Pats-Jets is Early Contender for Ugliest Game of the Year
Dropped passes, pouring rain, turnovers, bad body language, ejections, and a brawl. This game had everything!
If the Jets were ever going to beat the Patriots in Foxboro, MA, last night was their chance…and they blew it. Seldom in Tom Brady’s 14-year career has he — or his team — looked worse than last night, yet they still managed to squeak out a 13-10 victory. Thanks in part to rookie quarterback Geno Smith’s strong play in the third quarter, the Jets stayed in the game ’til the end; thanks to his three fourth quarter interceptions, however, the Pats held them off. And New England needed all the help they could get.
One thing last night proved is that Tom Brady cannot, in fact, make anyone better. And while he looked terrible — and really, really angry! — his rag-tag receiving corps looked worse (to be fair, Julian Edelman caught 13 of those 19 passes, so he wasn’t that terrible). But that’s what happens when the players that Brady’s relied upon for success are injured (Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola), or on other teams (Wes Welker), or in prison for possibly murdering a dude (Aaron Hernandez. Obviously).
Boston Globe via Getty Images | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2013
Trailing 10-3 in the second half, with rain pouring down, Smith did a decent impersonation of an NFL quarterback for a while, but in the end he was, despite a few bright spots, well, he was pretty terrible too: 15-35, four sacks, three interceptions. “Geno had his moments,” said Jets coach Rex Ryan. “I don’t know how many balls we dropped today, but it was a bunch.” So, maybe its time to give the ball back to Mark Sanchez? Oh wait, Sanchez is likely out for the season with a torn labrum. Altogether now: J-E-T-S, SUCK, SUCK, SUCK!
And, just when the game couldn’t get any uglier, a brawl broke out after an apparent low tackle by Jets center Nick Mangold. (On a side note, Mangold cracked his first beer before 10am while interning in the Maxim offices during the NFL lockout, so he can do no wrong in our book.) In the ensuing scuffle, Jets linemen D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Willie Colon were ejected. “I lost my temper. I lost my cool out there, and we can’t have it,” said Colon. “I know better, so it is my fault.”
Still, the Jets played the Pats much closer than anyone expected, and after eking out narrow wins against serious underdogs the first two weeks, the Patriots have their work cut out for them. For now, at least, they’re certainly the ugliest undefeated team in the game.
Photos by Getty Images | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2013