FOXBORO, Mass. — The look on Willie Colon’s face, and the tenor of his voice said it all even before the Jets’ guard opened his mouth and spoke the truth.
“We felt like we had them right where we wanted them,” he said after thePatriots’ 30–23 victory on Sunday. “I am (angry), because I feel like we had them. I feel like we were the better team out there, but obviously we were not.”
With precisely 10:46 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Jets had the Patriots in the crosshairs. New York had made just enough plays on offense, frustrated Tom Brady with coverage and pass rush and got just enough poor execution by the Patriots (New England was dropping so many passes, especially Brandon LaFell, that it appeared it was doing tip drills) to lead 20–16. After LeGarrette Blount was dropped for a seven-yard loss, when he momentarily thought he wasLeSean McCoy trying to cut back to the other side, and an incomplete pass, the Jets had the Patriots exactly where they wanted them: third and 17 at New England’s 27-yard line.You could smell a screen or dump off short of the marker coming. Jets fans were probably envisioning a stop and then a touchdown to go up by two scores. Against most quarterbacks and receivers in the league, that would be the case.
As if we needed another reminder, Tom Brady is not just another quarterback. His connection withJulian Edelman is anything but ordinary. And the play, from start to finish, was extraordinary.
There are two schools of thought on defending that down and distance. You can either play coverage, to force a perfect throw. Or you can bring pressure with the hope of getting the quarterback to get rid of the ball quickly before the deeper routes can develop. With the latter, of course, you risk more because if they do block it, there are less players in coverage.
Most of the game, the Jets played some version of man defense, with former Patriot Darrelle Revis on Edelman. On third down, the Jets decided to go conservative with a four-deep (both safeties and edge cornerbacks) and three under zone.
“We played in the zone—we played normal,” said Jets coach Todd Bowles. “You’ve got to play cat and mouse with them. You can’t give them what they want all the time, so we were trying to do that all game and it didn't work that time.”The Jets rushed four, and they were probably confident that Calvin Pace, Leonard Williams,Sheldon Richardson andMuhammad Wilkerson (all former first-round picks) could bring ample pressure since Brady would have to hold the ball a little longer to pick up the first down. Also the Patriots were answering the Jets’ Rolls Royce line with Bill’s Used Car Lot: right tackle Sebastian Vollmer playing left tackle, undrafted free agents Josh Klineand David Andrews at left guard and center, rookie Tre’ Jackson at right guard and right tackle Cameron Fleming, who was released and signed to the practice squad.
But they were more than up to the challenge. Vollmer was beat by Pace, but Brady stepped up to avoid the threat. Jackson chucked Richardson to start the play and then helped Fleming handle Wilkerson. The key blocks, both of the one-on-one variety, were thrown by Kline against Williams and Andrews vs. Richardson. Both misfit toys stood their rushers up and would not give ground. That gave Brady the pocket he needed.
“I thought overall our line gave us pretty good protection today—obviously not perfect, they have a good front and we took some hits,” Belichick said. “But they hung in there.”
Down the field, Edelman screamed down the hash mark to find the opening in the zone between the two safeties but over the coverage of linebacker David Harrisunderneath.
“We got split safety coverage on that,” Belichick said. “You know when you get split safety coverage, generally speaking, somewhere on the inside part of the field is where you want to go.”
A key was Edelman’s route running. If a receiver runs precise routes, he can usually get open against every coverage. If a receiver is content just running down the field and cutting, the defense is going to recognize what’s going on.Edelman ran hard at Dion Bailey, the safety claimed off waivers from the Seahawks less than a month ago who was in the game because starter Calvin Pryor (ankle) was out. Bailey admitted he had no idea where Edelman was headed, and that’s good route running. While running at full speed, Edelman faked a corner route by shifting his hips. That caused Bailey to open his hips to the sideline to cover the corner, and then Edelman broke it back to the middle. Bailey was so fooled he had to turn round to recover.
“He was running full speed at the safety, and he finally got the safety to turn his hips to run and then Jules broke across his body,” Brady said. “Jules made a real smart play. It's not exactly how we drew it up.”
Bailey was so lost on the play he wasn’t sure which of the Patriots’ small, wide receivers he was covering. He probably knows now.
