PLAY POST PICK ‘EM Opportunity sat tantalizingly before the Jets yesterday – like a hanging curveball headed for the fat of the bat.
Yet, they swung and missed.
Here were the wounded Patriots, with Tom Brady out for the season and replaced by a quarterback making his first start since high school.
It was Hall of Fame-bound Brett Favre vs. nine-years-without-a-start Matt Cassel.
It was the Jets’ home opener and Giants Stadium was stoked.
Then came the game, a complete buzz-kill for the capacity crowd, which smelled blood with the wounded Patriots in their house.
The Patriots’ 19-10 victory was, regardless of how the most optimistic of sorts wants to put it, a significant setback for the Jets.
And, if you’re into symbolism, the symbolic moment of this game came in the second quarter, with the Jets trailing 6-0.
They had a first-and-goal from the New England 3-yard line and – despite having the dynamic Favre behind center – they ran Thomas Jones three consecutive times into the ferocious New England front seven, to no avail.
Though coach Eric Mangini would never admit it, the Jets were trying to make a statement, show the Patriots who was boss in this game – and they got smacked back pretty good.
Jones (17 rushes, 70 yards) went for 1 yard on first down, another yard on second down and lost 2 yards on third, forcing an unsatisfying 21-yard Jay Feely field goal.
“That’s a sign of (the coaches’) confidence in the offensive line,” right guard Brandon Moore said of the strategy. “We’re disappointed we let them down like that.”
Added right tackle Damien Woody: “As an offensive linemen you want to punch it in.”
The Jets, instead of asserting themselves, got punched in the face and they never recovered as the Patriots took control of the game, scoring 10 unanswered points for a 16-3 lead they never relinquished.
“I would have liked to have scored,” Favre said when asked if wanted to pass. “Had we run it in on the first, second or third play, then it’s a great call.
“I don’t second-guess Schotty’s (offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) calls one bit. Yes, I would (have liked to pass), but it has nothing to do with second guessing.”
Mangini backed up his coordinator.
“We like the plays that we have,” he said. “We thought we had a real good opportunity with them, so that’s what we went with and it didn’t work out.”
Aside from the absence of Brady, the game was quite familiar.
The win was the Patriots’ 11th in the last 12 meetings against the Jets and their eighth consecutive at Giants Stadium.
“Same old story,” defensive end Shaun Ellis said.
“A lost opportunity,” linebacker David Bowens called it.
Cornerback Darrelle Revis agreed.
“Yeah, it’s a lost opportunity,” he said. “We came in here hyped and ready to go. If we want to beat a team like the Patriots we have to take advantage of our opportunities.”
The Jets set the tone in lost opportunities when Feely, the kicker they signed during the week to replace the injured Mike Nugent, was wide right on a 31-yard field goal on the opening drive.
The Patriots answered with the first two of Stephen Gostkowski’s four field goals to take a 6-0 lead before Feely made it 6-3 after the failed goal-line series.
A 1-yard Sammy Morris scoring run in the third quarter made it 13-3 and Gostkowski’s third field goal made it 16-3.
Finally, the Jets’ offense responded with a consistent drive, cutting the lead to 16-10 on a 2-yard Favre touchdown pass to wide receiver Chansi Stuckey with 10:18 remaining in the game.
Then came more insult, though, as the Patriots marched right down the field, riding former Jets running back Lamont Jordan (11-62) and sealed the game with the last of Gostkowski’s field goals with 5:18 remaining.
“We’ve got to get off the field,” linebacker Calvin Pace said. “We knew they were going to run the ball, not do anything crazy, and we couldn’t get off the field.”