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December 16, 2007

Postgame quotes from the Jets' locker room

Chris Baker, tight end
(On fumble)
I was trying to get some extra yardage and get the first down. He just came in and made a great play. It’s part of football.

(On being satisfied that they played the Patriots close)
No. Satisfaction is coming away with a victory. We play to win, not play close.

(On missed opportunities)
Our defense came out and shut down their offense and gave us the ball in scoring position and we just couldn’t do anything. We knew it was going to be a close game, we just came up short.

D’Brickashaw Ferguson, tackle
(On taking satisfaction from playing the Patriots close)
That is not our mentally. We go out to play sixty minutes of hard football and we don’t come out with that victory, that’s disappointing to us. There’s some things we did nicely in the game that we can take away from the game, but the fact is we were not successful.

(On whether the outcome was due to lack of execution or the Patriots defense making plays)
I think it was a combination of us not doing things we needed to do. There’s a lot of things that go into winning a game and obviously we didn’t do it.

(On Chad Pennington’s performance)
He’s played in the league for a long time and he’s seen a lot of things. It’s unfortunate to see Kellen go down, but Chad stepped up like he always does. He’s a captain for a reason. He stepped in and he assumed the role of leading us.

Justin McCareins, wide receiver
(On the play in the back of end zone)
I thought I had it, but it slid around in my hands a little bit and the referees made a decision and that was the bottom line.

(On the game)
It was just very frustrating to lose another game. It has been a frustrating season and we still have two more games. We just have to pull together and get another win

Ben Graham, punter
(On the effect of the weather)
You cannot control the wind, and it is the same for both teams. We practiced in it all week. We new it was going to be windy, wet and cold.

(On the blocked kick)
I have not had a lot of time; I would like to look at it again. My job was to get the ball into my hands, and get the ball on the foot as quick as I can, and get it down field. It was not a great feeling.

Mike DeVito, defensive end
(On getting to play)
It was great to be able to get some play time, especially up here in my hometown.
I was disappointed with the outcome, but it was nice to get out there and move around.

(On the game)
It was a big week of preparation, but we approached it just like every week.

Darrelle Revis, defensive back
(On the defensive play)
It was great for us and we are making a lot of strides on defense. We left a couple of plays out there and you can’t do that on a great offense. You have to make sure everything is right and be at the right place at the right time and be doing the right thing. We were aggressive and played great, but they got us with the field goals and a few other things.

Victor Hobson, linebacker
(On the hype of the game)
It kind of gets your attention, but at the same time we have learned not to even pay attention to what people say outside the locker room. If we have been going by what everyone outside the locker room has been saying all season, we probably would be a distraught and separated team right now, but that is not the case. I think we came and we fought hard and showed a lot of character. You just have to give them credit. As a defensive unit we were able to slow them down tremendously, but that is what good teams do, they just find ways to win. That is what they (Patriots) did today.

David Bowens, linebacker
(On his blocked punt and touchdown)
Their protection slid over and I was able to beat the center one-on-one. The punter had a bad hold, so it forced him to hold it a little bit longer. I’m still not believing it. It was pretty exciting. Any time you can make a play like that in a game like this it is pretty exciting. I really didn’t know what to do [when I scored]. My role is to contribute any way I can. We didn’t get the win but as a team we showed a lot of people what we are capable of doing.

(On his last touchdown)
It was in high school, it has been a long time.

Victor Hobson, linebacker
(On the Jet defense)
We just played hard and executed the game plan. We played a great team with a lot of weapons. You have to stick to the fundamentals and make things happen and we were able to do that for the most part.

(On the elements)
It is part of playing football. If you can’t play in the elements, you shouldn’t be playing football. I like to step on the football field, whatever it is, snow or rain. I am just ready to play.

Andre Dyson, cornerback
(On the Jets’ defense)
I don’t think we shut them down, but we did a good job of containing them. We had a good game plan and we executed pretty well. We played harder and smarter and faster (than the last time they played). Sometimes you put in a game plan and don’t execute it. There is no such thing as a moral victory. We came here to win, gave it a good shot and fell a little short. They are a good team. There is a reason they have won as many as they have.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Transcript: Jets safety Kerry Rhodes' press conference

Coming in as such underdogs, do you feel like you guys proved a point today?
We came out and fought hard. We kept the game close. We had a chance to make plays to make it even closer, but we couldn’t get closer than where we were. We had opportunities.

How do you feel like your game plan worked?
We played pretty well on defense. We had a good game plan coming into the game. We knew some of the things we could do to slow them down and it held, to a point, in the game, so we weren’t surprised.

Do you take it personally when people say you’re going to lose by 50 or 60?
If you have pride, you’re definitely not going to let them-or want them-to say that. People coming into the game were saying they were going to score 70, not 50. We just came out on defense, and we were excited, playing around, jumping and having fun. We pretty much held them in check. We pretty much had a good game.

Did you hear anything interesting from the fans?
On the way here people in the neighborhoods, when we were coming to the stadium, they were doing the whole spy-the camera thing. Somebody threw a plastic rat on the field. So there were plenty of things going on.

Do you feel like this was a lost opportunity and that you left plays on the field?
We definitely left plays on the field. I’m sure they probably feel the same way. We had opportunities. And at the end of the game we still had an opportunity to make it a lot closer than it was, so we definitely left plays on the field.

What were the things you guys did consistently today?
I think we did a good job of moving around and making [Tom] Brady’s checks harder for him. He didn’t [have] it simple; He had to go through a lot of possessions just to get into a good place. I think that would probably be the thing we did.

To confirm, it was a plastic rat?
Yeah it was plastic. I thought it was real. Somebody said there was a rat and I thought it was real and I was like, “that’s tough.” I didn’t see it. I just heard about it.

Do you feel like the team has Eric Mangini’s back?
I would hope so. We came out and fought and that’s the mentality of this team and that’s the mentality of our head coach. We like to come in and fight and be aggressive, and he doesn’t really like to take anything from anybody, so that’s the way we play the game.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Transcript: Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens' postgame press conference

Can you talk about when you got hit?
We had a pass called with three wide receivers to the left. [I] dropped back, there was a little bit of pressure, a little bit of penetration, and instead of risking a sack I threw it away. The defender hit my right arm as I was throwing and then landed on me as when we went to the ground.

How painful was that?
It wasn’t anything immediate -- really just some pain when I got back to sideline and I started visiting with doctors from there.

Could you have come back into the game?
It was the coach’s decision on whether or not I came back, so Coach made the decision that he was going to let Chad [Pennington] roll, and I respect that decision.

Were you disappointed or upset?
I was still in the locker room when Chad went in. I support Chad just as he has supported me. It’s unfortunate in the grander picture that with how close this game was we weren’t able to come away with a win.

Did you come back to watch the game on the sideline?
Yeah, I was on the sideline. I was on the sideline for most of the second quarter and the whole second half.

Were you physically able to return?
Coach made the decision that he was going to stick with Chad, and as I mentioned, we all respect that decision. I did my best to support Chad.

What type of injury is it?
It’s being called a rib injury.

