A Look Back

(Part 1 of 2 focusing on the Jets v. New England)

Yesterday I re-watched both Pats/Jets regular season meetings and it was a tale of 2 totally different games. Game one in NY was balmy and on field turf and game two was on slop at NE. That is hardly where the games differed though. Here is a look at the major factors affecting the outcomes of the two regular season games.

GAME 1

The Pats played the majority of D snaps in a 4-3 alignment.
From the 4-3 the Pats were able to neutralize the Jets running game as well as pressure Pennington with just the front 4.

The Jets brought little pressure.
The Jets D hardly blitzed in game 1. When they did it was on the left side, Brady's blindside, and it wasn't very effective.

The Pats got the ball downfield.
The Pats were able to throw over the top of the Jets secondary with ease because they established a very effective running game early. Chad Jackson was a big factor, getting behind the D three seperate times, one sure TD was dropped if you recall.

The Jets were anemic on Offense.
If not for the 2 big pass plays, this game was a blowout. The Cothcery fluke play where he got nailed but his knee never touched and he ran for a TD sparked the crowd and the Jets. The other was a great play by Coles made possible by poor tackling. The Pats tackled poorly all day, lead by one Eugene Wilson, who missed twice on the Coles TD. He is a perfect example of addition by subtraction.


GAME 2

The Pats played the game in the 3-4 alignment.
The Pats were forced to play the 3-4 because this is the game that Ty Warren missed. Seymour played on Warrens side and Green played where Seymour usually does. In the slop, the 3-4 was ineffective in stopping the run and generating a pass rush. Not to mention that our best defender this year has been Ty Warren.

The Jets blitzed a ton.
The Jets blitzed 28 times in game 2. Rather than blitz Brady's blindside, they blitzed to his right, where they found a weakness. After the game the Jets were bragging about confusing Tom Brady and that is just not true. The truth is, RG Stephen Neal was out and RT OCallaghan missed his first game. The right side of the line consisted of Billy Yates and Nick Kaczur in his first start at RT. Where would YOU bring pressure? On top of that, the blitzes were outmanning the Pats on the right. (If 3 blockers, 4 rushers, if 2 blockers 3 rushers, etc.) It's a miracle Brady was only sacked 4 times.

The Pats never got the ball downfield.
They simply didn't have time. The Jets kept 8 men in the box, limited the run and pressured on passing downs. The evidence: Game 1, 14.7 yds/catch Game 2, 10.2 yds/catch. Brady was 25 of 37, so he found open guys, justnot downfield.

The Jets were still an anemic offense.
They only managed 168 yds passing and 117 on the ground as opposed to the Pats who went for 255 in the air and 143 on the ground. The Jets managed 2 impressive drives, one of 16 plays and 81 yds and 15 plays and 62 for their TDs. That's pretty much it for their offense. They had four possessions of 3 and out.

Both games ended close on the scoreboard and perhaps the Pats should have won the 2nd game, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how the experts are coming up with the Pats as NINE POINT FAVORITES in this weeks game.

Look for part 2 today, examining the upcoming playoff match-up.