“What’s his name, Edelman-dela?” said Bailey, combining Edelman and similarly built Danny Amendola together. “He just stemmed his route good. I hadn’t really studied him in particular that much and he just stemmed it. I thought he gave me a corner stem and then he crossed my face. He fooled me with the stem, got me going the other way.”Brady, meanwhile, gave a master class on elite-level quarterbacking. He knew he was going to Edelman the whole way with the split safety coverage, but he dropped back looking left, which moved the other safety and linebacker just enough. Finally, Brady threw Edelman open by throwing to a void in the coverage 10 yards to the left of Edelman and 33 yards in the air.
“It was well anticipated by Tom,” Bailey said. “The ball was out well before he crossed my face so I didn’t have any time to recover, really. It was just a bang-bang play. The pass was greatly anticipated. It wasn’t no room for error. He didn’t have to put any air under it, it was right on a rope so when I turned around … it wasn’t like he just clearly beat me. He made a great throw and catch. There wasn’t anything I could do if I wasn’t anticipating the route already.”
While Bailey admitted he should have slow played the corner stem and trailed Edelman there if that’s where he wanted to go, instead of trying to jump it, Bailey’s correct. There wasn’t much he could do because, from the Patriots’ blocking to Edelman’s route and Brady’s pass, it was basically football perfection that beat him, not himself.
The Patriots scored five plays later to take a lead they would not relinquish.
“That was a big play for us,” said Belichick.
The Jets, who were handed their third-straight loss to the Patriots by a touchdown or less, were close again. New York did have New England exactly where it wanted. But the Patriots still have Brady, and he makes all the difference. One play, with some help from his teammates, showed that.
Down the field, Edelman screamed down the hash mark to find the opening in the zone between the two safeties but over the coverage of linebacker David Harrisunderneath.
“We got split safety coverage on that,” Belichick said. “You know when you get split safety coverage, generally speaking, somewhere on the inside part of the field is where you want to go.”
A key was Edelman’s route running. If a receiver runs precise routes, he can usually get open against every coverage. If a receiver is content just running down the field and cutting, the defense is going to recognize what’s going on.
“He was running full speed at the safety, and he finally got the safety to turn his hips to run and then Jules broke across his body,” Brady said. “Jules made a real smart play. It's not exactly how we drew it up.”
Bailey was so lost on the play he wasn’t sure which of the Patriots’ small, wide receivers he was covering. He probably knows now.
“What’s his name, Edelman-dela?” said Bailey, combining Edelman and similarly built Danny Amendola together. “He just stemmed his route good. I hadn’t really studied him in particular that much and he just stemmed it. I thought he gave me a corner stem and then he crossed my face. He fooled me with the stem, got me going the other way.”
“It was well anticipated by Tom,” Bailey said. “The ball was out well before he crossed my face so I didn’t have any time to recover, really. It was just a bang-bang play. The pass was greatly anticipated. It wasn’t no room for error. He didn’t have to put any air under it, it was right on a rope so when I turned around … it wasn’t like he just clearly beat me. He made a great throw and catch. There wasn’t anything I could do if I wasn’t anticipating the route already.”
While Bailey admitted he should have slow played the corner stem and trailed Edelman there if that’s where he wanted to go, instead of trying to jump it, Bailey’s correct. There wasn’t much he could do because, from the Patriots’ blocking to Edelman’s route and Brady’s pass, it was basically football perfection that beat him, not himself.
The Patriots scored five plays later to take a lead they would not relinquish.
“That was a big play for us,” said Belichick.
The Jets, who were handed their third-straight loss to the Patriots by a touchdown or less, were close again. New York did have New England exactly where it wanted. But the Patriots still have Brady, and he makes all the difference. One play, with some help from his teammates, showed that.
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So glad to see this breakdown. This play needs to follow Brady to Canton.
best ever!
@BenBerry The last two drives against the 'renowned' Jets D, 14-17, 150 yds, 2 TD's. Any of you nitwits have anything to say about deflated footballs? By the way, he was the Pats leading rusher yesterday. GOAT.
The Patriots did not get lucky. It's all about skills and dedications, with years of hard work. The Patriots are the best team in the league.
If you want to beat the champs, you have to knock them out, almost never counts. Jet's had an up game, Pat's had a down game. Never going to be that way again, ever.
@PaulKelly We will if we get a chance to play them.
@PackersFanNumeroUno @PaulKelly
You need to get past the Panthers first.
@kuzin-v-knee @PackersFanNumeroUno @PaulKelly LOL, watched them last night and not worried in the least. Do u remember what we did to them last season?
@PackersFanNumeroUno @kuzin-v-knee @PaulKelly Yup...I also remember what the Seahawks did to you...in your house.