Can you talk about Pennington’s game?
Chad Pennington is a professional. He works hard, he obviously has a lot of experience and he’s a good quarterback. You expect nothing less than from Chad than to be prepared, and then when a situation like this comes up for him to have the success that he did.

How much pain are you in now?
I can feel it.

As you watched, do you feel like you guys let this one get away?
I think we definitely had an opportunity to win the game. We were in it throughout. It’s frustrating to come in here and play a good football game against a good football team in some pretty difficult conditions. The guys played hard and gave great effort and it is frustrating.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Transcript: Jets coach Eric Mangini's postgame press conference

I just talked to the guys and talked about the opportunities that we had today and the opportunities that they created. We just weren’t able to capitalize on them. We were in the red zone four times and then couldn’t get the points that we needed to get. I thought, defensively, there was a lot of really good things today and not just in terms of the passing game, but the running game and the things that we are trying to do. I thought they did a nice job. This is a good football team that is obviously hard to beat and we had some opportunities to put ourselves in a very good position. We just couldn’t finish those.

Can you talk about your third down efficiency in the first half?
Yeah, it wasn’t very good. We weren’t able to do very much on third down until the fourth quarter, so the drives didn’t last very long and the defense was on the field quite a bit. It is hard to be effective without being good on third down.

Kellen Clemens was listed as probable with a rib injury. Was he close to coming back?
As we looked at it and we talked to the doctors, I thought it was best to continue on with Chad [Pennington]. And I think Chad did a nice job. It is another example of a guy who doesn’t get very many reps. When he was called on, he went in and I thought he did a very good job.

What was your thinking in using Brad [Smith] at quarterback? It was obvious that he wasn’t going to be a threat to throw.
We like that package and thought it was another way to get the ball to the perimeter and a chance to get the ball to one of three guys. So, either Brad, Leon [Washington] or Thomas [Jones]. You had an opportunity based on what they did with the front and thought that would be another way to attack the edge as well as have an inside presence with either Thomas or Leon.

Was that package in place regardless of Clemens getting hurt?
That is something that was not in reaction to Kellen’s injury. It was something that we had as part of the game plan.

What are your emotions like after the buildup to this game?
To me, it is a disappointment because of the opportunities that we did have today and because of how hard the players prepared and worked and, for the most part, executed. It is like the different games that we’ve talked about. When you get in those positions to score points or capitalize on a turnover or the need to protect the football-all of those things came into play today. We had some really good chances that we just weren’t able to finish up on.

I meant your emotions as it related to the spying thing, etc?
My emotions are related to the fact that the players prepared hard and fought a hard game and put themselves in the position to do some very good things. It is a very good football team that we were playing at home. We had an opportunity and weren’t able to quite finish. But, I am proud of the way the guys put themselves in that position and put us in that position.

What did Bill Belichick say to you at the end of the game?
I can’t remember. Good game or good luck or something like that.

What did you say to him?
Good game or good luck.

It looked like your defense was trying to give a lot of different looks by moving a lot of guys around.
Yes. We were trying to give as little information as possible. Tom [Brady] does an excellent job when he knows what you’re in and what he can expect, of beating the coverage or getting the offense into the right play. So, part of that is the ability to not give him too much information and to make it as difficult as possible for him to make those reads.

Clemens was reported to have a rib injury. Is that accurate?
Yes. I’ll know a lot more about it as we go.

Was he medically able to return?
It was a coach’s decision.

What did you see on the play when you got your punt blocked?
Initially it looks like it was a combination of a good move by their outside rusher, not very good leverage by us in terms of where we needed to be with the block point and our position, and also not being able to get the ball off quickly enough from the punter’s perspective.

Did you feel that was the turning point?
There was plenty of back and forth after that point and we had some good opportunities to score. We had the blocked punt; they had the blocked punt. So, we had some good chances after that.

Was Chad Pennington having difficulty hearing during the game?
He had some difficulties getting the signals from Brian [Daboll]. The coach-to-quarterback signals. But, we got it fixed and it was okay after that.

How long did he have to deal with the glitch?
I think it was a series or part of a series.

Are there any suspicions on your part about that?
No. That happens a lot where the helmets go in and out, different places.

Is there a possibility that Pennington could start next week?
I’ll have to look at everything and evaluate it. We have the injury. We don’t really have as much information now as we will later on and I’ll look at all of that stuff.

What about Laveranues Coles? It looked like he tried to go but couldn’t.
Yeah, he is tough. He did try and he’s been working to be able to play. He just wasn’t able to go as much as he would have liked.

Was that also a product of the conditions?
Sometimes that can happen when you get extreme weather or that element. But, I’m not sure if that’s exactly what it was or not, but that can happen.

Did you hear anything derogatory from the fans?
I think that there is a boatload of those comments, but that is what you get at every stadium.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Transcript: Jets quarterback Chad Pennington's postgame press conference

With the poor third down and red zone play, do you feel like you guys let one get away today?
We obviously had some opportunities to make it real interesting. That’s what it came down to, third down and red zone efficiency, and a lot of time it does come down to those two areas. Being 21 percent on third down and then 0-4 in the red zone, you’re not going to win that way.

After you threw that pass to Justin McCareins in the end zone, did you have a feeling it was going to get overturned?
To be honest with you, just from my personal vantage point, I felt like there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it. But that’s why I play the game and why the league gets paid to make those decisions. Once it was overturned, we had to move on to the next down and opportunity, and we still had opportunities to make plays even after that one.

Can you talk about finally getting into a rhythm?
The first series or two it feels weird because you haven’t had any reps throughout the week. I played Tom Brady all week, but I’ve been in this position before and I knew I had to prepare mentally and do some things after practice to stay as sharp as I can, understanding that I wouldn’t get any physical reps.

Did you put up as good of numbers as Brady [in scout team]?
I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to count.

Do you feel like you guys proved a point tonight?
I don’t think you ever prove a point by losing. Our guys don’t feel that way. We’re not into moral victories, that’s for sure. We’re highly disappointed. We always feel like no matter what the records are coming into a Patriots-Jets game, it’s always a good game and a game we have a chance to win. And no matter what’s going on around us, we’ve felt that way. Our defense played exceptionally well; got some big plays on special teams [like] the blocked punt. Offensively we just didn’t do enough, so that’s disappointing.

What are your thoughts for next week? Do you hope to start?
I’m just going to be me. I don’t have any control over the coaches’ decisions. I prepare as hard as I can and do everything I’m supposed to do to be ready. And when I’m called on I’ll be ready.

Did the weather play a part?
There’s two ways to look at it: when you’re a little kid and there’s snow on the ground and it’s messy outside, you beg your mom and dad to let you go out and play. I really didn’t worry about the weather. Obviously, that presented some different challenges and I think your antenna goes up a little as far as ball security and making sure you do have a good grip on the ball, especially when you’re making a down the field throw because if the ball does slip out or something, bad things can happen. I just tried to block that out and be aware of the surroundings.

What were you able to exploit today?
I think our guys did a great job in space and we were able to get our playmakers the ball in space and let those guys make plays. We weren’t quite as successful as we want to be, especially in crucial opportunities such as third-down and red zone [opportunities]. That’s the difference in the game and that’s what all these kind of games come down to. It’s one thing to be successful in first and second downs, but third down and the red zone are where you make your money, and we didn’t make enough.

