Thoughts after Week 2, Patriots vs. Jets

What a horrible game! It stinks when the Pats lose (28-14) and it's even worse when it's to the potty loud-mouth division rival Jets. It's 2009 all over again with the Patriots struggling in the 2nd half. Recently I called out the Pats fans for leaving in the 2nd half of games. Maybe they'd stick around in the 2nd half if the Patriots actually showed up for one.

Offense
The offense was absolutely pathetic in this game. They couldn't run the ball. They couldn't pass the ball. They couldn't convert on 3rd downs. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Let's start with Tom Brady. He needs to stop focusing in on Moss. I understand that they wanted to exploit matchups after Revis got hurt, but after the first INT, Brady should have realized that Cromartie was all over Moss. Yet time and time again, he went back to Moss with nothing to show for it except another INT, more stalled drives, and 0 points in the 2nd half.

In the 1st half, Brady spread the ball around with short passes underneath. The Patriots were able to easily march down the field with this controlled, passing attack. I still don't understand why they went away from that in the 2nd half. Let me summarize every drive in the 2nd half. Incomplete pass to Moss on 1st down. Run up the middle for little to no gain on 2nd down. 3rd and long, another incomplete pass. Punt. Rinse and repeat.

It appeared that Welker got more attention from defenders in the 2nd half so Brady should have gone to his other receivers. Hernandez caught 6 passes for 101 yards, all in the 1st half. They should have found a way to get him the ball more in the 2nd half.

These 2nd half collapses is no longer a coincidence. It happened all of last year. It's happening again this year. As a leader, I am holding Brady accountable for their struggles. His decision making is not where it needs to be. Ever since Moss and Welker have joined the team, I think Brady has been relying too heavily on both of them. One would argue that dinking-and-dunking is not as efficient as what Moss and Welker provide. Yes, the Pats have scored more points. However, they have also lost more games. I miss the old Brady where his "favorite" receiver was the "open" one.

As for Moss, he drives me crazy. Even though he made an incredible one-handed, over-the-head catch, he still had an awful game. He was targeted 10 times and only caught two passes. Last year, I called Moss "Houdini" because he always disappeared in games. This year, his new nickname is "Alligator Arms". He alligator-armed at least two passes early in the game. He rarely tries to break up 50/50 balls from being intercepted. On long passes, it always feels like something bad is going to happen.

Defense
The defense really struggled in this game. They allowed one of the worst QBs to look like a Pro Bowler and have a career game. The Pats played some zone coverage and allowed Sanchez to just pick them apart. They should have played more man-to-man defense and double-teamed Keller in the middle.

Butler looked like Ellis Hobbs, Part 2! I signed up for a Twitter account to keep informed with sports news. Did you know that Butler has over 3,000 tweets?! Seriously, he needs to stop tweeting and spend more time watching some game film. He was victimized repeatedly and they kept picking on that matchup. What's maddening is that he looks like he's in position to make a play on the ball but somehow, he allows his guy to make the catch. He doesn't want to get beat on the deep ball so he plays off of his receiver. However, I think he overestimates his own recovery speed and is too far from his guy to defend the underneath passes.

Another area of concern is the defense's lack of ability to get off of the field on 3rd downs. After getting beaten repeated on short throws, the Pats went into more of a nickel package. However, the Jets countered by running the ball more and the defense could not hold up and get off of the field.

Special Teams
One thing that drove me (and probably Belichick) crazy was that the Pats had a delay-of-game penalty on the 32-yard FG try which nullified a successful kick. It backed them up another 5-yards and Gostkowski missed from 37-yards. Speaking of Gostkowski, that makes him 1 for 4 so far. It seems like anything over 40-yards is an automatic miss right now.

Other Thoughts
I feel that the Patriots beat themselves more than what the Jets were doing. The game was definitely winnable. They need to improve their performance in 2nd halves. The play-calling needs to incorporate other guys not named Welker or Moss. Speaking of Welker, Eric Smith hit Welker with an elbow to the head. That was such a cheap-shot! Man, I hate the Jets.