The injury to Tom Brady has everyone talking: is this the Jets or the Bills chance? Brady being finished for the season has turned the AFC and division possibly upside down. Brett’s Jets sweated out a close one in Miami, and Bills’ special teams unit ran the Seahawks all the way back to Seattle. And Miami, okay so not everything’s been completely turned upside down. The most watched and scrutinized player for the rest of the year: hello, Matt Cassell!
New England Patriots. What a brutal eight months it’s been. First, in February, their pursuit of perfection went down the crapper thanks to the Giants. And now their first game since, they lose the franchise and NFL’s best player, Tom Brady, to a torn ACL and MCL. They hung on and survived against the Chiefs, but now it’s all on Matt Cassell and whether or not he can write the most improbable of Hollywood scripts. It’s happened once before in 2001 when then quarterback Drew Bledsoe was lost for the season and little unknown Tom Brady led the Pats to a Super Bowl run for the ages. Cassell still has one of the best wideout duos in Randy Moss and Wes Welker to lean on, and they’ll give the running backs, Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk a heavier workload. I don’t buy it’ll happen again. They’ve got a long, tough road ahead of them.
Miami Dolphins. Compared to what they were last year, kudos to the fins for not looking as pathetic and bleak as their conference mates Oakland and Cincinnati. But they’ve still got a ways to go. Chad Pennington looked good under center and the former Jet had a nice day, throwing for 251 yards and two scores. The only number I didn’t like from him was 43. That’s the number of pass attempts Pennington fired. The running game wasn’t much of a factor. Ricky Williams gained just 24 yards, Ronnie Brown just 23. The wideouts were ghosts as well. The two leading receivers for Miami were tights ends Anthony Fasano (eight for 84 and a TD) and David Martin (four for 53 and a score). Ted Ginn. Paging Ted Ginn. He was supposed to be an electic Devin Hester with better hands, but the glimpses and improvements have been scarce. No reliable deep threats to stretch field and keep the defense honest means the running game will struggle.
Buffalo Bills. BILLS SPECIAL TEAMS! That sure was a special effort. The Bills blitzed Seattle with a punt return by Roscoe Parrish for a score, a fake field goal for a score and a fumble recovery that set up a third score. Trent Edwards looked comfortable and he established a strong rapport with wideout Lee Evans, went over the century mark in receiving yards. The defense turned in a strong effort, sacking Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck five times. They’ll face a stiffer, meaner test when they travel to Jacksonville to face a wounded Jags bunch.
New York Jets. Brett Favre’s jet debut was a success. Favre was up to his old tricks, including a 56-yard bomb to Jericho Cotchery and fourth down ugly duck prayer that answered by Chansi Stuckey. The defense played real well, getting to former Jet Chad Pennington four times and holding Miami to 49 yards rushing as a team. Up next, a date with the Patriots. Sure the NFL loses out on what they’d hope would be a Brady-Favre matchup, but the Jets probably don’t mind they won’t see Brady. Without Brady long gone, the Jets become the AFC East darlings now.