Was it motivation to try to beat the Patriots’ unbeaten streak?
We never talked about the streak. What was important for us is that it’s a division game and that we had a change to get our third division win. And any time the Pats and the Jets get together it’s exciting and a playoff atmosphere and there are good players on the field. We didn’t focus on [the streak], we just focused on what we needed to do to win and we had a good game plan, we just didn’t execute.

Was it difficult to get your rhythm back after Brad Smith went into the game? Do you take that personally?
I don’t take that personally because it wasn’t a surprise. We had a package for Brad and I knew as a quarterback, and we knew as an offense, that that package could be called at any time, so I didn’t take it personally . . . That’s what you have to do sometimes when you have [someone] like Brad who makes play like that, as a quarterback you have to be ready. It’s hard sometimes, but that’s no excuse. You have to come in and execute. I don’t have any excuses, The first time I got in was a third down and a completed comeback for 18 yards, so I don’t have any excuses.

Can you talk about how quick that transition from watching to playing happens?
The biggest difference in that you go from having no adrenaline to all of a sudden getting an adrenaline rush real quick. And that’s a good thing. That’s what you need to play this game. You can’t play it lax, you can’t play it not focused, you’ve got to have some intensity and some drive. If you don’t, you’re going to get hurt out there, so that was what’s different from going from kind of being a spectator and doing everything you can from the sidelines and all of sudden you’ve got to jump in there and start making some things happen.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Postgame quotes from the Patriots' locker room

Jabar Gaffney, wide receiver
(On if the game plan was to run the ball more today)
With the elements you need to keep the ball on the ground more. Maroney did a great job running with the ball and the line was blocking good.

(On how the conditions affected the passing game)
It affected it a little bit; the ball was a little wet and with the way the wind was blowing it made it a little tough. So it makes you do a lot of short passes instead of stretching the field a little more. Overall we got it done.

(On have you ever seen a game suspended for fans throwing snowballs onto a field)
That was my first time seeing that. It’s great [that] our fans are very passionate and they like to have fun out there.

(On how it feels to be only the 2nd team ever to go 14-0 in a season)
Winning the first 14 games is a feat in it self, we never set out to be 14-0 we just try to go one game at a time and try to win the next one and then the one after. We have done a really good job at that and we will continue to do that, we have the Dolphins coming in and we will go on and prepare for them and hopefully after that keep going.

Kelley Washington, wide receiver
(On the blocked punt)
When I see a left footed punter, I rushed in from the right side and got an opportunity to make a play. The wing was playing kind of soft and I just felt myself driving him back and before you know it I was right on the punter. You know I always try to make big plays for the special teams and it was a big play right before the half. It was just great execution as a team.

(On the punt earlier that Willie Andrews knocked back from the end zone and Washington downed)
We practice those plays all the time and that was just great execution by Willie getting down there and hitting the ball and me backing him up and being right there to down the ball. Once again it’s just putting to work what we practice all the time and it was just great execution as a special teams group.

(On going 14-0)
I think, as a team, we’re just playing. We’re going out day-in and day-out, trying to improve in practice and on Sundays. One thing about this team is that guys never talk about it. We hear in the media and from other people, but as corps, as a team, the Patriots and the organization, we take it game-by-game. I think that’s what’s special.

(On blocked punt)
It wasn’t just me. I might have blocked the punt, but there were other guys around that got their man and made it easy for me to block the punt. I think, overall, we had a good performance as a corps on special teams.

Ellis Hobbs, cornerback
(On the defense playing up to the standard set by the offense)
You kind of get overlooked with the type of offense that we have. You’ve got to give it up to them; they’re juggernauts out there as far as making plays when they’re supposed to be making plays, or when you don’t think they’re going to make plays. I think, ourselves on defense, we hold our end also. Check the stats - that red zone defense has started to come along. I think today, maybe we’ve jumped up to 28th. We hold our own out there. It just so happens that this is an offensive game. Fans love to see the ball in the air. They love to see the ball in Tom’s hands, which is fine. We’re going to continue to go out there and make big plays and play our style of defense.

(On Eugene Wilson’s performance)
That’s what we do. Whoever’s down; the next person steps in. We’re not asking you to go out there and make these spectacular plays, a couple of those did happen, but we’re not asking you to do that-just play the role that you are given. Eugene’s been in this position before, starting, coming out there and getting back into the swing of things. I’m happy for him [and] the way the game went for him.

Kevin Faulk, running back
(On starting the season 14-0)
It’s a great accomplishment but it’s not what we’re trying to do. As a team, we’re trying to accomplish something a little bit greater than what that is right now.

(On the running game being the focus of the offense)
If we wanted to win, we had to run the ball. That’s something that we came into the game knowing that we had to do and that’s something that we try to do. Whatever we have to do to win the game, that’s it. If we have to throw it underhand to win, that’s what we’ll do. It’s just a fact about doing your job and knowing that the guy beside you is going to do his job.

(On the weather being a factor)
To be honest, when you’re in the game you’re not really worried about it. You have to worry about your footing and everything, but as far as the conditions, you just play football.

Heath Evans, running back
(On playing in poor conditions)
You’d always rather have snow than wind and rain, but the weather really wasn’t bad tonight. We played a good opponent and had our hands full for a while. Luckily, we made enough plays down the stretch to add another [win].

(On if the team ran the ball consistently because of the weather)
I don’t really think so. I think intentions are one thing every single week and the coaches adjust to what’s getting thrown at us. Obviously this week it was working. Laurence [Maroney] had a great game from what I can see. He ran hard downhill and that’s what we ask of him.

(On Laurence Maroney’s effectiveness)
I know what he’s capable of. I think he was given ample opportunities today and he did the most with it and I’m proud of the way he ran.

Laurence Maroney, running back
(On getting consistent carries)
You get a feel for the game. After you run a play a couple of times, you get a feel of how the defense is going to play it now and where you can make a person miss or where the hole might be. Running the ball a lot today, it gave me a chance to know where things were going to be before they happened.

(On securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs)
It’s always better to play in front of your home crowd, to make the visitors play with the noise. You can just play relaxed and you don’t have to deal with the crowd noise. You know what the elements are going to be up here and you can make teams come and play in our elements, the ones that we practice in every day.

(On developing the running game)
Coming into the game we knew that when we ran the ball for the first two quarters it was going to be real difficult. We weren’t going to break one and we were usually going to have to stick with it and pound for two, pound for three. Eventually the defense was going to get tired and three-yard [runs] were going to turn into four and five and hopefully you’d break one. It was basically running downhill because you can’t make too many cuts on this bad field in the rain like this.

Tedy Bruschi, linebacker
(On the playing conditions)
It was cold out there. It was ugly and sloppy at times, but the surface held. There was a little bit of rain we had to deal with, but overall its nice to know that we can go into elements like this and still play well and come out with a victory.

(On the satisfaction of starting 14-0)
Every win feels great. We’ve strung some together and it’s at 14 now. It feels good to be 14-0, I can’t lie to you, but I’m going to feel good about it tonight and then tomorrow we’re going to move on. We have to get ready for the Dolphins and that’s just how it’s been the whole year.

