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Mike DeVito and Sione Pouha were once against excellent against the run. These two cats are tough and use great technique.
DeVito stopped running back Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis for a loss of two in the first quarter. DeVito had an off-sides penalty early in the third quarter, but then a few plays later he stopped running back Fred Taylor for a loss of one. DeVito and Shaun Ellis combined to stop Green-Ellis, early fourth, around the line.
Pouha tied for the team lead in tackles with six, including a shed of center Dan Koppen and stop of Taylor early fourth, after a gain of one.
On the first pass of the game, Bart Scott was beat for a gain of 11 by Wes Welker. This is a ridiculous match-up, and for this to happen on the first play of the game is surprising. Later in this drive, Scott blocked a pass that was intended for running back Kevin Faulk on the right side.
Bryan Thomas was beat by tight end Rob Gronkowski for a gain of 14 yards on the Pats second pass of the game, on the right side. Also on the first series, David Harris was beat on a crossing route by tight end Aaron Hernandez for a gain of 14. The Jets better get used to this dyanamic rookie duo at tight end. They are going to be around for a long time.
Thomas blitzed up the middle in the fourth quarter, and caused an incompletion.
Vernon Gholston had his best play as a Jet when he slipped between two offensive linemen to stop Green-Ellis for a loss of four on the Pats second possession.
Jason Taylor had another good game. Early in the second quarter, he stopped Green-Ellis for no gain. In the fourth quarter, Taylor blew by right tackle Sebastian Volmmer to sack Brady, causing a fumble that Thomas recovered. This play is exactly why the Jets signed Taylor. They lacked a closer last year, to borrow a baseball expression, somebody to get a huge fourth quarter sack to help close out a win. This sack was enormous.
When Tom Brady throws 16 incompletions in a game, you know the secondary had a pretty good game.
Antonio Cromartie did some good and bad things. He still needs to work on his consistency.
Cro was called for illegal contact on Randy Moss on the fourth quarter. Early in the second quarter, he had a bad series. First, on third-and-six, he was late coming over to Hernandez on a seven-yard completion on the left side. Then, two plays later, he was beat for a six-yard touchdown pass, on the right side, to Welker. That receiver is a bad matchup for Cro because he’s so low to the ground, and the cornerback has such long legs. It’s hard for Cro to change directions with him.
On the Brodney Pool pick, early in the fourth quarter, Cro had great coverage on Moss, who bobbled the pass, and Pool grabbed it on the sideline. Cro had a PD on Moss on the short right side with about five minutes left in the game. Cro had a pick on Moss down the deep left sideline early in the third quarter.
Cro is making an effort against the run. On the Pats second series, he stopped Green-Ellis, after a gain of three, throwing his body into the cornerbacks legs. It wasn’t a textbook tackle, but he gets an “A” for effort.
Pool was called for pass interference on Hernandez with about five minutes left in the game.
Eric Smith was called for a late hit on Welker on the Pats second possession. It’s hard for a defender to change his flight plan in mid-flight, but officials don’t care.
Darrelle Revis had a PD on a quick slant to Moss on the first play of the drive the cornerback was injured. We all know about the Moss TD on Revis, That play has been dissected to death. But the play before that was a disaster, a 46-yard completion to Hernandez. What happened on this play was that the two players (Dwight Lowery and Thomas), who were in coverage on Hernandez, ran into each other, so not only did this mess up the coverage, but they were both down for the count, and couldn’t tackle him, so he was off to the races.
Drew Coleman stopped a quick pass on the left side to Welker for a loss of two early in the third quarter.
Jim Leonhard had a terrific play on Moss, on a deep pass from Brady, in the back of the end zone. Leonhard pushed Moss out of the back of the EZ as he was trying to gain possession.
