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It wasn’t supposed to be this easy. With two key offensive linemen, including pro bowl guard Logan Mankins out, Rob Gronkowski, the best tight end in the NFL out for the foreseeable future with a broken forearm, and Aaron Hernandez just coming back from an ankle injury, Tom Brady and his offense weren’t expected to score 35 points on offense against the Jets last night. But after a scoreless first quarter, they sure did so, and rather easily – just four days after his team scored 59 on the Colts.
While the Pats are succeeding through injuries to their offense and defense (including young stud DE Chandler Jones), the Jets have injury issues too, including no Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes. But healthy or not, the Jets still have a weaker team than they’ve had in recent years, especially on offense. A lot of that is GM Mike Tannenbaum’s fault, but head coach Rex Ryan deserves some blame too, especially for his rather conservative strategy in Thursday’s game, in not having QB Mark Sanchez challenge the Patriots’ weak secondary all night long, not even attempting to throw deep – over 20 yards – when well behind.
Though such idiotic moves is fine with this Patriots fan, I’m sure it drives Jets fans crazy, knowing that Sanchez is one of the worst QBs in the game, and knowing that Tim Tebow has been waiting all season long to get his shot at the job. However, in case you didn’t know, apparently the reason Tebow didn’t replace Sanchez or even see action on a single play this time is that he reportedly has two broken/fractured ribs. He was listed as “questionable” for the game and was active.
Ryan said after the game the he was only going to use the league’s star backup QB only when “absolutely necessary.” Say what you will about his skills as a QB, but the guy is tough and a true team player. Too bad the Jets haven’t figured out how to get the most out of him.
The Patriots scored three times in 52 seconds in the second frame to basically turn the tide in the game. It was an astonishing feat. It also included an embarrassing mistake by Sanchez, in running into one of his own offensive lineman’s buttocks during that short span of time, which resulted in him fumbling the ball, which Patriots safety Steve Gregory then took to the house. That is basically Sanchez’s season in a nutshell. His team now has a 4-7 record and is in last place in the AFC East.
With the Thursday night Thanksgiving 2012 thrashing of the Jets, Bill Belichick earned his 200th career win as a head coach (between his time with the Patriots and Browns). This record includes both regular and postseason wins (183 and 17, respectively). The win also puts the 8-3 Patriots at 4-0 against a weak AFC East division, with one game each left to play against the struggling Miami Dolphins and the (not much better) Buffalo Bills next month.
Image credit: rumorsandrants.com