(On Eugene Wilson making big plays)
He didn’t have to return that interception very far, but still in elements like that it’s a tough catch. It’s tough to get your pocket under that and squeeze the ball. He was able to score a touchdown, so I hope that gives him a boost. I think it will to make a couple of big plays like that after you’ve missed a lot of action. It’s nice to see him contribute.

(On Richard Seymour forcing the first quarter interception)
That was a great hit. Usually when you have a ball like that, that sort of flutters and is short of the target, you have to look back to the rush and say he got a hand on his elbow or he was able to pummel him like Seymour did. He’s such a dominant force in there and whenever he explodes on someone like that - is able to finish a quarterback like that - you take notice.

Adalius Thomas, linebacker
(On the team’s red zone defense)
It was very important. I think that really came out on top, with the missed field goal and stopping them on fourth down. I think that was a big momentum shift in the game, especially after that turnover, so it really came up big today.

(On the Jets switching quarterbacks)
I don’t think it kept us off balance. It’s just the effect of different programs. They ran certain things with [Brad Smith] at quarterback and certain things they ran with [Chad] Pennington at quarterback. We knew what it was. We missed some tackles, but I think we adjusted to it well.

Matt Light, offensive lineman
(On if coming out and running the ball more was part of the game plan)
We knew that with the conditions we were going to have to be able to run the ball depending on which way we were going on the field. I thought we ran the ball alright. Obviously it would have been nice to be able to go out there and put together a good drive towards the end of the game, keep them off the field. When you have games like this and the weather is an issue you definitely have to go to the running game a little bit more.

(On the benefit of having that established with the possibility of playing games like this in January)
You have to be able to play in what Mother Nature gives you. I think we’re a good running team. I don’t think we’ve necessarily come out and run the ball a whole lot, obviously, in the last three week,s but we can run the ball. We’ve got guys that are good at seeing what’s going on up front and making good blocks. These are just things that we’re going to have to keep developing all the way into the playoffs.

Logan Mankins, offensive lineman
(On whether running the ball more than passing was the game plan)
Not really. We go into every game with the same amount of runs and passes. We’re just going into the game looking to see what will be the most effective on that day and today we felt with the weather and the way we started out running the ball that would be the way to go.

(On if the weather affects the running game)
No, not running it. As long as you have good footing, which on this field you’re going to have good footing, everything’s pretty equal. You don’t notice the rain really.

(On the hype of the Nor’easter leading up to the game)
After everything all week, you thought you’d be out there in ten feet of snow, after everything that was said. It was a lot nicer than predicted.

(On if it was an in-game decision to run the ball more)
That’s pretty much the coaches. The players, we’re in the dark, we just practice what they tell us to practice and during the game we just run what they tell us to run. Sometimes we have a feeling from just watching film on our own of what we are going to do. This week I think we thought we’d run it more just because we knew the circumstances with the weather. That’s what we did, we ran it more than we threw it.

(On what looks the Jets gave that made the team think the run would be there)
Well they are a 3-4 defense, like our defense, which [Eric] Mangini learned from Bill [Belichick]. I think as long as you have good fits and everyone is playing hard you can run against that scheme and that’s what we tried to do today.

Eugene Wilson, safety
(On the effect of the conditions on the movement of the ball)
The weather wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be really, really nasty, but actually it wasn’t too bad at all.

(On his overall performance)
Today was one of those great days for me. Every week, you see guys get those picks where the ball just comes right to them and I had to be that guy this week.

(On the effect of the weather on the game’s outcome)
Obviously, when you have weather, anything can happen. We just kept our composure and do what we were supposed to do and came out with the win.

(On his fumble recovery)
When the play started off, I didn’t know he was hold it loose. I was hoping that somebody was going to hit it and it just kept on popping and I was like, ‘Here we go,’ so I picked it up and tried to get what I could.

Rodney Harrison, safety
(On the weather)
We’ve practiced in this type of weather before. We really didn’t make it an issue. It wasn’t a problem. We just kind of ignored and did what we did as far as our game plan, execution, trying to go out there and make plays, making plays on the ball, as well as tackling. It really wasn’t that big of an issue.

(On improving to 14-0)
It’s the 14th game. It’s pretty nice as we look at it, but we’re not getting overly excited about it because that’s just one more step on the path of where we’re trying to go. [There’s] a lot of football to be played. We’re excited about it, but at the same time, we have a lot of improvements to make and lot of areas where we could do better.

(On red zone defense)
It just helps us continue to build confidence. We were probably 31st or 32nd in the league so there was no other place to go but up as far as our red zone defense. The defense came out. We had guys like Adalius [Thomas] - he played his butt off. Junior Seau played tremendous football and the defense just rallied, stuck together regardless of the situation or the circumstance, and we persevered.

(On Richard Seymour’s play)
Richard, he played tremendous. He’s a consummate pro, a guy that’s working his butt of to get back and trying to get back to form. He’s a guy that you’re happy for because you’ve seen his progress and coming off the knee injury, which I understand. It’s tough.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Transcript: Randy Moss' postgame press conference

How did the conditions affect the play on the field?
The conditions were bad. Each week it’s something, but as you can see, they have problems, we have problems. [There were] a couple of mistakes in the kicking game on both sides. It’s really just getting a win. Luckily, we’re 14-0 and it’s something good to smile about.

Did Bill Belichick show at all how much he wanted this victory?
Coach Belichick emphasized all week being mentally and physically ready to go out there and play 60 minutes of football. I don’t know what personal vendetta he had against Coach Mangini, but he didn’t express it all week. Anything he had was definitely kept inside. As far as preparing his team to go out there and play 60 minutes with the weather conditions, that’s one thing that we’ve done this week, knowing what we had to do to get the win.

Did the conditions call for your game plan to not stretch the field?
If you know football. A lot of fans that watch don’t know the real football concept. If you really looked at the game today, there were certain times when we were trying to use the wind to our advantage for things like that, but it did play a big factor today because we had some plays in our offense that we couldn’t call because of that reason. We got the victory, both teams had to deal with it and we’re 14-0.

Do you expect to play in another weather game like this again in January?
There’s no telling. One thing throughout my career that I’ve always watched is the New England Patriots playing in the snow and bad weather, so when I came up here I just wanted to know which days and what time of the month that it was coming. Now it’s here, so there’s nothing we can do about it but just try to go out there and play and see what we can do.

What did you think about the fans throwing snowballs onto the field?
I though it was hilarious. Actually, I told Tommy [Brady] on the sidelines - I think it was the first touchdown, no, it was [Eugene] Wilson’s pick that he took to the house - they started throwing snowballs. I started looking and the whole stadium was throwing snowballs. Actually I looked up where my people sit, I didn’t think they were up there, but they were standing up jumping with them. It was funny. Like I said, they put a lot of fun into the game here, if it’s the Jumbotron, the guy on the microphone, or just the fans themselves. We have fun here. Not just myself and the players, but with the fans also.

