Patriots Win With Cassel, 19-10

The Result

The nay sayers have been brushed aside for now as Matt Cassel helped lead the New England Patriots to a 19-10 win over their AFC East Rival New York Jets Sunday at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. 

All the experts are all over this team with Tom Brady going on IR for the year but one thing people like ESPN’s Tom Jackson need to realize is this team is much more than one man.  I wrote earlier in the week that there are players on this team that live for moments like these.  They look for reasons to be called an underdog.  Most of those players are pro bowl players and won’t allow a set back to upset the teams goal.  If anything it will refocus them.

They played today very focused on both sides of the ball.  They weren’t dominant in any phase yet they were good enough to win and the game was never in doubt.  Cassel and the offense were good when they needed to be and the defense made big stops in big spots including another goal line stand that yielded only points early in the game as well as a game breaking sack in the 4th quarter.

This team won’t set any records like it did last year but it will resemble the Patriots teams of the early and middle part of the decade.  Patient teams that waited for the right time to knock off their opponent.  They did it today and in doing so reminded a region of what Patriots Football looks like.
Scoring Plays

PATRIOTS	3	3	10	3	19
JETS	0	3	0	7	10

1^st Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 21 yard FG

2^nd Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 37 yard FG
• NYJ – Feely 21 yard FG

3^rd Quarter

• NE – Morris 1 yard run – PAT good
• NE – Gostkowski 28 yard FG

4^th Quarter

• NYJ – Favre 2 yard pass to Stuckey – PAT goof
• NE – Gostkowski 27 yard FG

Offensive Player of the Game

Quarterback Matt Cassel was 16 of 23 for 165 yards with no TDs and no INTs in his first NFL start. 

Defensive Player of the Game

Rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo had seven solo tackles and once again stood out with his play and his overall hustle.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The Patriots defense holding the Jets to two field goal attempts in first half and having Jay Feely shank the first one.  The defense on the second one stopped them with first and goal from the 3 yard line only allowing 3 points.

Brandon Meriweather’s pick off Favre turned into points which was big and the Adalius Thomas sack of Favre late in the 4th quarter to kill any chance the Jets had at a comeback.

Offensive Leaders/Notes

In addition to Cassel, LaMont Jordan had 62 yards on 11 carries all in the second half and Wes Welker had 7 catches for 72 yards.

• 1st drive Laurence Maroney 2 yard run to NE 22
• 2nd/8 Matt Cassel to Kevin Faulk for 14 yards to NE 36
• 2nd/8 Cassel to Wes Welker for 18 yards to NYJ 43
• 1st/10 Maroney runs for 6  yards 
• 3rd/2 Cassel 3 yard pass to Sammy Morris to NYJ 31
• 1st/10 Cassel to Welker 26 yard to NYJ 5
• 2nd/goal Faulk 3 yard run
• 3rd/goal Maroney no gain stopped by Kerry Rhodes
• 4th/goal Gostkowski 21 yard FGA is good
• 2nd drive 1st/10 Cassel 9 yards to welker to NYJ 40
• 2nd/6 Cassel 6 ayrds to Welker to NYJ 30
• 3rd/2 Cassel 8 yards to Faulk on deflected pass to NYJ 22
• 3rd/7 from NYJ 19 Cassel overthrows David Thomas in end zone
• 4^th/7 Gostkowski FGA of 37 yards is good
• 3^rd drive from NE 27 Cassel ran and got face masked for 15 yards
• 1^st/10 at NE 42 Morris loss of 3 yards by Rhodes
• 2^nd/13 Cassel to Faulk for 4 yards to NE 43
• 3^rd/9 Cassel runs for 8 yards to NYJ 49
• NE punt
• 4^th drive from NYJ 48
• 2^nd/10 Morris dropped for a loss of 3 to NE 48
• 3^rd/12 Cassel to Randy Moss for 9 yards
• NE punt
• HALFTIME

In addiiton to Mayo, Rodney Harrison had 8 tackles, Adalius Thomas had 3 tackles and a huge sack and James Sanders had 6 tackles.

