Sunday's loss to the Jets was a tough one, as there were plenty of things that went wrong in this one which ultimately contributed to this loss. Here are some things that stood out, with only a few positives to talk about after this one was over.
Unfortunately, the negatives are higher than normal in this one.
Positives:
- Aaron Hernandez: finished with 6-catches for 101 yards. Hernandez got things started after he made a 7-yard reception for a first down inside the 20, which helped set up their first touchdown pass to Wes Welker. Hernandez also had a 46-yard reception which helped set up Moss' 34-yard one-handed touchdown reception.
- Gerard Warren: He had a good afternoon, putting pressure on Mark Sanchez and finishing with two sacks. It's the 2nd two-sack performance of Warren's career.
- Jermaine Cunningham: The Patriots got a good performance from the rookie linebacker, who continues to improve in his second NFL game. Cunningham sniffed out an end-around play and made the stop early in the 2nd quarter, and overall showed better instincts in this game.
Negatives From Sunday:
- Randy Moss: he may have won the battle, but Darrelle Revis and the Jets ended up winning the war. Sunday's game was like a baseball player swinging for the fences every time up to bat. Brady and Moss swung for the fences several times during Sunday's game, hitting a home run once on their 34-yard touchdown. Otherwise they more or less just struck out, as Moss' only other reception was for just 4-yards, and the other 8-times they failed to connect. During those plays Moss simply seemed frustrated about the tight coverage he was dealing with.
- Brandon Tate: He was called for illegal formation on just the second play of the game which negated a 38-yard run by Fred Taylor. He later got away with one when he failed to line-up on the line of scrimmage but it didn't get called. If you can't even line up correctly, obviously there are problems.
- Zoltan Mesko: for not getting the snap off in time on the first field goal attempt, which cost them three points after Stephen Gostkowksi missed the second attempt, which was his third "official" field goal miss in a row. Mesko gets the blame because he's the holder, and unfortunately that's how it's officially scored.
- Devin McCourty and Darius Butler: We all knew that these two would eventually have their fair share of growing pains, and that's exactly what happened on Sunday against Braylon Edwards & Jerricho Cotcherie. The two may not have racked up a lot of yards, but they both reached the endzone twice, with Butler being the one victimized both times - although McCourty had his struggles as well. However, these two can't get better without games like today, and long-term I feel good about how this will turn out.
- Tully Banta-Cain: He finished with 8-tackles and a sack, but he made the late hit out of bounds after Butler knocked Jerricho Cotcherie out of bounds. Belichick took him out after that play. Mental mistakes on the road aren't good, and it lead to 15 additional yards that ultimately could have been the difference in what ended up being a touchdown drive for the Jets. Butler got beat by Edwards on the touchdown catch on that drive, with Edwards getting called for taunting. The Jets were 3-of-3 on that draft on third down on that first scoring drive.
- Kyle Arrington: Was called for making contact on a fair catch. Not a smart penalty on his part since instead of the ball at the Jets 6, they started their drive at the 21-yard line and it squandered a great punt by Zoltan Mesko. Fortunately New York didn't capitalize.
- Rob Ninkovich: Was at the right place at the right time throughout Sunday's game, but his inability to wrap up was costly at times and ended up being a factor on several critical Jets drives. One example was that he could have had Tomlinson for a short gain, but failed to wrap him up on a 31-yard gain which set up a touchdown to Jerricho Cotchery
- Tom Brady: For someone who seems intent on spreading the ball around, there was far too much of an emphasis on trying to get the ball to Randy Moss. Brady targeted Moss 10 times but only connected twice, but I thought his presnap reads were terrible in the second half considering what was at stake. They didn't do a good job trying to take advantage of the match-up problems that guys like Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkwoksi could help them create, and Brady is usually better about realizing when he's got a tight end or a receiver lined up on a linebacker and being able to exploit it. Brady said after, "We just sucked". That about sums it up.
This is an archived article originally published on
September 20, 2010.
Content reflects the editorial context of its original publication date.
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