How satisfying is it to be just the second team in NFL history to start a season 14-0?
Me, personally - I’m really speaking for myself - as long as that zero stays in that [loss] column, I’m cool with it. But, this being the second team to do this, do that, I think we have a goal set out, because now it’s playoff time. It’s getting close to the end of the regular season, [our goal is] to go on and play for the trophy. I don’t really care what’s going on during the regular season, as long as we have a chance to play for that trophy. I think a lot of guys feel that way. In the locker room - 14-0, second team to do it - guys mention it, but what are you going to do?

How important is it for you guys to get that number-one seed?
I guess it’s just something they do around here. I guess it’s expected. One thing about this organization, we never look into the future or where we’re going. We have seven, six days to prepare for a team and that’s what Coach Belichick keeps us grounded in and humble, that we cannot look past a team that we’re about to play. Anything down the road, individually we think about what we’re doing and what we can possibly do, but as a whole unit, we don’t talk about it, we don’t celebrate it. Basically, we’re going on to Miami and seeing if we can get the win.

Is that culture a good thing for you as a player? The fact that “looking ahead” is off your shoulders?
Not just for this organization, but for sports period. I think in sports today, if you get too ahead of yourself, things happen. That’s one thing Coach Belichick is not letting us do, getting ahead of ourselves. There are times out there when you might see us afterward having fun or jumping around, but that’s just between the white lines. Then once we come in here, get in the classroom, work, and go out to practice, it’s back to normal. So we don’t look past the team that we’re playing that week.

Can you talk about your catch when there was pass interference called?
It was a play designed to go deep. Actually I was going out to the right, to the deep corner. I saw the ball thrown and had to go get it and he bumped me and stopped my progression. They have to throw the flag. Their bench was saying it was on me. I’ve been getting calls my way and some I haven’t. Luckily we got the pass interference and I completed the catch and we went down there and scored some points.

Was your old college quarterback [Chad Pennington] the last guy you wanted to see out on the other side of the field?
I’ve always been a big fan of Chad’s. The things we did in college is something we still cherish to this day. That’s the thing about college football. That’s when you go from being a young man to a grown man and you have a lot of good things happen in your life, not just in football, but the college experience. Just seeing Chad and him getting back in there - I wasn’t really paying attention to their quarterback controversy or whatever it may be. But I’ve always been a big fan of Chad’s and hopefully he does well.

Is there a chance the team might take it easy and rest some players in the next couple of weeks?
We haven’t talked about it. Just by your questions that you all are asking, Coach Belichick is not letting up. If you all think there’s any chance he is going to let up and give us a break, he’s not. From Week One, all the way to training camp, you heard about the “humble pie.” There’s no telling how much we’re going to eat this week, but Coach Belichick would never let a team like this [take it easy].

Did you think you were going to catch a touchdown on that pass broken up by Hank Poteat?
That was just a good play. With the conditions we played in, the last couple weeks we’ve emphasized securing the catch. Don’t try to do anything with the ball, just secure the catch. It was just a good play by him, getting his hand in there. We tried to stick it in there, but like I said, he made a good play.

How did you like playing fullback?
Well, you saw I motioned out to my wide receiver spot. That’s really not me. My body is not made for that. But if it’s third-and-one and they need me to block for [Laurence] Maroney, all I could do is get in somebody’s way.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Transcript: Tom Brady's postgame press conference

How important was this win for you? Especially playing in the elements, big win obviously for your head coach.
Yeah. Great win and I think [the weather is] probably the way it’s going to be next week, the week after, the week after - So it’s good to get out there gain some confidence that we can win a game when the conditions aren’t really like they’ve been. Ee’ve had great weather all year. Anytime you beat the Jets it’s a great win and 5-0 in the division and 14-0, so it’s a lot to be proud of.

(On how the conditions and the wet ball affect the offense.)
Wet, rain, wind, cold - for an offense - and then you lose your tight end early in the game too, so you’re kind of forced to throw it a lot. I think defenses had the upper hand today.

I know you have a lot of things you want to accomplish this season and still to accomplish but does the significance of being the second team ever to go 14-0 mean anything?
We’re just trying to get better and execute better each week. I’m happy we won today and I think next week is going to be a challenge. I’m glad we’re playing at home; the crowd was a factor today and hopefully we can play better next week.

Did you think you had [Randy] Moss in the end zone there where Hank [Poteat] reached in a broke it up?
Yeah I did. I did.

Were you amused, disinterested - what’s the word for the whole Belichick-Mangini subplot this week?
It’s just one of those things that’s not really in our control. We as a team have a lot of confidence in our coach and [the Jets are] very well coached. Eric [Mangini] is a great coach; we know that from being around here. We all have respect for that team and the coaches and they play extremely hard. I’m glad we got the win. I think that’s the way we approached it all week and what anyone says about anything… it ultimately comes down to the way you play. The more time and energy you spend focusing on things that really aren’t that important, you’re wasting time and energy.

Do you think that chapter is closed now on this rivalry or is that something that will always be part of it?
It’s a great rivalry as it is. I think since Coach Belichick got here and his history with the Jets, all the players we’ve had come from the Jets, and vice versa, it makes for a great rivalry. It’s always a tough opponent for us to face and I know last year we played them in some pretty [tough] conditions and lost. This year they tried to confuse us quite a bit with what they were doing and I thought we handled it a little bit better. [We] didn’t execute well enough to put drives together, but it was good to go down and get the field goal there at the end and I think we ran the ball pretty effectively at times.

How tough were those conditions and how much did they dictate the game plan?
It’s just one of those situations were there are a lot of things you don’t call because if you’re playing them on air you don’t hit them or complete them. Anything deep or to the sideline is challenging so you have to find a way to make those plays on the inside part of the field when you get your opportunities to make the plays. Obviously, it’s not very conducive to throwing the football. I wish we played in a dome every week, it’s 65 degrees or 70 degrees playing in a dome and elements are never a factor. That’s not the case in Foxborough, but you play with whatever conditions are out there and you just try to do the best you can do. I’m glad we got the win.

At the end of the second quarter, I think, you had the wind at your back, was that a factor?
Yeah, it’s kind of at your back but it’s kind of at the side too. It’s not like it’s straight down, it’s more to the side and across. Wind, no wind, it’s always challenging with the wind and then you put a wet ball out there and it’s challenging but I thought we made a lot of good plays, a lot of plays we needed. Randy [Moss] made a great catch there at the end. Wes [Welker] had a big third down catch. Those guys caught the ball really well. A lot of great concentration, and, like I said, it was a good win for us.

The way the conditions were, is it a possible benefit knowing that you might have to play a pair of playoff games in this in January?
I’m sure it’s going to be a factor throughout. I’ve been in this winter-time conditions, practiced in the snow and the rain and the sleet and it’s nice [that] the field we have [has] great footing. I always like it a little snowy out there so everyone doesn’t have great footing. It makes it kind of easier to throw the ball. When they have great footing… I like when everyone is on skates out there, like [Thursday’s] practice. We’ll probably have those conditions again. I hope we learned from today and we’ll just try to go out and play better next week.

Teams will rest their best players to protect them for the playoffs. Do you think you’ll play in the next two weeks? Or play much?
I hope so. I hope I play every snap. That’s the most exciting part of my job is playing; [it’s] not practicing, I know that.

