Re: Refresh my memory: the game was played in wind and freezing rain, right?
Looking at this board, I was under the impression that the passing game struggled in a dry, windless, 72-degree setting, and we lost by two touchdowns.
Our fanbase is really going in the crapper.
I agree there's too much whining about a win. But that doesn't mean there aren't reasons to be uneasy about yesterday's game. We may play in elements again, and the kind of effort we put out yesterday may very well not be enough to beat a better team. It doesn't make a guy a whiner to note that. I think it's worth discussion, so long as it doesn't get to be a silly gripe session like this board has become today. There is definitely a middle ground.
Here's my problem with saying the elements explains Brady's performance. Pennington has been on the bench much of the year, and doesn't have half the talent Brady does. But he was sharper. He didn't force the ball as much, even though his team was losing. In the same weather conditions -- and even going into the wind in the 4th quarter -- he faced the same elements and his passing game was more sharp.
I realize there's an aspect here of each team taking what the other was giving. That's true. Patriots focused on run. On defense, they were content to play run first and allow dink and dunk passes, but Pennington put a lot of those passes on the screws in a way Brady didn't in the same conditions. That explains some of why Pennington looked more sharp, but not all of it. Particularly when you take into account that Pennington played from behind all day, yet Brady was the one who looked like he was trying to jam passes in there. And there were several sets where the Jets were jamming the box and Brady was still missing his targets.
And at the end of the day, the Jets were in pretty good position to be in contention late. We were a miss on a short FG away from being in a one-possession game with 3:00 left and the Jets with all time outs. Actually, it was worse than that -- on the replay call, Pennington delivered the ball and it should have been a TD to make it a 3 point game. It wasn't, of course, and we converted opportuities they didn't. We won that game yesterday on turnovers, not anything else.
I also think the game would not have been as close if we hadn't taken a bunch of stupid false start penalties. Needing 15 yards in a series is a big problem in weather.
All that said, I was left with a mild sense of unease. I'd love to say "Brady managed the game and took a hit to his stats for the sake of the team," which I think is the pollyanna-ish response of some. I think he has not looked good in 2 of the last 3 games, and even though I agree that the weather had a lot to do with yesterday I don't chalk yesterday's performance entirely up to the elements.
