Sunday, December 30, 2007

Playoff Schedule

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                
12/30/07

NFL WILD CARD & DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

Commissioner ROGER GOODELL announced tonight the schedule of sites, dates and times for the National Football League Wild Card games of January 5-6 and Divisional Playoffs of January 12-13 (all times Eastern):

NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND

Saturday, January 5

NFC:  4:30 PM (ET)
Washington (9-7) at Seattle (10-6) (NBC-TV)

 

 
AFC:  8:00 PM (ET)
Jacksonville (11-5) at Pittsburgh (10-6) (NBC-TV)

Sunday, January 6

NFC:    1:00 PM (ET)
New York Giants (10-6) at Tampa Bay (9-7) (FOX-TV)

 

 
AFC:    4:30 PM (ET)
Cleveland (10-6) or Tennessee (9-6) at San Diego (11-5) (CBS-TV)

         

NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

Saturday, January 12

NFC:    4:30 PM (ET)
Seattle (10-6), Tampa Bay (9-7) or New York Giants (10-6) at Green Bay (13-3) (FOX-TV)

 

 
AFC:    8:00 PM (ET)
Pittsburgh (10-6), Jacksonville (11-5), Cleveland (10-6) or Tennessee (9-6) at New England (16-0) (CBS-TV)

Sunday, January 13

 
AFC:  1:00 PM (ET)
San Diego (11-5), Pittsburgh (10-6), or Jacksonville (11-5) at Indianapolis (13-2) (CBS-TV)

 

 
NFC:  4:30 PM (ET)
Tampa Bay (9-7), New York Giants (10-6) or Washington (9-7) at Dallas (13-3) (FOX-TV)

In the Divisional Playoffs, the division champion with the best record in each conference is host to the surviving Wild Card Weekend team with the lowest playoff ranking.  The division champion with the second-best record in each conference is host to the surviving Wild Card Weekend team with the highest playoff ranking.  There are no restrictions on intradivision games. 

Once teams are ranked for the playoffs, positions do not change:

American Football Conference National Football Conference
1.  New England (East Division champion)   
1.  Dallas (East Division champion) 

2.  Indianapolis (South Division champion)
2.  Green Bay (North Division champion)

3.  San Diego (West Division champion)
3.  Seattle (West Division champion)

4.  Pittsburgh (North Division champion)
4.  Tampa Bay (South Division champion)

5.  Jacksonville
5.  New York Giants

6.  Cleveland or Tennessee
6.  Washington

The AFC (CBS, 3:00 PM ET) and NFC (FOX, 6:30 PM ET) Championship Games will be played on Sunday, January 20, and Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Sunday, February 3.

The annual AFC-NFC Pro Bowl will be played in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, February 10.

Pats-Giants post game Quotes

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

PATRIOTS at NEW YORK GIANTS

Week 17 – December 29, 2007

PATRIOTS BECOME FOURTH TEAM IN NFL HISTORY TO RECORD UNDEFEATED REGULAR SEASON

The Patriots have finished the 2007 regular season with a 16-0 record, becoming the first NFL team to have an undefeated regular season since the league established a 16-game schedule in 1978. New England has joined the 1972 Miami Dolphins (14-0), the 1942 Chicago Bears (11-0) and the 1934 Chicago Bears (13-0) as the only teams in the NFL’s 88-season history to complete an undefeated regular season.

PATRIOTS SET NFL ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON SCORING RECORD

On Randy Moss’s 4-yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady in the second quarter, the Patriots set a new NFL record for most points scored in a season. Following the touchdown, the Patriots had scored 561 points in 2007, topping the old record of 556 points scored by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings. The Patriots finished the game with a total of 589 points for an average of 36.81 points per game. New England’s 36.81 points per game rank second in league history, trailing only the 38.83 points per game scored by the 1950 Los Angeles Rams (466 points in a 12-game season). New England’s final 2007 scoring differential was +315 (589 points scored, 274 points allowed), topping the previous league record of +292, achieved by the 1942 Chicago Bears (376 points scored, 84 points allowed in an 11-game season).

