Stats on Pats Weekly Article by Joshua Bonneau, southcoast247.com correspondent
Bring on the Jets: Pats close out regular season in strong fashion
The Patriots ended their regular season on New Year’s Eve with a 40-23 win over the Tennessee Titans, moving their week 17 record to 12 and 4. But other, more pressing things were made final on Sunday aside from the Pat’s season standings- things that decidedly had nothing to do with the victory.
Indeed, when the Patriots received word that the San Francisco 49’ers had upset the Denver Broncos, and that as a result the New York Jets would be their first round opponent in the playoffs, the announcement came via the pilot’s in-cabin PA on the return flight home.
Secretly, this was the match up that most (if not all) Patriot’s fans were hoping for- the Jets being the lesser of the two evils for the Patriots for obvious reasons. First and foremost, the Jets have a first year head coach. Granted, prior to leaving at the end of the 2005 season to take on the Jets coaching vacancy, Eric Mangini had been under Belichick’s tutelage since his days with the Cleveland Browns, circa 1995. It’s the classic teacher/disciple contest, but in this case, knowing thy master doesn’t necessarily change anything. Belichick has the track record, the playoff pedigree, the seasoned playoff team, an unwavering QB, the three rings, and the record for being the only coach to lead a playoff team to a first round victory in each of its last three seasons.
In other words, the upper hand.
Albeit, resting on your past laurels is something Bill Belichick himself would label stupidity, and for good reason. Going into the 2006 season, the Jets were the team nobody expected to win more than a handful of games at best. But here they are in the postseason at 10-6, which is a remarkable turnaround given their .300 win percentage last year. What I’m trying to say is; what’s in a record?
Well, not much really. But, if you want to compare season stats, then this playoff game for all purposes is the 06’ rubber match between the Jets and the Patriots- the teams having split their two regular season contests. In fact, the last time the teams met in Foxboro, the Jets put an end to the Patriot’s 57 games-without-consecutive-losses streak with a 17-14 upset victory. Since then, the Pat’s have gone 6-1, while the Jets have gone 5-2.
To me, there’s something alarming about that loss in week 10. Aside from inflating his ego, that win proved to Mangini that his team was eager to rally around the underdog flagpole, and more importantly, that they would not be intimidated. All said, I think that same attitude will translate this weekend in Foxboro. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if right now Mangini was spinning the whole ‘something to prove’ drama to his advantage. What it comes down to is that the Patriot’s post season prestige won’t mean anything come crunch time.
In many ways, Mangini has fashioned his operation in the likeness of the Patriots. From the scrappy, hard nosed, “all for the win” mentality of his players, to the extensive preparation time he and his coaching staff put in- all of it in mirror form.
But for my money, there is no way on God’s green earth Belichick let’s Mangini beat him two out of three times this season. The pupil will be taken to school.
Patriots 24, Jets 13
* On a negative game note, one with definite playoff implications, Patriot’s star safety Rodney Harrison will be sidelined this Sunday with a sprained MCL in his right knee, the Boston Globe is reporting. Harrison suffered the injury versus the Titans on Sunday when some cheap, no talent thug named Bobby Wade cut blocked him in the open field. Harrison was just coming off a broken right shoulder blade that had put him out for six weeks, and by preliminary measures, this injury will likely sit him the rest of the postseason.