You probably haven’t had the year everyone expected out of Laurence Maroney. Does a game like this, is he moving in the right direction, back on track per se?
It was a big game for him. I thought he played really well. I thought he ran the ball hard, took care of the ball, scored on the goal line. When you have elements like this you want to play great defense and run the ball and I thought we played great defense today and we ran the ball well. That’s what we’re going to need the rest of the season. Hopefully Laurence gained some confidence. I know we all have confidence in Laurence. He just hasn’t had quite the opportunity that he would like, but I know he was excited today.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Transcript: Bill Belichick's postgame press conference

That was a good win for our football team. It was a game where all three phases of the game, there were some key plays in it. The kicking game turned out to be big, obviously, and we were able to make enough plays that we needed to make to win. It was certainly one of our goals at the beginning of the year, to win in our division, and next week we have a chance to go 6-0 in the division, and that’s a good way to get to that point and hopefully we’ll be able to play well enough to win next week. That was a good football game out there today. [I’m] proud of the way the guys played. [They] dealt with the elements [and] all the other things that go into a tight game like this. [They] made plays throughout the game – made some in the fourth quarter, made some in the second quarter and it’s good to win. It’s good to win and we’ll get on to Miami next week.

You’re 14-0. How significant is that, that you’re only the second team ever to do that?
We’re happy with our record, but right now it’s all one-week seasons. We’ll take a look at the Jets film, make the corrections from that [and] move on to Miami. That’s all we’re thinking about.

You have to be happy to have wrapped up home field advantage as well.
Yeah, that was good. That was good.

With the number one seed wrapped up, does the context of the games change the way you’ll utilize your personnel?
We’ll do what we always do.

You touched on the elements. How much of a factor was that?
Well, the rain was I think the biggest factor – you know, the wet ball, the wet field. The wind was somewhat… we’ve played in worse, but it was a factor. But ball handling, the ball was a little slick and so was the footing. I think that affected the tackling a little bit, too. It looked like both teams missed some tackles out there where they couldn’t’ quite get a hold of the guy or couldn’t quite get their feet under them– the tackler couldn’t really get his feet under to really secure the tackle. It felt like that was a little bit of a factor, too.

When you say, “Do what we always do,” does that mean . . .
It means we’ll prepare for the game. We’ll break down the film, we’ll prepare for the game, the players will come in, we’ll give them the game plan, we’ll get ready to go and we’ll go play on Sunday. [The] same thing we always do.

How about as far as what players . . .
That’s what we always do. We’ll play the same way. We’ll do what we always do. We’ll come in, we’ll prepare and we’ll play the game on Sunday. That’s what we do.

You talked during the week about things you looked at to improve with your team and get better at, and one was red zone defense. That played a pretty big role today.
Yeah, they did a pretty good job. We finally pulled ourselves out of the basement. We’ve been down there all year. I think we were 31st last week or something like that. The players were talking about it today -- maybe we’ll be 29th or something like that. It was good, though. It’s good to be able to keep a team out of the end zone, force them to field goals and if they don’t make them then you get out of there with no points. That was something we’ve done a little bit better the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we can continue that, continue in that direction. Those are big points, especially in a tight game like we had today.

Laurence Maroney had over 100 yards and 20-some carries. Were you happy with his performance?
Yeah. I think he carried the ball, ran hard. I thought he made some good runs, had some good balance. We’ll look at the film. I’m sure there’s things that he could do better, but it was a good performance for him on the ground and we needed that. It was one of those kinds of games where we had some opportunities to run the ball and he ran it, and I thought he ran hard and he took care of the ball, which was really important.

Did you expect to run as much coming in or was that weather-related adjustment?
I think it was more . . . it was sort of a function of . . . well, the weather certainly had something to do with it, but it was a little bit of a function of the defense, too. You saw the Jets standing around out there, walking around on the line of scrimmage, so we thought we had an opportunity to snap the ball, run the ball at some of those fronts, and we did that.

They caught you on a big play there after Kellen Clemens went out and they kind of ran the thread to the option. Was that something you expected?
Yeah, we’d worked on it. They put [Brad] Smith back there in the backfield a lot, run the dive, run the option, run the pitch and we just didn’t play it as well as we needed to. And there were a couple of times where it looked like we had them and we had a little trouble tackling. But again, it was one of those days where there were a lot of broken tackles out there on both sides.

On special teams, Kelley Washington made some big plays today.
Yes, he made some big plays. I’ll tell you, we really work a lot on punt blocks, believe it or not. I know we haven’t blocked a punt since I’ve been here, so it’s hard for me to say yeah, we’re good at it, but that was a great time for it. Then we were able to get the ball in on the goal line and that hasn’t always been the case against the Jets. We’ve been stopped down there in our goal line offense in some other games against them, but I thought we did a good job of running it in there and it was big for us to be able to convert that. I know [when] you get the ball on the three yard line you say, “Well, it’s in,” but it really isn’t, so that was big. That was a huge play by Kelley.

Did you see something from Maroney today that maybe you hadn’t seen earlier in the year?
No, I wouldn’t say so. Laurence has played good football for us all year – actually, since he’s been here. He’s tough, he runs hard, he’s patient, does a good job in blitz-pickup, he’s made some plays in the passing game, like he did a couple of weeks ago, so he does a good job for us.

Now that it’s over, how do you feel about being done with the Jets?
It’s just like the other games. It’s good to win. It’s good to win in the division. It’s good to sweep the Jets and we’ll move on to Miami.

Washington also had a big play early in the game. How important has he been on special teams?
He’s done a great job for us in the kicking game. He’s done an outstanding job -- covering kicks, both on kickoffs and punts, kind of the outside guy on those, downing them. I mean, the block obviously was a huge play. He’s given us some big plays in the kicking game this year throughout the course of the year, even going back to opening day on a couple of those sideline returns with Leon Washington. He’s been solid for us in the kicking game all year, both on the coverage teams, blocking, and on the punt return, so he’s done a good job. That was a big play today. That was huge.

With everything now wrapped up, why wouldn’t there be an advantage to letting up and maybe resting guys?
I think I already answered that question. Anything else?

Are there any extra or different emotions, given the backdrop of this game and also, to follow up on something you said on Friday about you not giving permission . . .
Yeah, I think we’ve covered all that.

Will you follow up with the league?
I think we’ve covered all that.

Posted by Art Martone at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

No TD tosses for Tom Brady

It had been a long time since Tom Brady played a game when he didn't throw a touchdown pass.

Over a year, in fact.

Dec. 10, 2006, to be exact.

Until this Sunday, when the Jets prevented the NFL's leading passer from completing a pass in the end zone.

The Jets and the weather, that is.

"Obviously, it wasn't very conducive to throwing the football," Brady said.

Throwing a wet ball on a dismal afternoon of sleet and rain, Brady completed a season-low 14 of 27 passes, for just 140 yards -- also a season low _ with one interception.

"I wish we played in a dome every week," said Brady, sounding about envious of his primary rival for NFL passing supremacy, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who plays at least half his games indoors in Indianapolis.

