the Patriots’ 3-yard line in the second quarter.
Adalius Thomas sacked Brett Favre for a loss of 20 yards in the fourth quarter, dragging Favre down at the Jets’ own seven-yard line.
Ellis Hobbs batted away a Brett Favre pass intended for Jerricho Cotchery at midfield in the first quarter to thwart what would have been a 30-yard gain.
All 11 of LaMont Jordan's carries came in the second half of the game. The formers Jet led five Patriots running backs with 62 yards, including some critical gains that allowed the team to control the time of possession battle (18:07 to 11:53) in the second half.
The Bad:
RB Laurence Maroney left early in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return until late in the fourth quarter. He finished 8 for 16 yards.
WR Randy Moss worked mostly against double coverage and was held to two catches for 22 yards
The Ugly:
Not everything was perfect for the Patriots. Brett Farve scrambled on third-and-9 from their 21, stepped up and threw across his body, finding Coles down the right sideline for 54 yards.
With the Jets facing a third-and-22 from their 11, Favre ran out of the pocket to his left and flung a pass to Chansi Stuckey for 28 yards.
Final Thoughts:
"A lot of people didn’t expect us to do much today, but these guys came in here today with a lot of determination. I thought they played a good solid game. Not perfect. There are still a lot of things we need to work on, but I was happy with the way they played." -- New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick
"At the end of the day, you've got to have more points than the other team and that's what we did, so I'm satisfied.” -- New England Quarterback Matt Cassel
“I thought Matt took care of the ball. It wasn’t perfect. He had some rough spots in there, but he did a good job making good decisions and didn’t put us in any bad situations, and made some good, positive players by managing the game well.” -- New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick
"To come in here, to this hostile environment, and win when everyone picked you to lose, is great. With all the stuff we had to go through and endure last week with Tom, this is a great victory." -- New England Patriots Safety Rodney Harrison
New England won its 21st straight regular-season game, and beat the Jets for the eighth straight time at the Meadowlands.
No comments:
Post a Comment