Exactly WHY they printed this article today I don't know...

[SoFlaJets]

Pats stuck in the mud (From The Providence Journal)

New England bogs down against Jets

12:53 PM EST on Wednesday, January 24, 2007

By SHALISE MANZA YOUNG

Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO - In the New England Patriots locker room, you win as a team and you lose as a team.

But yesterday, in a quiet locker room that emptied faster than Kevin Federline's bank account will now that Britney Spears has cut him loose, Ellis Hobbs placed the blame for yesterday's 17-14 loss to the New York Jets squarely on his own shoulders.

"You want to say I lost the game? I lost the game," Hobbs said to no one in particular.

The second-year cornerback was referring to the fourth-quarter touchdown pass caught by Jerricho Cotchery that ended up providing the winning points for New York. Jets quarterback Chad Pennington threw the ball softly to the the back right corner of the end zone. Hobbs was there and made a stab at the ball but Cotchery made the catch, giving the Jets a 17-6 lead with under five minutes left in the game.

But while Hobbs was the only player to step up and claim fault yesterday, he wasn't the only player to blame.

Consider that just four plays before Cotchery's touchdown, after Corey Dillon had gained 15 yards on two carries, the Pats had second-and-8 from their own 35. Quarterback Tom Brady threw to running back Laurence Maroney in the flat, but the ball was a bit behind Maroney and was picked off by safety Erik Coleman.

Consider that on New England's first possession of the second quarter, Doug Gabriel hauled in a 22-yard pass from Brady, then had it stripped, with the Jets recovering the fumble.

Consider that New York started their nine drives inside their own 20 just twice, and had an average starting-field position at their own 34.

Consider that the Pats' defense allowed the Jets scoring drives totalling 9:12 and 6:40, and allowed them to convert six third-down tries during those drives.

Consider that for the game, New England converted just a quarter of its third-down tries, going 3-for-12.

So while Hobbs may mull his mistake in the days and weeks to come, it clearly was a team loss. The second straight loss the Patriots have suffered, the first back-to-back defeats for New England in a span of 57 games over nearly four years.

While Bill Belichick was loath to say that the Patriots were outcoached, he did allow that his team was outplayed. With former prot? Eric Mangini calling the shots on the opposite sideline, Belichick certainly wasn't going to say his onetime defensive assistant had done a better job than rallying his troops.

Belichick's players, however, did give credit to Mangini, who began his career in the NFL as a coaches' assistant on Belichick's staff in Cleveland.

"Eric had those guys ready to play," said Richard Seymour. "It just seemed like we couldn't get into the flow of the game. They kept us off-balance with (with) quick throws, quick runs . . . just off-balance all day. Obviously, Eric was here, and he knows what we're going to do."

Tom Brady, whose numbers once again showed a struggle (though it's not as easy to pinpoint whether his troubles were more on him or his receivers), said the Jets' defense is similar to New England's.

"It's the same defense we run -- the same calls, all that same stuff. We were expecting pressure all week and that's what we got. They were bringing it," he said.

Brady was 25-for-37 for 255 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a quarterback rating of 84.9. He was sacked four times.

There was no bigger sack than the last one of the game, a strip-sack by New York end Shaun Ellis.

Just as it was last week against the Colts, New England had the ball in the closing minutes with a chance to tie the score and saw the day end on a turnover.

After falling behind 17-6 after Cotchery's touchdown, Maroney broke off a 36-yard kickoff return, putting the Pats at their own 39. Little-used receiver Jabar Gaffney hauled in a 33-yard pass on first down and Brady next found a wide open Troy Brown for 13 yards, giving New England first down on the Jets' 15. Another throw to Gaffney was incomplete, but then Brady looked for Reche Caldwell.

The pass was tipped by Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, but Caldwell came back for it, made Eric Smith miss the tackle, and ran into the right edge of the end zone. The entire drive lasted 31 seconds.

Caldwell had a career day, with nine catches for 90 yards and the score.

After two tips ended up being interceptions against Indianapolis, Brady was glad to see one end up in the right hands.

"Reche came back and fought for it hard," Brady said. "As soon as that ball went up in the air -- I can't say what I was thinking -- but I saw Reche come down with it. He made a really great play."

But while the Pats stymied New York's attempt to put the game away, they let Pennington and the offense stay on the field too long. New England got the ball back at their own 11 with just 68 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts.

After spiking the ball to stop the clock on first down, the Patriots were on the Jets' 46 with 10 seconds to go. Brady dropped back to pass and was sacked by Ellis. Though Russ Hochstein recovered the ball for New England, the final seconds ticked off the clock and the game was over.

Seymour expressed some frustration after the loss

"We can't wait until the end of the game to make a run," he said. "When you see there's potential to lose, you can't just turn it on then."

[GLH222]

I dont understand, this was an article from today??

[SoFlaJets]

I dont understand, this was an article from today??

yup look at the date-I got it from sportspyder

[Panzer Division Marduk]

The ultimate in lazy journalism?

[SoFlaJets]

The ultimate in lazy journalism?

LOL I gotta give you a POTW nom since it made me laugh