"It's 65 or 70 degrees playing in a dome," Brady said, "and the elements are never a factor. That's not the case in Foxboro. But you play with whatever conditions are out there, and you just try to do the best you can."

The best thing to do on such a blustery day is run the ball, which the Patriots did successfully -- Laurence Maroney rushing for 104 yards and a TD on 26 carries.

"It was a big game for him," Brady said. "I thought he played really well. I thought he ran the ball hard, took care of the ball, scored on the goal line.

"That's what we're going to need from him the rest of the season. Hopefully, Laurence gained some confidence. I know we all have confidence in Laurence. He just hasn't had quite the opportunity that he would like, but I know he was excited today."

Given the weather, it was hard for Brady to throw the ball with much confidence.

"It's just one of those situations," he said, "where there are a lot of things you don't call because you don't hit them or complete them. Anything deep, or to the sideline, is challenging, so you have to find a way to make plays on the inside part of the field when you get your opportunities."

Brady almost had a touchdown pass late in the game, but Jets defensive back Hank Poteat, a former Patriot, knocked the ball away from Moss at the last instant. The Pats wound up settling for a field goal on that drive, the highlight of which was a 46-yard completion to Moss at the N.Y. 14. Prior to that, the longest completion Brady had was a 16-yarder to Wes Welker only a few plays earlier in the same series.

"It's always challenging with the wind," said Brady. "Then you put a wet ball out there and it's even more challenging. But I thought we made a lot of good plays, a lot of plays we needed. Randy made a great catch there at the end. Wes had a big third-down catch."

Brady did set a new career-high yesterday in passing yards, increasing his season total to 4,235 -- 320 yards shy of the team record set by Drew Bledsoe in 1994. Brady has thrown for a club-record 45 touchdowns, and is four shy of tying the NFL record set by Manning in 2003.

But TD passes may be increasingly hard to come by as winter weather descends upon New England.

"This is probably the way it's going to be next week, the week after, and the week after that," said Brady. We've had great weather all year, so it's good to get out there and gain some confidence that we can win a game when the conditions aren't really like they've been."

Posted by Jim Donaldson at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Playoff bye: How important?

This will be the fifth time since the NFL adopted its current playoff format in 1990 that the Patriots have earned a bye into the conference semifinals. Every previous time, the Pats made it to the Super Bowl -- 1996, 2001, 2003, and 2004. After losing to the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI, New England upset the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, then beat the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII and the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
This is only the second time that the Patriots are the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They also earned that distinction in 2003, when they beat the Colts in the conference championship game in Foxboro, 24-14.
Under coach Bill Belichick, the Pats now have won five straight division titles, and six of the last seven.

Posted by Jim Donaldson at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Quick postgame notes

Tom Brady now has 4,235 passing yards this season, a career high. He’s beaten the Jets 12 times in his career, second only to his 13 victories against the Bills as a personal high
* * * *
Wes Welker eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season, giving the Pats two 1,000-yard receivers (Welker and Randy Moss) for the first time since Harold Jackson and Stanley Morgan in 1979.
* * * *
Laurence Maroney had a career-high 26 carries yesterday for a season-high 104 yards. His previous career high for carries in a game was 20. Maroney also scored a touchdown, making him the 19th player in franchise history to score at least 10 rushing touchdowns for the Patriots.
* * * *
The Patriots have now won 12 of their last 15 games against the Jets, and yesterday’s victory lifted their all-time record against New York to .500 (48-48-1).
* * * *
The Patriots are now in fifth place on the list of teams with most points scored in a season, with 523. They trail the 1998 Vikings (556), the 1983 Redskins (541), the 2000 Rams (540) and the 1999 Rams (526). Their 37.35 points per game trails only the 1950 Rams (38.83).
* * * *
The Patriots have outscored their opponents by 291 points this year (523-232), the second-biggest total in history. They trail the 1942 Bears, who outscored their opponents by 292 points in an 11-game season, by one point.
* * * *
The Patriots have scored 67 touchdowns this season, tying the 2000 Rams for second place on the all-time list of TDs in a single season. The 1984 Dolphins scored 70.
* * * *
The Patriots are now 26-6 in December games since Bill Belichick took over as coach in 2000, and 44-8 in games played after Thanksgiving since 2001.
* * * *
The Patriots are 34-9 against AFC East opponents since 2001.

More to come . . .

Posted by Art Martone at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

There was a handshake

Bill Belichick did indeed meet Eric Mangini at midfield to shake his former assistant's hand. It was brief, but it definitely happened. Afterwards, Belichick shook his fist above his head in victory.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Patriots 20, Jets 10

It wasn't exactly the way Patriots fans thought it might be, but the New England Patriots won their rematch with the New York Jets today, 20-10, at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots became the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go 14-0. For the Dolphins, the 14 wins meant a perfect regular-season record; the Pats still have two more to go before they begin their playoff run.

New England's offense sputtered all day in the rainy, windy conditions, but the game turned on a big plays by the defense and the special teams.

Early in the first quarter, Richard Seymour buried Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens as Clemens threw from the end zone. The rushed pass went right to Eugene Wilson, who easily returned it for the Patriots' first touchdown of the game. Clemens was injured on the play, and the Jets turned to Chad Pennington (with wide receiver Brad Smith calling signals on a few plays) the rest of the way.

In the second quarter, with the Patriots clinging to a 10-7 lead, seldom-used wide receiver Kelley Washington made a one-handed block of Ben Graham's punt. The play gave the Patriots the ball at the Jets' 3-yard line, and Laurence Maroney ran in for a touchdown two plays later.

Tom Brady did not throw for a touchdown (he did have one pass intercepted), leaving him four shy of Peyton Manning's single-season record (49). Maroney surpassed 100 yards rushing for the second time this season, and the first time since New England's Week 3 victory over Buffalo.

In case you were wondering, coaches Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini did shake hands after the game.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Game temporarily suspended

The game is currently being temporarily suspended until the crowd stops throwing snowballs onto the field. They had been warned earlier to stop -- there's no problem as long as the snow stays in the stands -- and fans continued to throw them.

It lasted about 40 seconds.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Halftime notes

Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Junior Seau celebrates his second-quarter sack of Chad Pennington.

Courtesy of the Patriots' PR department:

PATRIOTS TIE NFL RECORD WITH 21st DIFFERENT PLAYER TO SCORE A TOUCHDOWN
With his first quarter interception return for a touchdown, Eugene Wilson became the 21st different player to score a touchdown for the Patriots this season, tying the all-time NFL record for most players scoring a touchdown in a single season. The Patriots have tied the 2000 Denver Broncos and the 1987 Los Angeles Rams, who also each had 21 players scoring a touchdown.

WILSON SCORES FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN
Eugene Wilson returned an interception five yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead. The touchdown was the first of Wilson’s 5-year career and came on his 10th career interception. Wilson has become the 30th player in Patriots history to record 10 or more regular-season interceptions with the team and ties Mike Vrabel for the third highest interception total in a New England uniform by an active Patriots player. Of active Patriots, only Asante Samuel (22) and Tedy Bruschi (12) have more interceptions than Wilson in a New England uniform. The interception was Wilson’s first since Nov. 20, 2005. He became the sixth Patriots player to score a defensive touchdown this season, joining Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Randall Gay, Rosevelt Colvin and Adalius Thomas. The interception return for a touchdown was the third for the Patriots this season.

