“We just have to find a way to clean up some of the mistakes we made and each person, starting with me, has to find a way to make one or two more plays that are there,†said Favre.
[NY Sports]
The New York Jets’ Sunday 19-10 loss to the New England Patriots showed the disparity between the teams as well as their potential this season.
“New England is a good football team and we understand that,” said New York Jets head coach, Eric Mangini. “You have to play good in all three phases of the game in order to beat them. We didn’t play well enough in all three phases and make the plays we needed in order to beat them.”
Small consolation.
Although, the opening drive by the New York Jets was impressive, it was an indicator and an ominous sign to come. There was Brett Favre’s 20 yard pass to wide receiver, Jericho Cotchery; brilliant running from running back, Thomas Jones and a nifty 13 yard pass to running back, Leon Washington. The crowd was pumped up; the Jets were in the red zone. But, Jay Feely – playing instead of the Jets reliable kicker Mike Nugent who’s nursing a leg injury – missed a 31 yard attempt that faded wide right. The magic dissipated.
Feely did connect a 21 yard field goal in the second quarter which put the Jets on the score board with New England leading 6–3. The first half ended without either team scoring a touchdown.
A notable sign was that the Jets’ defensive unit held New England’s running backs to a combined total of 104 rushing yards with LaMont Jordan an ex-Jets leading the group with 62 yards on 11 attempts.
“After all these years of playing against the Patriots, I wondered why they are so good,” said Jordan. “Being a Patriot, I realize that it is; the total team effort. Just get your job done, and it comes from the head coach.”
Mangini learned from New England Patriots head coach Bill Bellichick; Bellichick learned from his father, Steve Bellichick who coached at Navy from 1956 to 1989 and was never a head coach but was considered one of the finest scouts in of his time.
“Steve has superior intelligence and intellect, and he not only saw the game as very few scouts did; he understood it as few scouts do,” Future Hall of Famer, the late Bill Walsh who coached Stanford University and the San Francisco 49ers once said. Walsh coached the 49ers to three National Football Conference titles and three Super Bowls during his tenure of a 102-63-1 record.
However, the line of association of good coaching fell gracefully to Bellichick and his record of success has proven it. He is on his way to becoming a Hall of Famer too, but his focus is on this season. “We had a good week of practice and I thought we played a very good Jets team, who were riding high off last week’s win over Miami,” said Bellichick. “I know a lot of people didn’t expect much today, but these guys came in with a lot of determination. I thought they played a solid game; it was not perfect,” he said of his team.
Matt Cassel ran an efficient offense with 165 yard passing and he ran for seven yards. However, he’s not Tom Brady, which makes New England a beatable team. But New England is a well coached team and was only penalized twice for a total of 10 yard, whereas the Jets were penalized six times for 60 yards; twice for illegal substitution, once for a 15 yard face mask penalty and a crucial 15 yard penalty on linebacker, Calvin Pace for roughing the passer in the waning minutes of the game. It set up a field goal for the Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski who nailed a 27 yard field goal to put the Patriots ahead 19-10.
“It was disappointing because we had a chance to get the ball back to the offense,” said a dejected Pace. “That’s all on defense. We have to do better next time.”
Safety, David Barrett and Pace combined on a sack in the third quarter of Cassel, but in the NFL, one mistake can contribute to the tempo and possible loss of the game.
“We just have to find a way to clean up some of the mistakes we made and each person, starting with me, has to find a way to make one or two more plays that are there,” said Favre. “It’s not like we have to find those plays. Those plays were those for us tonight.”
Personal responsibility is a good sign and maybe it can lead to something positive this season for the Jets and their fans.
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