What I thought was the most telling part of Sunday's 28-21 win in Foxboro was watching Tom Brady stand in the pocket (when Shaun Ellis wasn't chasing him) and look at his options --1, 2, 3, 4 and maybe back to 1 -- and pat the ball, and then throw it away or dump it for a miniscule gain he didn't want. I have never seen Brady, at least for the first three-plus quarters, survey the field and take so much time and see so little open. It was stunning, really.
"Did you know,'' GM Mike Tannenbaum said this morning from New Jersey, "we dressed 11 defensive backs for this game? Eleven out of 45 players. That's pretty amazing.''
Let's count them. The Jets started in nickel. Eric Smith and Brodney Pool at safety, Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie at corner, with Drew Coleman the extra corner. That's five. Three extra corners dressed: Kyle Wilson, Dwight Lowery and Marquice Cole. That's eight. Three extra safeties: James Ihedigbo and United Football League refugees Isaiah Trufant (the UFL defensive player of the year this season) and Emanuel Cook. They all played, combining for 36 tackles, and they contributed to clogging the lanes and forcing Brady to pat, pat, pat and throw gopher balls.
It was no secret that Ryan felt the Jets lost the AFC title game last year because of poor depth in the secondary, particularly at corner. It didn't take him long to lobby for help -- just 24 hours. On the day after the season, he and Tannenbaum were standing at the baggage carousel in Mobile, Ala., waiting for their luggage; they were in town to scout players for the draft at the annual Senior Bowl. "If we're going to beat Indianapolis and New England,'' Ryan told Tannenbaum, "we're going to need more speed and athleticism. It's that simple. If we don't have more speed and athleticism, all the other stuff won't matter.''
"Mike took it on himself,'' Ryan said Sunday night. "He went and got us what we needed.'' Cromartie, a risk, in exchange for a second-round pick from San Diego; and Kyle Wilson in the first round of the draft.