Do not let the score fool you, this Jets-Patriots game was a lot closer then the final result indicates. The Jets dropped 3 potential picks, choked on a 20-yard field goal in their opening drive, and somehow muffed a punt that allowed New England to put points on the board. Mark Sanchez also left Tom Brady too much time at the end of the first half allowing Brady and the Patriots to score a much needed touchdown. Coach Ryan was so mad at this decision that he called what Sanchez did "the stupidest play of all time" I think he needs to settle down a bit on that one. Up to this point, I did not write a single thing the Patriots did well, the Jets basically handed them the game with all of the mistakes I just mentioned. I am not trying to take anything away from New England, they seized control of the AFC East (they have basically a 2-game lead because they swept the Jets) and showed flashes of what made them so great in the past. What I am trying to do is caution people that this win means nothing in the grand scheme of things, the Patriots are average at best right now and are no where near contender status. One thing that may or may not benefit them is their schedule. They have by far the easiest schedule of anyone in their last seven games and could easily polish off the season at 13-3.
Offensively, New England probably has the scariest tight end combination in recent memory and some of the catches Gronkowski is making are Antonio Gates-like. Both Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are rare tight-ends who excel in all aspects of the game. Hernandez even lined up as a full-back at one point last night. Perhaps the most promising thing about the Patriots offence was Ochocinco seemingly re-emerging. If you believe Collinsworth about Ochocinco and Brady needing just a couple of more weeks for Chad to learn the offence and click with Brady, then this is legitimately good news for Patriots fans and awful news for everybody else. It really is a shame that the Patriots do not have a game-breaking running-back, although in their no-huddle offence they were able to generate some yards on the ground. This brings up a question: why doesn't New England always go no-huddle? Does Belichick want to save it for key games only and spring it on teams in the playoffs? It seems that whenever Brady is allowed to speed things up he is constantly a step ahead of the defenses he is playing against and I feel like this gives the Patriots the best chance at winning any given game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the way the Jets came out I thought "same as against Pittsburgh". Sanchez completed 3 passes for more than 10 yards in New York's opening drive and it looked like the Jets were going to march down field and score with ease. Luckily for the Patriots, some poor play-calling and a missed field goal allowed them to escape with the score still at 0-0. Overall the first half was very average defensively for the Patriots which is why the second half came as such a shock. Andre Carter finally gave Wilfork some support on the D-line and the pass-rush that they generated allowed Belichick to do things defensively he has not been able to all year. Once it became apparent that the Patriots had their pass rush of old (at least for the night) Belichick switched back to his 3-4 system. The line-backers that New England has are much better suited in this system then in the 4-3 Belichick has been trying all year. The Jets suddenly could not do anything on offense which was the first time all year that New England legitimately shut down the opposition. If they can get the performances they did from Carter and Ninkovich against the Jets for the rest of the year it would be an incredible boost. One last note, it took him 10 weeks but Belichick finally inserted a wide receiver into the secondary (shades of Troy Brown in 04') his choice? the punt/kick returner Julian Edelman. Edelman made a great tackle on Tomlinson in the dying stages of the game and will probably feature more in nickle packages for the rest of the year. This is what the old Patriots did best, team work, selflessness, and putting in random guys you've never heard of who somehow perform adequately. Belichick has exactly 7 weeks to try and reform his defense, I'm not holding my breath but one thing I've learned about this team over the last decade is to never doubt them.
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