Patriots are taking advantage of opponents' misfortunes

Tom E, Curran, CSNNE:

Rex Ryan was flummoxed. That’s been a default setting for him in recent years. They lost. They are 1-6. Rex is toast.

“I love the way we ran the football,” said Ryan. “Anytime we’ve run 43 times, we would probably win, too. You know, that was great, we were able to control the game. We fought, but we made enough mistakes on defense to cost us the win, obviously.”

And they weren’t able to win because of the people they have and the ones the Patriots do.

Let's not denigrate the 1-5 New York Jets for losing a nail-biter contest in the rain in Foxboro, MA to the New England Patriots. The Patriots were a solid 9 1/2 point favorite Thursday night. Four plays into the game, you could see the reason for the large spread. A 49 yard pass from QB Tom Brady to an uncovered RB Shane Vereen, just 1 minute 29 seconds into the first quarter, gave New England a gift 7-0 lead.

"If you’re the Patriots, just wait around," according to Tom E. Curran of CSNNE. "The dumb will come."

That is only a partially true statement. The Jets did try an onsides kick with 2 minutes 31 seconds to play that was unsuccessful putting the ball at the New England 46. The conventional play was to kick it deep, and rely on the defense to pin the Patriots deep in their territory. It is easy to second guess the call by Rex Ryan, but there was a chance for a Jets recovery when the ball was kicked by Patriots S Duron Harmon, and Danny Amendola made a great play in covering the football.

Michael Felger of Comcast said the two point conversion attempt was the worst play he had ever seen.

This was the pass from QB Geno Smith to TE Jace Amaro when the Jets were trying to tie the game at 27. Amaro was behind Patriots S Patrick Chung, and he was open. The play was a good call because of the six inches in height advantage between Amaro and Chung.

The Jets were at a disadvantage when Patriots punter, Ryan Allen, forced New York to start its final drive from their own 12 yard line. QB Geno Smith used short passes over the middle, some timely runs and a sideline toss to WR David Nelson. The drive reached the New England 41 yard line.

In the second quarter with 7 minutes 52 seconds remaining, Jets K, Nick Folk kicked a 46 yard field goal. CBS-TV highlighted the kick showing that it would have been good from 58 yards. There was virtually no wind, and with the high humidity, the ball tended to travel further.

With four seconds to go, Patriots DT Chris Jones was able to block the field try by K Nick Folk. In my opinion, the Jets had brilliantly worked the clock, putting themselves in the best possession to win the game. They held the ball for 40 minutes 54 seconds. They kept the Patriots offense from having the ball for all but 19 minutes and six seconds. The Jets ran the ball 43 times for 218 yards. They held the Patriots to 63 yards rushing.

As for Rex being toast, that may be true. The Jets "are what they are" at 1-6. They are much better than their record shows.

Jets QB Geno Smith played a fine game in a hostile environment. That is significant. The Jets outplayed the Patriots. The two teams meet next on December 21st. It'll be close game like it always is. Rex Ryan will be trying get New York to finish 8-8. I wouldn't be surprised.

Stupid is lacking intelligence or common sense. The New York Jets are just unlucky.

Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.

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