@PackersFanNumeroUno @PaulKelly you really do not want to play them, way above your pay grade, you came inches from losing to lowly Bolts and you let a good QB, not a great QB throw for over 500 yards, stick to knocking off mediocre teams, hey you lost last year to the Hawks or you coujld have been beaten by Pats then!
Pats 19-0!!!!
What position do you play?
yesterday was a good example of why Brady is the Greatest of All Time ... an off day, not just for him, but for his receivers ... the run game was totally non-existent and he was still able to will his team to a win ... NE threw on 90% of the plays, the jets still had no answer ..
I wonder how the Patriots cheated this time. They cheat so much have been caught twice even the quarter back cheats. The team should be disbanded in my opion. Pro Football is not worth watching now.
@metlcat I heard that Mr. Kraft owns the airline that the Jets flew on, made it land in Nantucket and the Jets had to swim to the mainland and were tired.
@HenryLimpett @metlcat Although you were just joking, you just gave Belicheat and Company a good idea.....
@PatsCheet @HenryLimpett @metlcat Chris Mortensen is reporting Bilicheck had Jim McNally's brother John pull the fire alarm in the Jets hotel at 1:15 AM and again at 4:15 AM Saturday night. Mort is also reporting Bilicheck bugged the conference room where Jets had their pre-game walk-through before heading to Gillette.
@metlcat Screw you moron. How the hell is it cheating idiot if EVERY QB cheats at PSI inflation as AARON RODGERS ADMITTED on the record when he said he played with over-inflated footballs and the NFL NEVER cared and the NFL considered it gamesmanship and the NFL NEVER even tested balls for inflation during games and the NFL NEVER even wrote down PSI numbers and the NFL NEVER even told the players about this bogus rule until their prejudiced biased sting operation. Roger Goodell needs to go to prison for what he did to Brady. Get a life idiot.
@metito @metlcat Hey Dorito, when you recover from your concussion consider this: Unlike Brady/Patriots, Aaron Rodgers/he Packers have never been accused of/punished and or fined for cheating.........
@PatsCheet @metito @metlcat WRONG AGAIN !
7/13/2015 - Jarrett Bush the veteran cornerback was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season, two league sources confirmed Monday to ESPN. One source said the suspension was for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Would you like another PACKERS' "cheater" from the Brady era ?
@PatsCheet @metito @metlcat Uhhh.... Except that's not true. 5x nailed for PEDs. But that's not cheating is it? No, because it would only be "cheating" if the Patriots do it.
and if ARogers ADMITS he pumps the balls beyond the legal limit, that is the very definition of trying to get away with something - "I'd see if the refs catch it".
Go bury your head back in the sand. Moron.
@metlcat Then why don't you stop watching it and stop posting your pointless and imbecilic comments here?
@metlcat obviously your opinion isn’t even worth squat ! Find your pacifier and suck on it before U cry all week !
@metlcat @PatsCheet : Poor whiny losers. metlcat - they were caught ONCE> Deflategate is "alleged" and the NFL said, in court, that they had no evidence. But let's not let FACTS get in the way of pathetic losers and their crybaby rants. And if you want to count how about:
Cheathawks rung up TWICE for running illegal practices and multiple times for PEDs.
Broncos rung up TWICE for exceeding the salary cap
Pitt Cheatlers fined for interfering (intentionally) with plays. Caught for PEDs multiple times (not the 70's).
And on and on and on... But it is only "cheating" when the Patriots do it, because the media sells advertising writing about it and idiots like you swallow it whole.
Go upstairs now and get your chocolate milk from mommy.
@Robert168 @metlcat @PatsCheet Well said...thank you Robert168.
@Robert168 @metlcat @PatsCheet Please name me a NFL team, other than the Patriots,that has been fined n excess of six figures, on more than one occasion for cheating.........
@PatsCheet @Robert168 @metlcat broncos were fined over 900k twice...try google, its a great thing
@metlcat Good...if it's not worth watching, then it shouldn't be worth commenting on either. So you can go away now loser.
There's a reason Brady is one of the best QBs of all time alongside Montana. He has the capability to put the team on his back and beat you on his own.
That said Pats could do with a sure handed WR, more pass rush and a secondary which doesn't give hundreds of yards to journeymen QBs.
Hello, "Patriot" Peter King here. My little Tommy completely decimated the Jets. There is no stopping my Patriots. They will steam roll everyone they play. My sources have informed me that they are already engraving the Lombardi trophy with my Patriots...........
@PatsCheet Good to see you're finally coming around PatsCheat...took you a while, but sooner or later we knew you would admit the world isn't flat after all.
