Sep 14th 2008 8:38PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Jets, Patriots, AFC East
Maybe we’ve forgotten that the beginning of the Patriots’ dynasty did not at all resemble the brash, overconfident, devil-may-care Patriots that ran up scores league-wide last year. Really, they looked a lot like the team that beat the Jets today.
That’s not to say that these Patriots are legitimate Super Bowl threats; circumstances and contexts change all the time. But it’s a reminder that the Patriots don’t have to set records on offense to be good (no matter what I’ve previously said); you can make up for an inexperienced quarterback with the right pieces elsewhere. So the Patriots certainly can continue to win, if they do remains to be seen.
But they won today. They did it by running the ball with a lot of different legs, relying on defense, and capitalizing on mistakes. Matt Cassel, in his first start since 1970, was certainly reliable yet unspectacular. The first half wasn’t exactly the prettiest football you’ve ever seen, but the Pats did enough to walk into the locker room with a 6-3 lead. And though the second half wasn’t much better-looking, Brett Favre showed why you have to curb your enthusiasm when he hits on a desperation hail mary throw in the end zone, because he’ll follow that up a week later with a poor, poor decision that leads to an interception (this one by Brandon Merriweather), an interception that essentially loses the game.Continue Reading
