Pats-Jets postgame: Ryan stays confident
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November 22
You have to hand it to Rex Ryan -- despite the fact that his team has now dropped six of its last seven games after winning its first three and talking, tweeting and generally boasting to any and all about how great they were -- the rookie head coach refuses to admit that his team may be having a crisis of confidence. After the Jets' 31-14 loss to New England, Ryan was asked just that: whether the Jets' confidence is shaken. "No, but we go outplayed today," he said. "There is no question. Our confidence is still there, but you go to understand, when you come out of that tunnel to play the game, you better be ticked off. That's what happened the last two games, you know, we've let teams dictate the tempo on us instead of us dictate it. And that's the thing I was most disappointed about. "Clearly at halftime, our guys came back and competed. I think we believe we are a decent football team, but you know, clearly we weren't the best team today. Clearly it was New England." The Jets believe they're "decent"? Well, if two games below .500 is decent, that's just what they are. Ryan's assessment of them as decent would seem to be a far cry from the world-beaters they saw themselves as six weeks ago. 
Feasting on five turnovers committed by Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, the New England Patriots won, 31-14, this afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Click here for the box score. Leigh Bodden had three of the Patriots' four interceptions, one of which he returned 53 yards for a touchdown, and Wes Welker had a career-high 192 yards receiving, helping Tom Brady extend his streak of consecutive 300-yard passing performances to five games, a career high. The victory moved the Pats to 7-3, putting them in a three-way tie with the Bengals (who were upset by the Raiders) and the Chargers (who blew out the Broncos) for the second-best record in the AFC. Much more to come.
FOXBORO -- Talk about rookie mistakes. Jets QB Mark Sanchez, having already thrown three interceptions, added another while throwing under pressure near his own goal line. This one was picked off by Brandon Meriweather, who returned it 4 yards to the N.Y. 25. New England cornerback Leigh Bodden had the first three interceptions, tying a club record. Bodden returned his first "pick" 53 yards for the game's first touchdown. His third killed a possible Jets rally after N.Y., which had trimmed a 24-0 deficit to 24-14, had started a drive at its own 48 early in the fourth quarter. Meriweather's INT set up the clinching TD, Laurence Maroney going over from the 1 with 5:06 to go, giving New England a 31-14 lead.
FOXBORO -- Patriots cornerback Leigh Bodden tied a club record when he came up with his third interception of the game early in the fourth quarter. Bodden, who got the Pats off to a fast start by picking off the Jets' rookie QB, Mark Sanchez, midway through the first quarter and returning the ball 53 yards for the game's first touchdown, made his second interception in the second quarter. His third may have been the most important, however, coming with the Jets at their own 48 and trailing by 10, 24-14, after having fallen behind, 24-0, in the second quarter. Asante Samuel, now playing for Philadelphia, had three interceptions for New England against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 26, 2006, helping the Pats win, 17-13, in Foxboro.
The 3-yard catch by Wes Welker was the 10th of the game for Welker, and he now has 151 yards for the game, which is a career high. It is also the fourth game this season in which he has at least 10 catches.
FOXBORO -- After blocking a punt and recovering it for a touchdown in the final minute of the first half, the Jets have driven 80 yards to another touchdown following the second half kickoff. Rookie QB Mark Sanchez, who threw for just 15 yards in the first half, completing only 2 of 9 passes while throwing two interceptions -- one of which was returned for a touchdown -- threw a 29-yard TD pass to Jerricho Cotchery, who beat cornerback Jonathan Wihite to the right rear corner of the end zone. The Pats, their once-commanding, 24-0 lead suddenly cut to 24-14, picked up a personal foul on the subsequent kickoff return and will start their first possession of the second half at their own 11.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Former Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour left Oakland's game against Cincinnati with a lower back injury and will not return. Seymour left in the opening quarter Sunday and the team announced at the start of the third quarter that Seymour would not return.
FOXBORO -- Slow all season in getting his punts away, Chris Hanson finally paid for his deliberateness by having one blocked by the Jets deep in his own territory in the final minute of the first half. Eric Smith smothered the ball as soon as it left Hanson's foot and it was recovered by Brad Smith, who took it the remaining 4 yards to the end zone, cutting the Pats' commanding lead to 24-7.
FOXBORO -- Perhaps overly concerned about keeping Randy Moss in check, the Jets have been burned by Wes Welker, who had 8 catches for 139 yards in the first half, which ended with New England leading, 24-7. Welker was injured in Week Two and did not play the first time the Patriots faced the Jets this season.
FOXBORO -- Mark LeVoir, taking over at left tackle after rookie Sebastian Vollmer -- who was in the lineup because Matt Light is injured -- was sidelined by a "head injury," announced himself to the Jets by levelling cornerback Donald Strickland on a screen pass to Wes Welker. Strickland, who is 5-10, 185, was announced as "questionable" for the remainder of the game with a "head injury." The 6-7, 310-pound LeVoir is in his second season with New England after having been cut previously by the Bears and Rams. He played college football at Notre Dame, going undrafted in 2006.
FOXBORO -- Mark "San-chize" -- as in franchise -- Sanchez doesn't exactly look like the second coming of Joe Namath. Or Chad Pennington, for that matter. Or even Mike Taliaferro. He looks like the rookie he is, having thrown two interceptions in the first 26 minutes, one of which was returned 53 yards for a TD by Leigh Bodden for the Pats' first points. Bodden picked off another 9:19 before halftime, giving the Patriots possession at their own 48. At this point, he's completed just 2 of 9 passes, for only 15 yards, with the two interceptions.