PATRIOTS SET ALL-TIME NFL RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE REGULAR-SEASON WINS

The Patriots have won their 19th consecutive regular season game, establishing a new NFL record for consecutive regular-season wins. New England has topped the previous record of 18 straight regular-season victories, which the Patriots achieved from Oct. 5, 2003 to Oct. 24, 2004. The Patriots’ current streak of 19 consecutive regular-season wins began with a 40-7 victory over the Houston Texans on Dec. 17, 2006. The Patriots won the final three games of the 2006 regular season and won all 16 of their regular-season games during the 2007 regular season.

TOM BRADY SETS NFL ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON TOUCHDOWN PASS RECORD

On a 65-yard scoring pass to Randy Moss in the fourth quarter – his 50th touchdown pass of the season – Tom Brady set a new NFL single-season touchdown pass record. He finished the 2007 regular season with a total of 50 touchdown passes. Brady eclipsed the previous record of 49 scoring passes in a season, set by Indianapolis’s Peyton Manning in 2004. Earlier in the game, Brady tied Manning’s mark on a 4-yard scoring pass to Moss. Entering this season, Brady’s previous single-season career best was 28 touchdown passes, achieved in 2002 and 2004. Prior to this year, the Patriots’ single-season touchdown pass record was 31, achieved by Vito “Babe” Parilli in 1964. Brady passed Parilli’s previous team mark on Nov. 4 at Indianapolis.

RANDY MOSS SETS NFL ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON TOUCHDOWN RECEPTION RECORD

With his 65-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter – his 23rd scoring catch of the year – Randy Moss set a new NFL single-season touchdown reception record. He finished the 2007 regular season with 23 touchdown catches. Moss passed the previous record of 22 touchdown receptions, set by San Francisco’s Jerry Rice in 1987. Earlier in the game, he tied Rice’s mark on a 4-yard scoring catch in the second quarter. Entering this season, Moss’s previous single-season career best was 17 touchdown catches, achieved in 2003 and 1998 with the Minnesota Vikings. Prior to this year, the Patriots’ single-season touchdown catch record was 12, achieved by Stanley Morgan in 1979. Moss passed Morgan’s previous team mark on Nov. 18 at Buffalo.

TOM BRADY SETS PATRIOTS SINGLE-SEASON PASSING YARDAGE RECORD

On an 8-yard completion to Kevin Faulk in the second quarter, Tom Brady set a new Patriots franchise record for most passing yards in a season. Following his completion to Faulk, Brady had 4,557 passing yards on the year, passing Drew Bledsoe’s old mark of 4,555 passing yards, achieved in 1994. Brady finished the 2007 regular season with 4,806 passing yards. Entering this season, Brady’s previous career high was 4,110 passing yards, achieved in 2005.

WES WELKER SETS PATRIOTS SINGLE-SEASON RECEPTIONS RECORD

On a 14-yard reception in the first quarter – his first catch of the game and his 102nd catch of the season – Wes Welker set the Patriots’ single-season receptions record, passing Troy Brown’s mark of 101 receptions in 2001. Welker finished the regular season with a total of 112 receptions. Entering this season, Welker’s previous single-season career high was 67 receptions, achieved in 2006 with the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots acquired Welker via a trade with the Dolphins on March 5, 2007 in exchange for a second-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft (60th overall) and a seventh-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft (238th overall).

RANDY MOSS SETS PATRIOTS SINGLE-SEASON RECEIVING YARD RECORD

On a 5-yard reception in the fourth quarter, Randy Moss set a new franchise record for receiving yards in a season. Following that catch, Moss had 1,493 receiving yards in 2007, a total that tops Stanley Morgan’s previous franchise record of 1,491 receiving yards in 1986. Moss finished the game with 1,493 receiving yards. The Patriots acquired Moss via a trade with the Oakland Raiders on April 29, 2007 in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft (110th overall).