Maybe someone secretly overinflated all those balls that were dropped by the Patriots. This team just knows how to win....regardless of the adversity.
Brady is the GOAT. Now lets hear the whining about the Pats as we heard all offseason by the Jets fans.
Pats showed how a true championship team responds to adversity and finds a way to win, despite the dropped passes and other adversities experienced during the game.
Here's the bottom line. The game was close for two reasons:
1. The pick/mugging of Butler by Decker that was not called and which directly resulted in the Jets' first TD; and
2. The unbelievable number of drops (officially 11 including six by LaFell) by the Patriots' receiving corps, including a drop by Edelman in end zone.
I wouldn't even claim that the Jets' pass defense is all that great. Brady carved them up all day.
@GiovaniSmith Brady had his problems in the first half. His timing was not good...overthrew many passes. But....he corrected for the second half when it counted.
Same crap by the jets. 4-12 here they come again. Bet those bums lose every game the rest of the year, Tired of close calls and moral so called victories, these bums are still the worst team in the afc east,and will prove it by losing both games to the bills and the remainding games with the pats and fins, After the raiders clobber them next week, it is all over again . I have had it.
@JosephReid as long as Buffalo is around, there will be competition for "worst team in the afc east"
@JosephReid Have you seen the Bills play lately?
@LDK @JosephReid Yes, and they are much better than they are playing...it's ALL poor coaching and bad culture that has them playing so bad. The talent is there, the dicispline is NOT, nor is the coaching and that begins and ends with the head coach. I didn't work with the Jets and it won't work with the Bills. This 1980s Miami Hurricanes culture Rex Ryan cultivates isn't sustainable in the NFL. You can't be best buddies with your players and allow them to do and say whatever they want. Rex likes to load-up and is OK with overpaying for big name first team talent with NO regard for depth, and that's where he misses the mark. He builds for today with NO regard for tomorrow and puts himself, with his mouth, in a MUST win immediately situation.
Very good game by both teams. There is no question, the Jets are legit. They gave the Patriots a good game. I am, of course, pleased that the Patriots won, and its the W that matters. Brady was dialed in in the 4th quarter, befitting a great QB. Looking forward to the rematch in NJ.
A tip of the cap to Lordhlatts on the Jets performance. And a Bronx cheer for PFNU for being such an obnoxious doofus and flaming out in a spectacular fashion.
Aside from Brady’s obvious leadership on the field, it was Danny Amendola’s performance that impressed me most in today’s matchup against the Jets.With Revis shadowing Edelman, Amendola “stepped up to the plate” nicely and delivered big-time for the Pats with some eye-opening catches—and no “dropsies.”
Jets are good. Patriots are great.
@DaddyD No, pats great, jets suck.
First-off ... How F does Bailey not know the name Edelman ? If you are DB going up against NE , your #1 focus outside of maybe Gronk should Julian Edelman . As for the rest of today's gm - Brady was masterful ... 0 TO on 54 PA vs the #1 ranked D . The ability to put up 30pts while overcoming 13 DROPS ,NO running gm ,all behind a patchwork Oline littered with Rookies & back up back ups , shows just how good Brady is .
@shoota79 Seen one white guy catch 8 balls, seen them all. Can't tell them apart ya' know, 'they all look alike'. How typically JETS-JETS-JETS is this dummy?
No big deal they are small white receivers.
@FrankToner They may be 'white' and 'small', but they can catch the ball and score. Enuf said.
I watched the whole game and the only thing that really "shined" was the Jets D. Good job guys. Pats dropped a few balls, and they got the win rightfully. But hats off to the Jets for a hard fought game.
@tomabrum You might want to take a look at Brady's numbers...he certainly "shined", and would have been a supernova if not for a zillion dropped passes.
@mkmck6988 @tomabrum at the least 4 more first downs and possibly 2 more td's.
@tomabrum I thought Fitz played a pretty good game. Made some good throws. Made some good runs when the receivers were covered
@tomabrum 30 pts is shining? Would hate to see stellar.
@tomabrum cool... hats off to the Jets for a hard fought game. I would imagine you give the Pats the Flipping Finger Award for actually winning the game.
And the D of your certainly did shine as Gronk was waltzing into the end zone from 15 yards out...
So go ahead and take your moral victory and participation award; the Pats will simply take the W...
G-zasss....
@tomabrum Without the 11 dropped passes, it wouldn't have been close.
@maizenbluedoc @tomabrum Not to mention a couple of INTs that Jones should have had...
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