What a disgraceful, disgusting game! I don't think we've seen anything like this since the Rich Kotite days. Herman Edwards and his coaching staff were completely outcoached and outsmarted in every aspect of this game. In the first game against the Buffalo Bills the longest Jets' running play belonged to QB Vinny Testaverde, this time it was punter Matt Turk who gained 14 yards on a fake punt. The Jets had only 32 yards rushing.
Once again the Jets run defense was exposed, allowing the Patriots to gain 163 yards on the ground. QB Tom Brady added 269 yards in the air and 2 touchdowns, as the Patriots easily cruised to a 44-7 win. Former Jet SS Victor Green intercepted Testaverde's pass in the 3rd quarter and returned it 90 yards for a score. Starting safety Tebucky Jones sacked Testaverde on a blitz from the blind side, forced a fumble, recovered it, and scored another touchdown on defense.
The Jets offensive line looked terrible for the second week in a row - in addition to just 32 rushing yards, at one point in the game they allowed three sacks on four plays. C Kevin Mawae had 2 penalties for 20 yards,
OT Jason Fabini had one for 5 yards, and OG J.P.Machado also had one 5-yard penalty. The Jets have allowed 8 sacks in just 2 games, and that's already close to half of last year's amount.
The offensive "genius" Paul Hackett called another ultraconservative
game, despite all his preseason promises to open up the passing attack. The Jets completed 18 passes - 11 of them were caught by the backs. The only bright spot here was TE Anthony Becht who made 4 receptions for 33 yards, and caught a touchdown pass - his second this season. RB Curtis
Martin, who was supposedly ready for this game, gained only 5 yards
on 4 carries.
The defense wasn't any better. Last week they allowed 384 yards against the Bills, this week they were even worse - 432 yards! New England's #1 WR Troy Brown caught 9 passes for 94 yards, rookie Deion Branch caught 3 for 65, including a 49-yard touchdown. QB Tom Brady had all time in the world to throw the football, courtesy of the weak pass-rush applied by the Jets. Brady was 25/35 for 269 yards and did not even get sacked once. I don't remember the last time I saw the Jets look so unprepared and outclassed.
In week one they were also outplayed for the most part of the game but did manage to win, thanks to two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Today this team was completely exposed by the Patriots - lack of pass-rush, shaky offensive line, conservative playcalling, slow secondary, no visible motivation from the head coach, who looked absolutely clueless on the sidelines.
Can this get any worse? We only have to wait and see, as the Jets will travel to Miami next week to take on the hated Dolphins. Will the 8-0 streak end? If the Jets play like they did today, it sure will...