• 1^st series Ty Warren stuffed run up the middle on first play
• 3^rd/6 gave up 20 yards Brett Favre to Jericho Cotchery tackled by Jerod Mayo
• 1^st/10 at NYJ 46 allowed 17 yard run by Thomas Jones tackled by Rodney Harrison
• 2^nd/4 Tedy Bruschi knocks down a pass
• 3^rd/4 Gave up 13 yards Favre to Leon Washington on a blitz
• 2^nd/8 Ellis Hobbs with good coverage on Jericho Cotchery in the end zone
• 3^rd/8 force Favre out of pocket runs for 6 yards to NE 13
• 4^th/2 NE 13 Jay Feely FGA of 31 yards wide right
• 2^nd series 1^st/10 from NE 20 good coverage by Hobbs on Cotchery incomplete
• 2^nd/10 Ty Warren stops Jones after 1 yard run
• NYJ Punt
• 3^rd series 1^st/10 at NYJ 20 Jones stopped after 1 yard by Pierre Woods
• 3^rd/9 Favre to Laveranues Coles for 44 yards to NE 25
• 3^rd/5 at NE 20 Favre to Chansi Stuckey for 6 yards to NE 19
• 1^st/10 Washington 16 yards to NE 3
• 1^st/goal Jones stopped after 1 yard by Vince Wilfork
• 2^nd/goal Jones stopped after 1 yard by Harrison
• 3^rd/goal Jones dropped for a loss of 2 by Richard Seymour
• 4^th/goal Feely 21 yard FGA good
• 4^th series 1^st/10 at NYJ 20 Favre to Washington 5 yard loss by James Sanders
• 2^nd/15 Favre to Jones 4 yard loss by Jerod Mayo to NJY 11
• 3^rd/19 Favre 7 yards to Washington
• NYJ punt
• 5^th series 1^st/10 from NYJ 25 Seymour sacks Favre for 9 yard loss
• 2^nd/19 Washington 16 yard run
• HALFTIME
• 6^th series from NYJ 23 10 yard hold on Damien Woody negates big run
• 1^st/20 from NYJ 13 illegal forward pass loss of down
• 2^nd/23 Jones stopped after 1 yard by Adalius Thomas and Harrison
• 3^rd/22 Favre to Stuckey 28 yard pass to NYJ 39
• 1^st/10 Favre to Cotchery for 41 yards turned back on offensive pass interference
• 1^st/20 from NYJ 29 Favre pressured by Bruschi passed to Bubba Franks for 5 yard loss
• 2^nd/25 Favre intercepted by Brandon Meriweather at NYJ 43 returned to NYJ 31
• 7^th series from NYJ 20 3 and out
• NYJ punt
• 8^th series from NYJ 20
• 2^nd/5 Favre to Coles for 8 yards to NYJ 33
• 1^st/10 Favre to Jones for 8 yards
• 2^nd/2 Jones runs for 16 yards to NE 43
• 1^st/10 A.Thomas stops Jones for no gain
• 3^rd/6 Favre to Dustin Kellar for 19 yards to NE 20
• 1^st/10 Favre to Coles for 10 yards
• 1^st/goal Jones 8 yard run to NE 2
• 2^nd/goal Favre to Stuckey 2 yard TD pass
• 9^th series from NYJ 20 Favre to Stuckey for 6 yards
• 2^nd/4 Thomas sacks Favre and Washington for 19 yard loss
• 3^rd/23 Hobbs knocks down the pass
• NYJ punt

Special Teams Notes

 Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski was a beast with his kick offs today and perfect on FGA’s and PAT’s.

• Stephen Gostkowski’s opening kickoff was over the end zone.
• Gostkowski’s second kick off was over the end zone.
• Gostkowski’s third kick off was through the end zone.
• Ellis Hobbs 27 yard KOR after Feely FG in 2^nd qtr
• Gostkowski’s 4^th kick off into end zone no return.
• Kevin Faulk nice punt return of 24 yards to start 7^th NE drive in 3^rd quarter
• Gostkowski’s 5^th kick off into end zone no return.

