JETS SHUT DOWN BRADY, STUN PATRIOTS

The New York Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez outplayed Tom Brady, and the team followed the tempo set by their raucous home fans en route to a 16-9 victory over the New England Patriots at the Meadowlands.  Sanchez not only beat the Patriots in his 2nd regular season start, he enabled the Jets to beat New England at home for the first time since 2000.   The victory also ended Brady’s streak of 21 consecutive games won by a starting QB, one short of legendary Chicago Bears’ signal caller Jim McMahon.   Brady actually threw for more yards than Sanchez, but gave up an interception while the Jets’ rookie protected the football and threw the only touchdown pass of the game.  Plus, his team won the game which is the ultimate measure of a NFL quarterback’s productivity.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who backed the Jets as +3’ home underdogs were rewarded financially by New York’s outright victory.  The Jets improved to 2-0 straight up and against the spread on the season, while the Patriots dropped to 0-2 against the money despite their 1-1 straight up record.  The 25 combined points scored went UNDER the posted total of 44’.  The Jets have gone UNDER in both games this season, while the Patriots O/U record is even at 1-1.

Rex Ryan expressed his pride in his team’s victory during his postgame comments:

"We believe that we are the better team today. We went out and showed it. I think our fans are huge in this victory."

Ryan continued to suggest that the most important by product of the victory was the respect that he feels his team deserves:

"The big deal is, we're a football team that should be respected. Sometimes we talk a little bit, but only because we have confidence in our football team."

Tom Brady displayed his typical solid leadership by shouldering the blame for the setback:

"I've got to do a better job. They don't come up very often, but when they do, they hurt. And they hurt us today.  We had a chance there. We just didn't execute in that 2-minute possession. It's something we've been good at, but the Jets were better at it today. It's frustrating. I think we had really high expectations for this game. We just didn't put it together very well."

"We're not really firing on all cylinders right now. To not get the ball in the end zone is unacceptable."

Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick simply conceded that his team had been outplayed:

"Give the Jets credit. They just did a better job than we did today and I don't think there's really a whole lot more to say about it."

The Patriots will try to reverse their fortunes playing their next two games at home.  They’ll welcome the Atlanta Falcons to Foxboro, Massachusetts on Sunday and will play host to the Baltimore Ravens the following week.  They’ll be back on the road on October 11th as they head west to face the Denver Broncos.  The Jets will host the Tennessee Titans next Sunday before hitting the road for a game against the New Orleans Saints on October 4th.  They’ll play the Dolphins at Miami on the following Monday.