Even without Brady, Patriots beat Jets again

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

September 15, 2008

Shaun Ellis, the dean of the Jets in his ninth season, spoke evenly. The defensive end rarely raises his voice but his words were powerful and could have synopsized how most felt in a quiet locker room.

"It's always a hard-fought game and they always come out on top," Ellis said after the latest edition of Jets- Patriots didn't go New York's way. "It seems like we're always on the other end of the stick."

Brandon Moore, in his sixth season with the Jets, put it in even simpler terms. "Yeah, same old story," Moore said.

Yesterday's chapter was among the worst yet for the Jets and their fans, a 19-10 loss to their archrival that was missing its franchise quarterback.

Matt Cassel, making his first career start in place of the injured Tom Brady, played efficiently without any major mistakes (16-for-23, 165 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions) and the Patriots never allowed Brett Favre and his offense to get into rhythm. It helped Bill Belichick raise his record against the Jets to 13-3 since 2001. He is 5-1 against his former assistant Eric Mangini.

The Jets (1-1) warned anyone who would listen last week that "the Patriots are still the Patriots," and could not be underestimated, Brady or not. So although frustration was among the more prevalent words of the day in the locker room, surprise was not.

"I think Eric said it well this week," said Favre, who was 18-for-26 for 181 yards with one touchdown and one costly interception. "Tom, as great as he is, doesn't cover on kicks, doesn't rush the passer and doesn't catch the deep routes."

Said Jets linebacker David Bowens: "You don't go to the Super Bowl, you don't win all those games in a row like they did last year with it being just one person. It's a collective effort; it's a great group."

Which the Jets yesterday were not. They were penalized six times for 60 yards - compared with the Patriots' two penalties for 10 yards - had one turnover that the Patriots (2-0) converted into a TD, and misfired horribly on the goal line.

That frustrating sequence occurred in the second quarter with the Jets trailing 6-0. Aided by Favre's 54-yard pass to Laveranues Coles, the Jets drove to the Patriots' 3-yard line and were set up first-and-goal. These three plays followed: Thomas Jones to the right for 1 yard; Jones up the middle for 1; Jones to the left for minus-2. Jay Feely, who missed a 31-yard field-goal try in the first quarter, knocked through a 21-yarder with 7:28 left in the second to cut the deficit to 6-3, but the air was sucked out of the stadium.

"That was a big goal-line stop," Belichick said.

Three straight runs were not a very creative way to attack the excellent New England front seven, but no one second-guessed the play-calling.

"We like the plays that we have," Mangini said. "We thought we had a real good opportunity with them, so that's what we went with and it didn't work out."

For a rebuilt offensive line, which featured big-money free agents Damien Woody and Alan Faneca, it was a step back after a solid opening-game performance in Miami.

"Obviously, as offensive linemen, we want to be able to punch it in in that situation," Woody said. "We didn't do that. You have to give them credit for making plays in that situation."

And Favre, still not in sync with this offense, let the Patriots' defense make another one in the third quarter. After a questionable offensive pass-interference call against Jerricho Cotchery and a pass to Bubba Franks that lost 5 yards put the Jets in a second-and-25 hole from their 24, Favre attempted an off-balance pass to the left, badly under-throwing Chris Baker. Brandon Meriweather intercepted and returned it to the Jets' 31.

It took the Pats six plays to capitalize, with Sammy Morris punching it in from the 1 to make it 13-3 with 6:20 left in the third.

The Jets, trailing 16-3 heading into the fourth, finally injected some energy into the lifeless Meadowlands as Favre went 6-for-6 for 51 yards on an 80-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard pass to Chansi Stuckey with 10:18 left that made it 16-10.

But on the ensuing drive, Cassel converted a key third-and-2 from the Jets' 44 with a 4-yard pass to Morris that, coupled with a debatable 15-yard roughing penalty against Calvin Pace, put the ball at the 25. Stephen Gostkowski's fourth field goal, from 27 yards with 5:18 left, made it 19-10. It became apparent that this Patriots game would end as so many before had.

"It was a tough loss for us," safety Kerry Rhodes said. "We were definitely a confident team coming in."

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