The Haphazard Blog

I don’t think anyone expected the outcome of this game to be this lop-sided, but it was fun to watch to the very last snap. Looking back, I was definitely not a believer as I watched, just waiting for the other shoe to drop and the Jets to get back in the game.

I was shocked that Cris Carter (trashed Deion Branch on Boston radio leading up to the game) and Tom Jackson picked the Jets to win the game.

On the opening drive they had a weird blown play, but they could’ve recovered. Branch has to catch that and it was an early TD opportunity missed. A running theme in this recap will be how pointless all these things ended up being.

What was Rex Ryan thinking? He was mad about the spot, but did he really think that the officials were 1 yard off? Pointless challenge. Baby LT had his long run and obligatory over-celebration. Remember when a 14-yd run wasn’t a big deal to him? They ended up missing a long field goal and on their next drive they had a nice bad drive and horrible punt. Just what the Patriots needed after Brady looked a little off on the first 2 drives. They quickly go up 17-0 scoring a TD on a quick slant on 4^th and 3.

I kept asking myself, “Where is Patrick Chung?”. I really think he brings a physical element to the game and is playing hard. I guess it’s a good problem to have where he is the third safety, but I don’t think anyone else hits as hard as him. Plus he has good instincts and is fast.

One weird thing was seeing Donald Trump in Robert Kraft’s box. Why would he let Trump in his box. Isn’t he a NY/Jets fan? He’s at least a New Yorker.

On the Patriots last drive of the 1^st half, Brady was sacked twice. Hopefully that would not be a precursor to what would happen in the 2^nd half. Heading into halftime, I’m wondering where this defense came from. I’d put part of it on Mark Sanchez, but the defense has had their best game so far. I’d feel good with 2 more TDs in the 2^nd half.

The Jets started the 2^nd half moving the ball, but it was fitting on Tedy Bruschi night that Brandon Spikes gets a Bruschi-like interception in the red zone to kill the drive. Followed right up with a Devin McCourty interception on the Jets’ next drive. McCourty is really coming on as the season is progressing. You really don’t see him repeating mistakes. Him and Joe Haden have been playing like 1^st rounders (unlike Kyle Wilson). It looks like Ryan is getting the FU special from Bill Belichick.

All Brandon Tate had to do was block the guy behind him and Danny Woodhead runs it in for a 62 yard touchdown. They score a couple plays later and that is pretty much it. With about 10 minutes left, the Jets gave up. They just kept running the ball and took all day to run plays. They either wanted to minimize further embarrassment overall or not totally ruin Sanchez’s confidence. They’d add further insult by getting a 12 men on the field penalty after coming up with a 3^rd down stop.

J-E-T-S! Suck! Suck! Suck! and Overrated chants were very audible during the broadcast. Also, credit to the Gillette crowd for keeping it loud all night. It is clearly possible to be loud, so there should be no excuses for the quiet crowds.

Some respect to Ryan for not trying to get late meaningless TD. A lot of coaches would keep trying to get a TD. Of course, after the game during his press conference he didn’t sound like he was humbled at all. Makes beating them so much fun.

It started out well, but it didn’t end well.

The announcers said the Jets won the toss and elected to kick. I thought it couldn’t be true, because then the Patriots would also choose to receive in the second half, making the Jets idiots. The Jets got the kick-off in the second half, so the announcers were wrong.

Tom Brady is back. I was sure he was before, but after today, there’s no question. His ducking under Kyle Wilson avoiding a sack while keeping his eyes down field to hit Welker on the other side is classic Brady.

Stephen Gostkowski has missed 3 FGs in a row now. He’s a career 85% kicker, so that means he’d have to make the next 17 in a row to stay at 85%. His kickoff also seemed like they were short (he has been good at getting touchbacks) so it has me wondering if he’s injured.

The announcers seemed to say it was clear the ball hit the ground on Patrick Chung’s interception, but at least to me, there wasn’t indisputable visual evidence of it on the replay review. Regardless, they overruled it and what could’ve been something else to continue Mark Sanchez’s woes was for not. The Patriots did still get a 3 and out, so at the time, things were looking up. Also, Chung has made a very impressive improvement in his second year. He looks like the best guy on the defense.

Tully Banta-Cain continues with the stupid penalties. What a pointless late hit he made. This defense has an incredible ability to make opposing offense and QBs look so good. And to think, I was thinking this during the second quarter before the Patriots allowed the Jets to do whatever they wanted and see the resurrection of the Sanchize and Braylon Edwards catch everything thrown his way.

That TD catch by Randy Moss was simply amazing. I thought the ball was overthrown with him only putting one hand up to grab it, but he was just catching it with ease. Of course, Darelle Revis grabs his hamstring and isn’t seen from again. It’s kind of funny the game was going much better for the Patriots with him in then with him gone. $32M for 2 years. :)

Brady threw a great pass to Antonio Cromartie. Moss was more of a defender in the second half than a wide receiver. I have no idea what happened to the offense in the second half of this game. Where were all the receivers besides Moss? Wes Welker (I noticed he played sparingly after taking that hit), Julian Edelman, Brandon Tate, Alge Crumpler and Rob Gronkowski? It was just 3rd and long followed by deep pass after deep pass. There was nothing underneath? The Jets took away all the supposed weapons in New England’s offense without their best CB? If that’s the case, then there are big worries on offense now. Why did they wait so long to go hurry up and break out the screen passes? Was it only working because the Jets were playing soft with a 2 TD lead? I didn’t see them at least try (and fail). Did the Patriots quit at the end? They had 2 timeouts, the Jets were in 2nd and long. Stop the clock after 2nd and 3rd down, they punt, you have over a minute left. Sure it’s a long shot, but you don’t even try?

I figured the game was over on the second pass interference by Darius Butler. They weren’t stopping the Jets. I guess this is the defense I expected to see in the first game. I’m not going to panic (just as I didn’t anoint them after the win last week), but this was a bad loss. They were outplayed the last 3 quarters, especially the second half. It was the same problems as last year. Road collapses after halftime. It’s only week 2 and just between the Patriots and Jets games, it’s a nice circle. The Patriots beat the Bengals, the Bengals beat the Ravens, the Ravens beat the Jets and the Jets beat the Patriots.

Back to the drawing board, and it’s going to suck being the Buffalo Bills next week.