Jets-Pats Blog

4:16PM ET: Jets get the ball. K Stephen Gostkowski's opening kick sails past the end zone for a touchback. Here comes Jet Favre...

4:19PM ET: Jets are moving the ball already. A couple nice runs from RB Thomas Jones and a big third down pass to WR Jerricho Cotchery. So far, so good for the Jets' O-Line.

4:24PM ET: Watch out for Jets' RB Leon Washington. They're moving him around and freeing him up for some short pass plays. He's capable of breaking one.

4:27PM ET: The return of K Jay Feely to the Meadowlands does not go smoothly. He shanks a 31-yarder after a good Jet drive. Looked like a bad hold from Ben Graham; hopefully for the Jets it won't come back to haunt them.

4:31PM ET: Thrilling high school game footage of Matt Cassel. He lays somebody out playing safety. Maybe if this QB thing doesn't work out...

4:33PM ET: The Patriots are keeping things simple for Cassel with short patterns that allow for yards after the catch, and don't require multiple reads. It's working thus far.

4:37PM ET: Nice drive from the Pats ends with a short field goal thanks to a big third down stop by the Jets inside their own 10. Not much running room so far up the middle (Kris Jenkins, anyone?)

4:44PM ET: Jets' WR Laveranues Coles drops a ball on third down which forces the Jets to punt. Jets are going to need him to step up at some point and get over Chad Pennington's release.

4:47PM ET: End of first quarter. Pats up 3-0. This game is flying by.

4:49PM ET: Good play by Jets' OLB Calvin Pace to tip a Cassel pass is erased by an even better play on a one-handed catch by Pats' RB Kevin Faulk. The ball doesn't seem to be bouncing the Jets' way.

4:54PM ET: Cassel has been completing the short passes, but everytime he's been asked to throw down the field he has not been accurate. He just made a bad pass on third down to force the Pats to settle for another field goal.

5:00PM ET: Coles it steps up. HUGE third down conversion as he catches a 10-yard pass and turns it into a 54-yard gain. Jets inside the Pats' 30.

5:02PM ET: Great run by Washington to put the Jets in a first and goal situation. It looked like he was going to get tackled at the line of scrimmage but he made a beautiful cut.

5:06PM ET: Jets get stuffed three plays in a row and only get three points. Hard to understand how you can't gain two yards in three plays. That was one of those drives where the Jets really had to be expecting a touchdown. Luckily for Jay Feely, he doesn't miss the kick.

5:11PM ET: Bad facemasking penalty by Jets' DE Shaun Ellis followed by a nice play by S Kerry Rhodes to stop RB Sammy Morris in the backfield. Rhodes is looking very active, but veterans like Ellis can't make mistakes like that if the Jets expect to win.

5:18PM ET: Jets offense looks awfully conservative, and goes three and out. Jets' P Ben Graham can't even punt the ball past midfield, giving Cassel and co. the ball back with 2:12 until halftime.

5:20PM ET: Cassel gets hit hard and comes up limping. He stays in for the next play but the Pats are forced to punt. We'll keep an eye on Cassel.

5:26PM ET: Pats' DE Richard Seymour breaks through Jets' O-Line to sack Favre on first down. With under a minute to go, the Jets should just play it safe and head to the locker room.

5:28PM ET: Halftime. Pats up 6-3. Fairly sloppy half for the Jets, who should have more points if not for Feely's miss and three straight stops by the Pats on first and goal. The Pats defense is not letting the Jets gain yardage consistently, but their offense looks underwhelming with Cassel at the helm. He has yet to complete any balls down the field. Still, Favre and the Jets are going to have to get in the end zone if they want to win this game.

5:42PM ET: Jets kick to the Pats. Pats' rookie QB Kevin O'Connell was warming up but Cassel comes onto the field.

