Pat Patriot and Mr. Hyde

It was a hell of a game, and a good win for the Jets, but this is not the sort of game where Eric Mangini is going to go back and look at the game tape and get the warm fuzzies.

This is what Mangini will see that was good - Brett Favre was 9 of 12 on third down. Leon Washington was a the difference in the game as a monster on special teams. And he has a physical, punishing rookie tight end that refuses to go down on the first hit.

This is what he's going to see that he won't be happy about...

Favre was 9 of 12 because he was able to look off rookies Gary Guyton, Jonathan Wilhite, and other youngsters. Even with the success he had, a veteran like Favre should have been able to torch this young defense (yeah, you heard me - young. The only starters over 30 right now are Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, and Delta O'Neal). Yes, he had a solid game, but this was a defense ripe for the picking and the Jets just barely eked out a win. Over and above that, the Jets were aided and abetted by a horrible defensive holding call on their last drive to go up 31-24 (if the refs wanted to call illegal contact, I would have understood, but that wasn't anywhere close to holding).

The Jets defense only came up with two stops - both in the first half. Otherwise, they got off lightly due to Patriot mistakes throughout the game - a Gaffney drop on what would have been a first down reception, Ben Watson's fumble that I can only conclude was forced by Claude Rains, an inexplicable offensive miscue when Dan Koppen snapped the ball before Matt Cassel was ready. Even with these miscues abetting the New York defense, they still gave up 511 yards (468 to what is essentially a rookie quarterback), 31 points, and the Patriots effectively removed the Jets best defender, Kris Jenkins, from the game by going spread.

I'm not writing any of this to make myself feel better about the Pats loss. It sucked, and I'm not happy about it. There was plenty I was not thrilled about there - their inability to get off the field on third down, blown coverages on defense, their attempts at ritual football suicide. It was, essentially, a Jekyll and Hyde performance.

These are all going to bring the Belichick beat-down on the players in the film room.

There were, of course bright spots - Cassel's play, the fact they roared back in the second half with 24 points, the play of Jerrod Mayo, the fact that the team is beginning to show they can overcome errors. All of that is good. But it wasn't good enough last night.

In spite of all the mistakes on offense, 31 points should be enough to win a game. This loss lies on the shoulders of the special teams and defense. Too often the Pats D was in position to get off the field, and too often they failed to do so. I won't even get started on special teams.

All in all, this means a division title is more difficult, but not impossible, but to do so, they will have to have a better record than the Jets at the end of the season.

Hard hits

Last night the Sox absolutely pasted the Indians 12-2. The offense? JD Drew knocked in five runs on a night when Manny and Big Papi struggled a little at the plate. Drew! In some quarters of Red Sox Nation that might be considered the fourth sign of the impending Apocalypse. Of course none of those people care because the Sox are one game closer to the World Series.

The Indians have now gone from up 3-1, to being on the brink. Yes the teams are tied 3-3, but all the pressure is on the Tribe now. After winning three straight by a combined score of 24-11, they have dropped two straight potential clinchers by a combined 19-3.

Overall, the Indians are 12 for 64 (.188) in those two games. They were 33 of 112 (.295) in their three wins. Somebody is wilting as the heat is getting turned up.

On top of all that, the Indians are about to get slammed with a major locker-room distraction.

Now I have to wonder about the Indians' chances.

Tonight is gonna be fun.


Maxwell's Silver Hammer...

A little piece of living football history was lost yesterday.

Former Green Bay Packer wide receiver Max McGee fell off the roof of his house while prepping it for the Minnesota winter. According to reports, efforts to revive McGee by Police who reported to the scene of the accident at 5:20 PM were unsuccessful.

McGee was the unlikely hero of Super Bowl I. Hung-over from the night before (he didn't think he was going to see the field), McGee caught the first touchdown in Super Bowl history after entering the game for Packers receiver Boyd Dowler who left the game with a shoulder injury. He went on to rack up 47 more yards in the big game (138), than he had for the entire 1967 season (91).

Rest well, big guy.

It's elementary, Watson...


The pundits are calling today's Patriots game a cake-walk, a gimme. They're already pencilling in the W. Do I think they're going to win? Yes. Do I think it's going to be easy? When's the last time that the Pats had an easy game in Miami?

The former Joe Robbie Stadium has been a personal house of horrors for Tom Brady (the team is 4-14 in its last 18 visits to Miami and Brady is 2-4).


Granted, Brady has not had the weapons at receiver he has this season. However, they're going into this game without Sammy Morris or Ben Watson and even with Laurence Maroney there's a fair chance that he will at least be limited due to the groin injury. This might be Kyle Eckel's chance to show the NFL he belongs. This is also going to be an opportunity for Marcellus Rivers to show the rest of the NFL that they made a mistake by letting him languish in the free-agent market.


It's supposed to be a hot and humid one in Miami today - a good day for sprinters, a good day for wide-outs.

It should be interesting.