BRADY SETS SINGLE-SEASON CAREER HIGH FOR PASSING YARDS
On a 12-yard completion to Randy Moss in the first quarter, Tom Brady set a new single-season career high for passing yards, topping his total of 4,110 yards in 2005. Following his 12-yard completion to Moss, Brady had 4,117 passing yards for the season. Brady entered today’s game leading the NFL with 4,095 passing yards for the season. Brady’s 2007 yardage total is currently the second highest total in Patriots franchise history, trailing only Drew Bledsoe’s team-record 4,555 passing yards in 1994.

MARONEY SCORES THIRD TOUCHDOWN OF SEASON
Laurence Maroney gave the Patriots a 17-7 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The scoring run was Maroney’s third of the season and was the ninth rushing score of his career. Maroney’s touchdown against the Jets was the 10th overall touchdown of his career, including nine rushing scores and one receiving touchdown.

WASHINGTON BLOCKED PUNT: FIRST FOR PATRIOTS SINCE 1999
Kelley Washington blocked a punt by New York’s Ben Graham in the second quarter, giving the Patriots possession at the Jets’ 3-yard line, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney and a 17-7 Patriots lead. The blocked punt was the first for the Patriots Dec. 19, 1999, when Larry Whigham blocked a punt by Philadelphia’s Sean Landeta in a 24-9 loss to the Eagles at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

EVEN STEPHEN
Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 10-0 lead. Following that field goal, Gostkowski was 17-for-20 on the season (85 percent) and 37-for-46 for his regular-season career (80.4 percent). Including his 8-for-8 career playoff mark, Gostkowski was 45-for-54 in his career (83.3 percent) following the kick.

OPPONENT BLOCKED PUNT RETURN FOR TOUCHDOWN: FIRST TIME SINCE 1990
The Jets’ David Bowens blocked a Chris Hanson punt and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown, marking the first time a Patriots opponent had returned a blocked punt for a touchdown since Oct. 18, 1990. In that game, Miami’s Mark Higgs returned a blocked punt of New England’s Brian Hansen 19 yards for a touchdown. Prior to today’s game, the last time an opponent blocked a Patriots punt was on Sept. 8, 2005, when Oakland’s Randal Williams blocked a Josh Miller punt.

SEAU RECORDS SECOND SACK OF SEASON
Junior Seau sacked Chad Pennington for an 8-yard loss in the second quarter. The sack was Seau’s second of the season and raised his career total to 55.0 career sacks. Seau’s career sack total ranks fifth among active linebackers.

SEYMOUR/GREEN SPLIT SACK
Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green combined to sack Chad Pennington for a 13-yard loss in the second quarter.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 2:39 PM to Junior Seau | Permalink | Comments 0

Photos: Let the snowballs fly

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl

In the first quarter, Richard Seymour slammed into Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens as Clemens threw, top. The pass was intercepted by Eugene Wilson, who returned the ball for a touchdown, middle. Fans celebrated by hurling snowballs in the air.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

New career high for Brady

Tom Brady's 12-yard completion to Randy Moss gives him 4,117 passing yards for the season, setting a new career high.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 1:26 PM to Tom Brady | Permalink | Comments 1

The Journey To Gillette Stadium

FOXBORO -- The journey to Foxboro was an interesting one.

I left my house at about 9:00 a.m., after an hour of shoveling my driveway and my street so that my car could make it to a major road that had been plowed.

I took route 10 to 95 and neither road had been plowed very well. Most drivers were going 35-miles-per-hour or less. Traveling on route 95 in Rhode Island was much better than traveling on it in Massachusetts because 95 had been plowed in Rhode Island but it had not been plowed in Massachusetts.

You couldn’t even see the pavement in Massachusetts for much of the drive. Trucks did plow the middle lane a few miles before 495. Traffic did not back up until a half-a-mile before Route 1, and Route 1 was only two lanes instead of the usual three heading to the Stadium. In all, it took about two hours once I left my house to get to Gillette Stadium (three if you include the shoveling).

Unfortunately, the parking lots weren’t paved very well and many fans attending the game parked either illegally or squeezed in-between two cars in spaces that were too small for a regular spot and then struggled to get out because they were too close to the other cars.

The fans were then in for a big surprise because most of the isles and seats at Gillette Stadium had not been shoveled.

Posted by Rob Lee at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Lucky #21

Eugene Wilson's interception return for a touchdown makes him the 21st different Patriots player to score a touchdown this season, tying the NFL record held by two other teams: the 2000 Denver Broncos and the 1987 L.A. Rams.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 1:15 PM to Eugene Wilson | Permalink | Comments 0

Plenty of seats still available

It is officially about 10 minutes until kickoff, and there are a lot of empty seats here inside Gillette Stadium.

There are people milling around on the concourse as well, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say only about 10-20 percent of the seats have people in them right now...

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Updated: Webcam at Gillette: Field, seats look clear

Weather Bug has a Webcam facing north into the stadium. Here's the current image:

The field looks clear, seats too, although the aisles are still white. With temperatures expected to be around 37 degrees at gametime, slow melt, occasional rain and trampling should clear the rest.

The X factor remains the wind, expected to be gusting to 45 mph this afternoon when the Patriots meet the Jets.

Later: I've added screenshots of images captured earlier today, and one yesterday for comparison.

The Webcam has a time-lapse feature and you can choose to animate the slideshow in large or tiny increments.

9 a.m.

10 a.m.

1030 a.m.

1100 a.m.

1130 a.m.

Yesterday, 1 p.m.

Posted by Sheila Lennon at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Game inactives

For the Patriots:
QB Matt Gutierrez (3QB)
WR Chad Jackson
S Rashad Baker
S James Sanders
G Stephen Neal
G Billy Yates
WR Troy Brown
TE Benjamin Watson

For the Jets:
QB Marques Tuiasosopo (3QB)
WR Chris Davis
OL Jacob Bender
T Adrian Jones
TE Jason Pociask
LB Marques Murrell
DL Kareem Brown
DE Eric Hicks

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Tarp is coming off

The grounds crew has started taking the tarp off the north end of the field, as it's about that time for players to start coming on the field to warm up for the game.

The workers in the stands are still diligently clearing the piles of snow from the lower bowl, and ushers are trying to clear the steps in their sections as best they can.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Morning all --

I don't relish waking up at 6:40 a.m. on a Sunday, but thanks to Mother Nature, that's the situation I was in this morning, as I suppose many folks headed this way for today's game did. The Patriots opened the parking lots around the stadium at 8 a.m., an hour earlier than usual, to accommodate those who got here early, and when we were coming in 20 minutes ago, there were plenty of people braving the elements.

On the field currently, the grounds crew is working hard to clear the snow off the tarp that's covering the FieldTurf. Of course, where they started already has another thin layer of snow re-covering the tarp.

There are also crews in the stands clearing out the piles of snow and funneling it down onto the field, where it is being carried off the field and dumped under the bridge in the north end of the field.

We'll continue to update you as the game gets closer.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments 0