5:46PM ET: Great defensive stand by the Jets. OLB Bryan Thomas gets a sack on first down, Jenkins stuffs the run on second down, and then Pace and DB David Barrett combined for a sack on third down. They're giving the Jets' offense a shot. (Interesting note: WR Randy Moss has been very quiet)

5:50PM ET: Jets free agent signee RT Damien Woody erases a nice run by Jones with a holding penatly and then Favre follows that up by throwing a pass after he had crossed the line of scrimmage. The Jets' can't afford these mistakes. Now they have a 2nd and 23 to work with.

5:52PM ET: Favre redeems himself by scrambling and finding WR Chansi Stuckey for a first down on 3rd and 22.

5:54PM ET: Terrible call on a nice play by Cotchery to erase a 30+ yard gain. The ball was underthrown and they called offensive pass interference when CB Deltha O'Neal fell down. That should not have been a penalty.

5:55PM ET: Favre throws a bad pick to Pats' S Brandon Meriweather. There was no one even close. Things are going bad quickly for the Jets.

6:00PM ET: Touchdown Patriots. Morris bangs one in from the Jets' one yard line. Now the Jets are down by two scores. That one is on Favre; let's see how the old QB responds to adversity in New York.

6:07PM ET: We got that answer quick. Jets go three and out.

6:08PM ET: Short punt by Graham and a nifty run back by Faulk gives the Pats the ball near the Jets 40. The Jets defense has hung tough so far but their offense is putting them in a tight spot.

6:14PM ET: Gostkowski makes the field goal, so it's touchdown or bust for the Jets. They need two in a little over a quarter just to tie. And that's if the Pats don't score anymore.

6:22PM ET: The Jets are moving the ball a little bit, but Favre seems to be settling for a lot of checkdowns. At some point you have to open up the offense.

6:23PM ET: We have a Dustin Keller sighting. 19-yard gain.

6:24PM ET: Big run by Jones gives the Jets the ball almost on the goal line. Here's another chance inside the five with four plays to work with. Maybe the Jets should consider some play-action.

6:27PM ET: Favre hits Stuckey in the back of the end zone from the shotgun. He was wide open. Jets down 6 now. It's not over yet...

6:31PM ET: The Jets defense gets hit with a 12-man on the field penalty on first down. That's on the coaches shoulders. That's one noticeable difference between the two teams: the Pats haven't made as many mental mistakes.

6:34PM ET: Wow. Moss had CB Darrelle Revis beat, but Cassel underthrew the ball and Revis was able to rip it from Moss' hands. Let's see how long Moss keeps playing the good solider with passes like that. If Tom Brady is playing QB, that's 6 points for the Pats and game over for the Jets.

6:38PM ET: More Jet mistakes. Roughing the passer penalty on Pace.

6:43PM ET: Nice, long drive from the Pats. They moved the chains and milked the clock culminating in an easy field goal for Gostkowski. Now it's a two score game with less than six minutes left. Jets are going to need a quick score.

6:47PM ET: Pats' OLB Adalius Thomas drags Brett Favre back almost 20 yards. Jets do nothing and are forced to punt. I can hear the fat lady on the horizon...

6:55PM ET: Pats run out the clock. Matt Cassel wins his first start. Not the prettiest win, but I'm sure Belichick will take it. The Jets clearly still have work to do. Pats 19, Jets 10.

Game Recap: The Patriots are still the team to beat in the AFC East, but today's game showed some glipses of vulnerablity. Matt Cassel didn't do anything spectacular, but he managed the game and didn't make any criticial mistakes. If he continues to do to that the Pats will win their share of games, but the Jets have to feel like they had a shot to come out on top. Brett Favre still does not look comfortable, which had to be expected this early in his Jet career. He settled for a lot of checkdowns and didn't make many plays down the field. The Jets offense showed some flashes, but were clearly overmatched by a solid Patriot defense. Hopefully for Favre and the Jets they will continue to grow each week, but this week showed they still have a long way to go. One thing that Eric Mangini needs to address right away is his team's mental mistakes. The Patriots looked like the more battle-tested team, while many of the new Jets are still getting to know each other. The Patriots remain on top for today, but the Jets should feel they have a chance next time these teams meet. In the meantime, they have some work to do, especially on Favre's side of the ball.