Coaching Decisions

• NE – 4^th/3 in 4^th quarter with less than two minutes Cassel throws to Welker for first down.

Injuries

• NE – LB Pierre Woods wind knocked out – 2^nd qtr – returned
• NE – RB Laurence Maroney shoulder – 2^nd qtr – questionable
• NE – QB Matt Cassel right knee – 2nd qtr – stayed in game
• NE – S James Sanders shaken up – 4^th qtr – returned

The Officials

• John Parry was the referee.
• Could have been a penalty called on Hobbs on 9^th NYJ series for pass interference but it was let go.
• Missed a Jets player throw his helmet in games final seconds.

Game Notes

• Inactives for the Jets: K Mike Nugent (injured – thigh), WR David Clowney (injured – shoulder), QB Erik Ainge, WR Marcus Henry (injured – calf), CB Justin Miller (injured – foot), DL Kareem Brown, OL Robert Turner and QB Brett Ratliff (3rd QB).
• Inactives for the Patriots: TE Ben Watson (injured – knee), WR Sam Aiken (injured – knee), LB Eric Alexander (injured – calf), OT Wesley Britt, C/G Dan Connolly, LB Shawn Crable, CB Terrance Wheatley and QB Matt Gutierrez (3rd QB).
• Note: The third quarterback can still enter the game at any time, but if he does so in the first, second or third quarters, the team can no longer use its top two quarterbacks the rest of the game.
• Rookie Kevin O’Connell is the Patriots 2nd QB today.
• The Patriots dressed six defensive linemen for the game after dressing only five last week.
• Jets K Jay Feeley is with his third team in a few weeks.  He was on the Kansas City roster and was cut prior to opening day just a day after he signed with the Chiefs.  Prior to that he was cut by the Miami Dolphins.  Feely is only in New York because of the injury that has sidelined Mike Nugent.
• Patriots won the toss and elected to defer to the second half.
• Offensive starters for the Patriots:

QB: Matt Cassel
RB: Laurence Maroney
FB: Heath Evans
WR: Randy Moss
WR: Wes Welker
TE: David Thomas
LT: Matt Light
LG: Logan Mankins
C: Dan Koppen
RG: Billy Yates
RT: Nick Kaczur

• Defensive starters for the Patriots:

DE: Ty Warren
NT: Vince Wilfork
DE: Richard Seymour
OLB: Adalius Thomas
ILB: Tedy Bruschi
ILB: Jerod Mayo
OLB: Mike Vrabel
CB: Deltha O’Neal
CB: Ellis Hobbs
S: Rodney Harrison
S: James Sanders

• The Patriots didn’t score a first half TD for the first time since December 2006 against Miami. Ironically it was there last regular season loss.
• Meriweather’s INT in the 3^rd quarter was the first of his career.
• The Patriots have won 11 of the last 12 meetings against the Jets including one playoff game.
• New England is 20-10 against New York since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994.
• The Patriots have won 21 consecutive regular season games in a row. It is the longest regular season win streak in NFL history.
• This was New England’s 8^th win in a row over the Jets at the Meadowlands.
• The New York Jets have never had a receiver catch 100 passes.  The closest they came was in 1988 when Al Toon had 93 receptions.  Jericho Cotchery had 82 catches last season to lead the team. 
• New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini is now 15-19 in his 3rd year, while Bill Belichick is 129-81 in 14 seasons. 
• Former Patriots OL Danny Villa (1987-91, 1997) is 44 today.  He played 75 games for New England in his two stints with the club.

Post Game Press Conferences

Listen to what Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Matt Cassel had to say about the game.

Post game press conferences via patriots.com

Things To Work On For Next Week

Run defense they gave up too many yards in bunches. Time out management in the second half. This will come as Cassel plays more but he burnt an early TO in the first drive of the second half because he couldn’t hear the play and another with over 9 minutes left in the 4^th.  Cassel burnt the third on third and 6 at the NYJ 10 with 5:27 to play with the clock running out.

Next Week’s Opponent

The Patriots entertain the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium next Sunday at 1 p.m.