Moss More Than Ready for Meeting With Jets
And don’t in your wildest imagination think Ryan’s comments have fallen on deaf ears at Gillette Stadium. Ryan told the New York media in June he didn’t make the leap to the AFC East with the intention of kissing Bill Belichick’s Super Bowl rings.
On one hand, give Ryan credit for backing up his team and providing them with a rallying cry. On the other, it’s never worked out in the long run when opposing teams have clocked the Patriots with a verbal jab. (In the most recent example, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens was held to two catches in Monday’s loss to the Pats, five days after Owens brought up New England’s Spygate scandal.)
“I can remember Coach Ryan talking about he’s not coming to kiss no rings, so I think it’s going to be a big game,” Patriots wideout Randy Moss said Monday. “I think they’re going to be pumped up. We watched them [Sunday] with the Houston Texans. That was a good game. They seemed like they played with a lot of energy. I think it’s going to be a good game. I really do. I think we have our work cut out for us. The Jets, I think their defense has picked up. They’ve got that rookie quarterback, [Mark] Sanchez. It’s going to be a barnburner. I’m really looking forward to this game.”
Developing Stoyline
We’ve still got no idea what is going on with middle linebacker Jerod Mayo, who injured his right knee in the first quarter against the Bills. Mayo was engaged with a Buffalo lineman when his knee extended in an awkward direction, and the 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year didn’t return.
Mayo, one of the Patriots’ defensive captains, walked off the field and eventually into the locker room under his own power, but he never surfaced after that. The Patriots listed his return as questionable but never provided a more detailed update following the game.
With the departures of Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel and Richard Seymour, this has become Mayo’s defense. If he is lost for any amount of time, it would be a huge blow for the Patriots at their thinnest position.
Who's Hot
1. Forget some of Tom Brady’s errant throws early against the Bills. When it mattered most, Brady got the job done, completing 11-of-13 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns during the Patriots’ last two drives. And for a guy who looked a little rusty, he still finished 39-of-53 for 378 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
2. Randy Moss and Wes Welker became the first pair of Patriots teammates to each record 12 receptions in the same game. Moss had a dozen catches for 141 yards, while Welker hauled in 12 passes for 93 yards.
3. Brady said Ben Watson made the best catch of his career when he hauled in the game-winning touchdown pass in the back of the end zone. Watson caught two touchdown passes in 1:16 to lift the Patriots in their comeback.
4. A tandem of Patriots defensive backs teamed up to shut down Bills receiver Terrell Owens, who only caught two passes for 46 yards. Cornerbacks Jonathan Wilhite, Darius Butler, Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden rotated in on Owens, and safety Brandon Meriweather often shaded Owens’s side of the field. Owens was only targeted three times in the game.
5. Stephen Gostkowski recovered nicely after missing an early field goal. He knocked home his next two tries and, much more importantly, recovered the fumble on a kickoff late in the game.
Who's Not
1. NFL officials have to figure out what is and what isn’t a roughing-the-passer penalty, and they’ve got to call it consistently across the entire league, not just from crew to crew. Vince Wilfork and Adalius Thomas were each flagged Monday for the infraction that has gotten a little bit out of control in recent years. Thomas’s penalty helped the Bills extend the drive that led to their last touchdown. At some point, defensive players are going to have to fill out a waiver release form and fax it to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell mid-play and then wait for his approval before so much as breathing on a quarterback. We’re all going to have to accept that the league is getting soft in this area. Just make it consistent, so it doesn’t affect the outcomes of games.
2. The Patriots’ screen defense left plenty to be desired. Bills running back Fred Jackson caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, and he averaged 16.6 yards per reception, a number that actually decreased after his last catch because the end zone got in the way. This area better get cleaned up quickly because the Jets will certainly run a ton of screen plays with the combination of a rookie quarterback, two tremendously talented running backs and a very thin set of downfield targets.
3. Wide receiver Joey Galloway never got it going against the Bills. He was unimpressive in the Patriots’ first two preseason games before a much-improved performance against the Washington Redskins, but he didn’t record a catch against Buffalo. If the Patriots have thoughts of matching their offensive output from 2007, Galloway and others will have to fill the shoes of Donte Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney.
