It Was Awesome While It Lasted Sunday, September 20, 2009

Well, the Jets won, beating the Patriots 16-9. Apparently, it's the first time the Jets have beaten the Patriots in the Giants' home stadium since September 11, 2000.

Surprisingly the defense which we all thought was shakey before losing Seymour and Mayo has been really good. They only let up 17 points today. The offense, which we all thought would be awesome, really let the team down. They had a drive stall at the Jets 44 and punted, kicked a field goal from the Jets 27 (after being backed up by a holding call), kicked another field goal from the Jets 7, a field goal from the 11, and had the ball on the Jets 35 and took back to back delay of game penalties on third down before punting. You're not going to win leaving that many points on the field, especially on the road.

So does this mean the mystic is over? Ever since the game that made the tuck rule infamous, anytime anyone ever dared to call out the Patriots or say something even a teeny-tiny bit negative about them, New England responded by beating the living daylights out of the offender, with one notable exception. Now the New York Jets of all teams, they said they wanted to embarrass the Patriots and they weren't going to kiss Belichick's rings and called out Tom Brady, and they backed it up. Might I add, throughout the game, the Jets fans were adding fuel to the fire, chanting "Brady Sucks Brady Sucks!" throughout the game. (At first I thought they were chanting "Yankees suck." The two sound remarkably similar when crowds chant them).

To answer my own question, it is. I knew they were going to lose today. I had a terrible feeling when they kept settling for field goals. When the Jets took the lead on a touchdown in the third quarter, I knew it was over. Last week I thought the game was over...this week I knew and in the third quarter. If I'm being honest with myself and all of you, I haven't known a game was over that early since the legendary Drew Bledsoe was quarterback. The era of Patriot dominance is officially over.

I'm not saying they suck. I think they'll still be pretty good. And I as wrote in the title of the post, it was an amazing ride, one that comes around to each city maybe once in a lifetime, if not once in a franchise's life. But they can lose now, even to the Jets...even when the Jets give them bulleton board material for months before the contest.

2009 AFC East Predictions Friday, August 14, 2009

I'm gonna post, along with some comments, my predicted finishes for all eight NFL divisions over the next couple weeks. I'll start with what I think is the easiest division to predict: The AFC East.

Last year, this division had a cake schedule, with everyone in the division playing the 49ers, Rams, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs and Raiders. That explains the turnaround from 1-15 to 11-5 for the Dolphins. This year, not so lucky. Everyone in the division must play Indianapolis, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Carolina, New Orleans, and Atlanta.

1. New England Patriots - In some ways, last year's championship wasn't quite as satisfying without having to take down Brady. He's back, he's good, and their offense will still be the most productive in the league. I do think their defense will continue to slip, but there's just no one who can keep up with them in this division.


2. Buffalo Bills - Terrell Owens will improve the team (though one aged wide receiver can only do so much), but with our without him, it's a team that's been building talent and competing for a couple years. Anyway, I believe 8-8 could claim second place here


3. New York Jets - I'm sure we're all big fans of their new running back, Shonn Greene, but a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback do not a division winner make.


4. Miami Dolphins - Besides the opponents listed above, the Dolphins will also have to face San Diego and Pittsburgh, which their division foes do not. The Dolphins benefited from an incredibly easy schedule last year, not to mention a crippled Patriots team. Despite what was seen last year, Chad Pennington and Joey Porter are at the ends of their ropes. You heard it here first: The Dolphins will fall back to earth hard.

Tomorrow or something: The NFC East