Bill Belichick had an amazing season as a coach.  He lost alot of free-agents and still put together good enough gameplans to finish the season at 12-4 and beat his arch-nemesis Eric Mangini in a playoff game last week.  Marty Schottenheimer better be ready next week, because I’m sure the Patriots will be. 

Belichick’s career record now stands at 111-81 (57.8%) with a 12-2 post-season record.  With the Patriots, Belichick now has a record of 75-37 (67%) with a 11-1 post season record.  Beilichick is definately the straw that stirs the drink for the Patriots.

The Jets gave the Patriots a battle for three quarters before the Patriots thrashed them in the 4th quarter like champions do.  The Jets pulled the score to 23-16 at the start of the 4th quarter and Tom Brady answered with a 13 play, 63 yard TD drive that took 6:23 off the clock.  Shortly after that, Asante Samuel picked off a Chad Pennington pass and returned it 36 yards for a TD.  That was the final score of the football game.

The Jets just couldn’t stop the Patriots from running the ball as Laurence Maroney (69 yards), Corey Dillon (53 yards) and Kevin Faulk (23 yards) all pitched in.  Tom Brady also played a solid game as he completed 22 of 34 passes for 212 yards with 2 TD passes.  The shocking thing was who Brady was throwing to as Jabar Gaffney (8 rec, 104 yards) and Reche Caldwell (5 rec, 50 yards) did most of the damage.

The Patriots defense was led by their veteran linebackers.  No one is surprised that Tedy Bruschi (9 tackles) and Mike Vrabel (8 tackles) would lead the charge on the defense as they always play well when the games get big.  Asante Samuel had another pick-six as teams just haven’t learned yet not to challenge him.

Next on the Patriots hit list is the powerful San Diego Chargers.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270107017 

 

One had to wonder how Tom Brady would perform after the Patriots jettisoned his top 2 receivers.  He responded with another great season.  Brady started all 16 games and completed 319 of 516 passes (61.8%) for 3,529 yards with 24 TD passes and 12 interceptions (87.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 49 times for 102 yards (2.1 ypc).  For his career, Brady has played in 96 games (94 starts) and has completed 1,896 of 3,064 passes (61.9%) for 21,564 yards with 147 TD passes and 78 interceptions (88.4 QB Rating).  Brady also has carried the football 239 times for 435 yards (1.8 ypc) with 3 TD runs.

Matt Cassell appeared in 6 games for the Patriots and he completed 5 of 8 passes (62.5%) for 32 yards (70.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 2 times for 4 yards (2.0 ypc).  For his career, Cassell has played in 8 games (0 starts) and has completed 18 of 32 passes (56.3%) for 215 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception (84.8 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 8 times for 16 yards (2.0 ypc).

Vinny Testaverde was brought in during the season and would probably relieve Brady if something happened to him.  Vinny played in 3 games and completed 2 of 3 passes (66.7%) for 29 yards and 1 TD pass (137.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 8 times for a loss of 8 yards (-1.0 ypc).  For his career, Testaverde has played in 226 games (208 starts) and has completed 3,693 of 6,529 passes (56.6%) for 45,281 yards with 270 TD passes and 261 interceptions (75.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 421 times for 1,639 yards (3.9 ypc) with 15 TD runs.

This should be a battle in Foxboro on Sunday.  The Patriots and Jets have split their two contests this season with New England outscoring the Jets 38-34 in those games.  Each team won the road game between these two teams.  The Patriots have thrown and run the ball well against the Jets this season.  Tom Brady completed 40 of 66 passes (60.6%) for 475 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions.  The Patriots will look to run the ball because the Jets have had problems with the Patriots running game as Corey Dillon (178 yards rushing) and Laurence Maroney (102 yards rushing) have both run well against the Jets.  The Jets will probably go to the air as they haven’t run the ball well against the Patriots.  Chad Pennington has completed 44 of 70 passes (62.9%) for 474 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 interceptions.  Jerricho Cotchery (12 rec, 191 yards, 2 TDs), Lauveranues Coles (11 rec, 129 yards, TD) and Justin McCareins (7 rec, 82 yards) all have played well against the Patriots.

The Patriots without a doubt will be running the football against a Jets defense that allowed 130.3 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry this season.  Corey Dillon (812 yards, 13 TDs) and Laurence Maroney (745 yards, 6 TDs) should both have big games despite the Jets having three decent LBs in Jonathan Vilma (113 tackles), Eric Barton (101 tackles) and Victor Hobson (100 tackles).  Tom Brady (3,529 yards passing) should have a good game if the Patriots line keeps him standing and that was a problem the last time these two teams meant.  Watch for ancient Troy Brown to make a big play or two…he always does in the playoffs.

The Jets will likely be throwing alot in this football game.  Chad Pennington (3,352 yards passing) has done a good job against the Patriots this season.  Lauveranues Coles (91 rec, 1,098 yards, 6 TDs) and Jerricho Cotchery (82 rec, 961 yards, 6 TDs) should both have good games, but Pennington will have to be careful because Asante Samuel has picked off 10 passes this season.  Look for Justin McCareins and TE Chris Baker to be the Jets secret weapons on Sunday.  The Jets will still try to run the football, but it won’t be easy against Tedy Bruschi (112 tackles) and Mike Vrabel (89 tackles).

The Patriots special teams haven’t played too well this season.  Stephen Gostkowski is no Adam Vinatieri.  Gostkowski hit 20 of 26 FGs as a rookie, so we’ll see if he can handle playoff pressure.  Todd Sauerbrun is the third punter used this season by the Patriots.  Sauerbrun is averaging 40.8 yards per punt with a net average of 30.7 yards.  He has placed 2 of 10 punts inside the opposing 20 yard line.  Kevin Faulk has done a good job as the punt returner as he’s averaging 10.6 yards per return.  Ellis Hobbs has been electric returning kicks as he’s returned 10 for 360 yards (36.0 avg) and a TD.

The Jets special teams have really played well this season and this is an area that the Jets have a huge edge on the Patriots.  Mike Nugent has done a great job in his second year as he has hit 24 of 27 FGs, including 6 of 7 over 40 yards.  Punter Ben Graham has done a good job as he has averaged 44.2 yards per punt and a 37.8 yard net.  He has pinned the opposition inside the 20 on 26 of 72 punts.  Tim Dwight has done a decent job returning punts as he has averaged 10.4 yards per return.  Justin Miller has probably been the best kick-off returner in the NFL as he has returned 46 kicks for 1,304 yards (28.3 avg) and he’s returned 2 kicks for TDs.

It’s hard to pick against the Patriots at home.  Tom Brady has never lost a playoff game at home and Bill Belichick sports an 11-2 post record as a head coach.  The Jets should keep this game close as they’ve played well against the Patriots this season, but I have to side with the Patriots in this one.  It should be a close game though.