FOXBORO -- After a 43-yard pass from Tom Brady to Wes Welker moved the ball to the N.Y. 3, Laurence Maroney took the ball into the end zone two plays later from the 2, giving New England a 21-0 lead. Hoo-rah! for Laurence... I'd still rather see the ball in someone else's hands, especially near the goal line.
Patriots rookie Sebastian Vollmer was not part of the Pats' last touchdown drive; he was on the bench, and it has now been announced that he has a head injury. In New England, that means he has a concussion. His return is questionable.
FOXBORO -- Just when Jets CB Darrelle Revis likely -- and justifiably -- thought he was doing a pretty good of covering Randy Moss 1-on-1, Moss caught a quick, 4-yard pass in front of him for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter, giving New England a 14-0 lead. After Revis held Moss to 4 catches for just 24 yards in N.Y.'s 16-9 win over the Patriots in Week Two, Moss said: "Anyone could have help 'over the top' and look good." But Revis insisted he had very little help covering Moss that day. "Everyone saw the game," he said last week. "Everyone knows I was in man coverage. It wasn't his day, he got shut out, and was frustrated about it." Prior to the TD, Revis had frustrated Moss three times in the opening minutes this afternoon, twice deflecting passes intended for him, and also running step-for-step with Moss when Brady tried to hit him deep on a flea-flicker.
Leigh Bodden has picked off Mark Sanchez and returned the ball 53 yards for a touchdown. It is the first touchdown on an interception return in Bodden's seven-year NFL career. It is also the second pick in as many weeks as Bodden, who leads the team with three interceptions on the season. Only in 2007, when Bodden had six interceptions with Cleveland, has Bodden had more interceptions.
FOXBORO -- After fumbling the ball away at the goal line last Sunday night in Indianapolis, underachieving former first-round pick (2006) Laurence Maroney has coughed up another, this time at the Jets' 36. Enough, already. It's tough to take him out, with veterans Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris both sidelined by injuries, but can BenJarvus Green-Ellis really be any worse? Maroney is a dancer, not a runner. Instead of taking the ball and exploding into the hole, he jukes and jives. While trying to break a big play, he too often fails to pick up what yardage is available. And, now, he's come down with a case of fumble-itis.
Hopefully, that won't be an omen that, like the Bruins, the Patriots will struggle to score.
FOXBORO -- Rookie Sebastian Vollmer once again will start at left tackle for the Patriots in place of injured veteran Matt Light. But, as anyone knows who watched Vollmer take on the Colts' fearsome speed rusher, Dwight Freeney, last Sunday night in Indianapolis, it's not the "blind side" that figures to be Tom Brady's biggest concern this afternoon. The Jets love to blitz. They did it often, and successfully, in beating the Pats, 16-9, in Week Two at the Meadowlands. Look for them to bring pressure today on New England's right side, given that guard Stephen Neal will be inactive because of a concussion suffered against the Colts and right tackle Nick Kaczur may be more vulnerable than Vollmer. Expected to start in place of Neal is Dan Connolly, who took over at center for Dan Koppen two weeks ago, when Koppen hurt a knee against the Dolphins. With Koppen back in the lineup last Sunday in Indianapolis, Connolly wound up stepping in at right guard when Neal went down, even though rookie Rich Ohrnberger, a fourth-round pick out of Penn State, is listed as Neal's backup on the depth chart.
For the Patriots: RB Fred Taylor For the Jets: QB Kevin O'Connell (3QB)
Hey all -- Team ProJo has settled in here at Gillette, and there are a few players going through early warmups on the field. The Jets are wearing black warmups, as a few players are stretching together and the three quarterbacks are working on drop-backs. It isn't too cold, but it is very cloudy here in Foxboro. Game inactives post in about 30 minutes; we'll have more at that time. shalise
November 21
If there was, indeed, any doubt about whether former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis would return for a sixth season as head coach at Notre Dame, it was eliminated Saturday afternoon, when the Fighting Irish lost in double-overtime to UConn, 33-30. A Notre Dame coach in his fifth season can't afford to lose at home to UConn -- especially on Senior Day. It was the second year in a row the Irish have lost their final home game. Last year, Syracuse, which came in with 8 losses and a lame-duck coach, came from behind in the fourth quarter to upset the Irish. It was the first time in ND football history the Irish had been beaten by a team with 8 losses. Notre Dame, now 6-5, has lost three in a row, including a second loss in three years -- both coming in South Bend -- to Navy, a team the Irish beat 43 years in a row from 1964 through 2006. The Irish finish the season next Saturday at Stanford, which a week ago routed Southern Cal. Jim Harbaugh has done at Stanford what Weis was supposed to do at Notre Dame. The Cardinal has beaten USC twice in the last three years, both times in the L.A. Coliseum. Weis is 0-5 against former Pats head coach Pete Carroll's Trojans. A loss to Stanford would leave ND at .500 (6-6) at the end of the season for the second straight year. The Irish beat Hawaii in a postseason bowl last year, but were 3-9 in 2007, leaving Weis with a record of 16-20 over the last three years going into the Stanford game. UConn came into Notre Dame Stadium for the first time with a record of 4-5, including a win over URI. The Huskies had lost three straight since the tragic death of defensive back Jasper Howard, who was stabbed after a campus dance..
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