Pats-Jets Review

Well, if an act of God can't stop the Patriots then I'm not sure if anyone can beat this team. I had to be reminded during the game that the Patriots don't play these games to entertain me. They play these games to win. So while the game itself was rather boring, for the Pats, it's just another W in their quest for a fourth Vince Lombardi Trophy. While this game didn't feature the beatdown I originally had expected, this was a good win for the Patriots in horrible weather conditions.

Here are a few of my thoughts on a rather unspectacular game:

∙ The Patriots played about as poorly as I've seen them play this year. They had a season low 265 yards of total offense and also scored a season low 20 points. Tom Brady didn't throw a TD for the first time in over a year, going only 14/27 for a season low 140 yards. He even threw an interception. His QB rating was in the 50s. The Patriots had a botched punt that went for a Jets TD. And yet, I never felt like the game was ever in jeopardy.

∙ Prior to the game, I didn't know if the QB of the Jets was Kellen Clemens or Chad Pennington. It may even be Brad Smith, who is listed as a wide receiver but took several snaps at the position. I'm not sure what the deal with Clemens is- he looks like he may suck. That was an awful interception he threw and he should be lucky that he was hurt on the play so that he didn't have to embarass himself further. Pennington was serviceable yesterday but doesn't look like he has any confidence. And I'm sure it doesn't help your confidence when the head coach puts a wide receiver in at quarterback. In the end, I still don't know who their starting QB is and I have a feeling that Eric Mangina doesn't either.

∙ The snaps that Brad Smith took as a quarterback were poorly designed and executed, at best. Look, when you put in a wide reciever as your QB, the defense pretty much knows what's coming. Hmm, do you think they'll run it or will they do something crazy like run it? It's not too hard to figure out. Yes, you may get a couple of decent plays out of it but for all of the scrambling that Smith did out of the shotgun, you knew it wasn't long before Smith limped off the field with an injury, which he did. That's poor coaching, poor play calling and poor execution. You deserve to lose when you do things like that.

∙ Bill Belicheat took the high road. I hate when people do that but he is so great at it. It would have been awesome if he just walked off the field after the game but he smiled, shook Mangina's hand and said "Great game, awesome." The reason this is so great is because it squashes any further speculating from the fans, the media and the NFL about spygate, his feelings towards Mangina or any other nonsense and allows the players to focus on the game. Belicheat even showed some rare emotion after the game, raising both hands in victory and pumping his fists.

∙ According to Phil Simms, the weather conditions were really bad yesterday. Apparently, the snow/sleet/rain and wind makes it hard to throw the football. That's some insightful commentary.

∙ The Patriots defense stepped up in this game. They blocked a punt, which resulted in a TD two plays later, sacked Chad Pennington five times, and held the Jets to just 3/14 on third downs.

∙ Junior Seau is playing like he's 28, not 38. He had another huge game yesterday with two more sacks. This is turning out to be another one of the bargain basement finds of Scott Pioli and Belicheat. He retired two years ago but was convinced by Belicheat to come play in situational downs for a Super Bowl contender. He's now playing almost every down and playing at a high level.

∙ Everyone is saying how great Laurence Maroney played and I will give him credit where credit is due. The conditions stunk and he somehow managed to run 26 times for 104 yards and a TD. His long run for the day was 11 yards. I'm not sure if 'long run' and '11 yards' should be used in the same sentence but I'll go with it for now. I didn't know if Maroney had it in him but I'm still not convinced of his effectiveness in poor weather games (or good weather games for that matter). However, I am convinced of his stupidity. Following the game, reporters gathered around Maroney's locker and he started off with this doozy: "This is the first time people have wanted to talk to me. Makes me feel halfway special. Where y'all the first 10 weeks?" Umm, is Maroney paying attention? Where were the reporters? Is he serious? How about where was he? He's been out injured, was benched for another whole first half and yet he's wondering why he's not getting any media coverage. Does he realize that he's playing on a team with Tom Brady and Randy Moss and that the head coach is Bill Belicheat? Does he realized we've now played 14 games and not 10? Does he realize that he's not a very good running back in the grand scheme of things? Even with his 104 yard performance yesterday, Maroney is only the 28th leading rusher in the entire NFL with a grand total of 633 yards. And he wants to know why he's not getting media coverage? There was only media coverage at his locker yesterday because Belicheat allowed them to be there. And to think that I was feeling half way decent about Maroney's performance until he opened his mouth.

∙ Why is it that Rodney HGHarrison always seems to be the last guy in on a tackle but the first person to join the celebration after a play? He got to Eugene Wilson after his interception and TD faster than he's gotten to anyone he's been covering all year.

∙ With the W, the Patriots officially locked up the AFC's number one seed and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

∙ As Belicheat said after the game, "It's good to win. It's good to win in the division, good to sweep the Jets. Now we move on to Miami." And with that, up next are the 1-13 Dolphins, who somehow managed to beat the Ravens and set off mass hysteria and rioting in Florida with that improbable feat. Barring another act of God, my initial thought for next week's game is something along the lines of 41-13.