Tuesday, January 09, 2007
NFL Playoffs: PATS SHOOT DOWN JETS
Using a diversified offense that mixed Tom Brady's precision passing, an effective running attack and a defence that forced two critical turnovers, the New England Patriots strolled to a 37-16 victory over the New York Jets in the AFC wild-card round.
The game matched Bill Belichick, a three-time Super Bowl-winning coach, against Eric Mangini, the Jets' rookie coach who was an assistant under Belichick when the Patriots won championships in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
Mangini left New England to take over the Jets last January and guided them to a split with the Patriots in the two regular-season meetings between the AFC East rivals, including a 17-14 victory here on November 12.
Not much was expected of the Jets, who finished 4-12 last season. But Mangini orchestrated quite a turnaround as New York (10-7) earned the first wild card spot.
However, Belichick has never lost a home play-off game and was not about to drop one to his protege, improving to 7-0, including six wins with the Patriots.
Brady, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns.
The backfield tandem of Corey Dillon and rookie Laurence Maroney combined to rush for more than 122 yards and Jabar Gaffney caught eight passes for 106 yards.
As is usually the case in the post-season, the Patriots (13-4) also got some big plays from their defence.
Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork recovered a lateral that was deflected by linebacker Rosevelt Colvin and returned it 31 yards to the New York 15.
That set up a 28-yard field goal by rookie Stephen Gostkowski with four seconds left in the third quarter, giving New England a 23-13 lead.
Cornerback Asante Samuel, who tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions this season, sealed the win when he picked off a pass by Chad Pennington and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown with 4:54 left in the game.
The fourth-seeded Patriots will play the top-seeded San Diego Chargers (14-2) in the divisional play-offs next Sunday.
The game matched Bill Belichick, a three-time Super Bowl-winning coach, against Eric Mangini, the Jets' rookie coach who was an assistant under Belichick when the Patriots won championships in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
Mangini left New England to take over the Jets last January and guided them to a split with the Patriots in the two regular-season meetings between the AFC East rivals, including a 17-14 victory here on November 12.
Not much was expected of the Jets, who finished 4-12 last season. But Mangini orchestrated quite a turnaround as New York (10-7) earned the first wild card spot.
However, Belichick has never lost a home play-off game and was not about to drop one to his protege, improving to 7-0, including six wins with the Patriots.
Brady, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns.
The backfield tandem of Corey Dillon and rookie Laurence Maroney combined to rush for more than 122 yards and Jabar Gaffney caught eight passes for 106 yards.
As is usually the case in the post-season, the Patriots (13-4) also got some big plays from their defence.
Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork recovered a lateral that was deflected by linebacker Rosevelt Colvin and returned it 31 yards to the New York 15.
That set up a 28-yard field goal by rookie Stephen Gostkowski with four seconds left in the third quarter, giving New England a 23-13 lead.
Cornerback Asante Samuel, who tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions this season, sealed the win when he picked off a pass by Chad Pennington and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown with 4:54 left in the game.
The fourth-seeded Patriots will play the top-seeded San Diego Chargers (14-2) in the divisional play-offs next Sunday.
# posted by Eho @ 4:02 PM 
