by Chris Warner, Patriots Daily Staff
September 20, 2009
Today’s 16-9 loss at the Meadowlands reminded me of those sci-fi movies where cyborgs insinuate themselves among us.
What have you done with the real Tom Brady?
With any luck, this season will show a slow progression BTB (Back Toward Brady), where the quarterback will hit open receivers (Julian Edelman), get on the same page with the new guys (Joey Galloway), and step into his passes despite the rush. But let’s not put all of this on the QB’s shoulders. Dropped passes, missed blocks, and more yellow flags than the State House in Santa Fe made this one a miserable experience for Pats fans.
Certainly, the Jets deserve a lot of credit. They executed an aggressive game plan just the way they wanted. Sunday, the Patriots had no answer.
All Quiet On The Wes Darn Front: Despite the efforts of rookie Edelman (eight catches, 98 yards) and free agent Galloway (five for 53), the Patriots felt the absence of Wes Welker, out with a nagging knee injury.
Yeah, it’s nagging alright. Nagging New England fans everywhere.
Seeing Red Zone: The Jets scored all three times they it the hallowed area (plus one field goal from the 22). If receiver Chansi Stuckey had put his other foot down in the end zone, add another TD to the tally. Still, New England’s defense had a stellar first half (zero first downs for New York), and allowed only 16 points overall. The real red zone problems came with the offense, who garnered exactly zero touchdowns and failed to score in the second half.
Thomas’ Muffin’: Had Adalius Thomas come down with a Mark Sanchez pass tipped by Mike Wright deep in Jets territory, New England could have scored. Instead, the ball wriggled through Thomas’ hands and hit the turf, keeping New York’s offense on the field. They ended up with three points on that drive.
One Wright Turn: Besides Wright’s penetration up the middle and one hit by Tully Banta-Cain, few Patriots got into Sanchez’ face, allowing the newly anointed Champion Of All On This Planet to stay nice and comfy throughout (14 of 22, 163 yards, one TD).
Aiken For Less: Special teamer Sam Aiken usually stands out, but not this way. He was flagged for two special teams infractions, helping his team collect more penalties (11 for 89 yards) than points. No comment.
Nick Kaczur Ate Monkey Dung: No puns here, just an observation about offensive tackle Kaczur’s lame cut block vs. Shaun Ellis on third and short, killing a drive midway through the fourth quarter with the Pats needing that one elusive touchdown.
Despite previous quotes to the contrary, Pats and Jets did not just play the Super Bowl. Welker will return (we assume). Brady will find his old self (we hope). The defense will continue to fight (we think). All we know for sure is that this team won’t go undefeated.
And, really, that’s okay.
Email Chris Warner at chris.warner@patriotsdaily.com
Patriots Daily 
Good synopsis although no mention of line’s failure to establish the run forcing the passing game. Think there’s a typo. Nyj had no first downs in 1st quarter (not first half).
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Thanks, Ben. I, too, was disappointed in the lack of a run game, and figured I’d summarize it in the Kaczur paragraph without too much detail. Sorry about the typo.
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I don’t know. They averaged four yards a carry. Maybe if they’d tried running more than twenty times in their 67 plays.
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Good point. You wonder if a random early play like Baker’s hold on Taylor’s nice run have an overweighted influence. Not only does it leave a bad taste but you’re then back to a passing situation.
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That’s true. You can’t run when you’re second and 30. But at the same time, they threw 70% of the time even though they never trailed by more than a touchdown. There were a lot of 2nd and 7’s that were followed up by two passes.
Evening the balance won’t fix everything of course but given how inconsistent Brady was yesterday it couldn’t have hurt.
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In the SB against the Giants, Brady looked average at best under pressure. Against the Jets last night, he looked hurried, confused, amateurish. I think it should be clear to everyone now that Tom Brady, while a great QB when given time and a perfect pocket, is a terrible QB when pressured. While the knee-jerk reaction might be to say that this is true of all QBs, it clearly isn’t, i.e. big ben, Vick, Brees, etc.
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Right – some quarterbacks just spit in the eye of that rush. Like Michael Vick. Good call.
Can’t cheat can’t win? How about winning something more than once every forty years, and then mouth off.
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How about “can’t pick the brain of a former backup QB, can’t win”?
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Yeah, Brady clearly folds under pressure. The Pats won those three rings by sending in enough boxtops.
Vick? Are you shiiting me? The Cockerspaniel Kevorkian hasnt won anything but some smokes in the yard betting on the prison fish.
When your newest Ken O’Brien down there actually wins something let me know.
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