BRADY’S PASSING YARD TOTAL RANKS THIRD ON ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON LIST

Tom Brady finished the 2007 regular season with 4,806 passing yards, a total that ranks third on the NFL’s all-time single-season list. Brady’s total of 4,806 passing yards trail only Dan Marino’s NFL-record 5,084 passing yards for the Miami Dolphins in 1984 and Kurt Warner’s 4,830 passing yards for the St. Louis Rams in 2001.

BRADY’S COMPLETION TOTAL RANKS FOURTH ON ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON LIST

Tom Brady finished the 2007 regular season with 398 completions, a total that ranks fourth on the NFL’s all-time single-season list. Brady’s 398 completions trail only Rich Gannon’s NFL-record 418 completions for the Oakland Raiders in 2002, Warren Moon’s 404 completions for the Houston Oilers in 1991 and Drew Bledsoe’s 400 completions for the Patriots in 1994.

MOSS MOVES INTO NFL’S TOP 10 FOR CAREER TOUCHDOWNS

With his 4-yard scoring catch in the first quarter, Randy Moss scored the 124th touchdown of his career, passing Marvin Harrison (123 touchdowns) to move into 10th place on the NFL’s all-time touchdowns list. As of halftime, Moss has scored 123 career receiving touchdowns and one touchdown via a punt return for a total of 124 overall touchdowns.

MARONEY REACHES END ZONE TWICE, SCORES FOR THIRD STRAIGHT GAME

Laurence Maroney scored two touchdowns, marking the second multiple-touchdown game of his career and tying his career high of two scores, also achieved on Oct. 1, 2006 at Cincinnati. Against the Giants, Maroney scored on a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to cut New England’s deficit to 28-23 and again on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter to extend New England’s lead to 38-28. The scoring runs marked Maroney’s fifth and sixth rushing touchdowns of the season and mark his third consecutive game with a score. He has scored five times in New England’s last seven games dating back to Nov. 18 at Buffalo. Maroney’s three straight games with a touchdown mark the longest scoring streak of his career.

BRADY LEADS 28th CAREER COMEBACK

Tom Brady led the Patriots to victory following a 28-23 fourth-quarter deficit, marking the 28th time in his career that he has led the Patriots to a win following a fourth-quarter deficit or tie. He has accomplished the feat four times this season. He accomplished the feat for the 22nd time in the regular season and has also done it six times in the playoffs (including three times in the Super Bowl). New England also rebounded to win following a 20-10 fourth-quarter deficit at Indianapolis on Nov. 4, came back from a 28-24 fourth-quarter deficit against Philadelphia on Nov. 25 and rebounded from a 24-17 deficit at Baltimore on Dec. 3.

GOSTKOWSKI NAILS THREE FIRST-HALF FIELD GOALS

Stephen Gostkowski converted field goals from 37, 45 and 37 yards in the first half, improving to 21-for-24 on the season (87.5 percent). His three field goals are a season high, having previously booted two field goals in a game on six occasions. The 45-yard boot in the second quarter tied Gostkowski’s longest field goal of the season, also accomplished on Oct. 21 at Dallas. The longest field goal of his career is from 50 yards, achieved in last season’s divisional playoffs at San Diego on Jan. 14, 2007.

WELKER TOPS 100-YARD RECEIVING MARK

Wes Welker totaled 122 yards on 11 receptions, topping the 100-yard receiving mark for the fourth time this season. He also broke the 100-yard receiving mark at Dallas on Oct. 14 (11-124), at Miami on Oct. 21 (9-138), and against Philadelphia on Nov. 25 (13-149).

MOSS 100-YARD GAME AND TWO-TOUCHDOWN GAME

Randy Moss totaled 100 receiving yards on six receptions, two of which resulted in touchdowns. The game was Moss’s ninth 100-yard game of the season, tying him for the franchise record with Stanley Morgan, who also had nine 100-yard receiving games in 1986. Moss’s 100-yard receiving game was the 55th of his career, a total that ranks third in NFL history, trailing only Jerry Rice (76) and Marvin Harrison (59).

MOSS CATCHES LONGEST PASS OF THE SEASON AND LONGEST SINCE 2005

Randy Moss’s 65-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter was his longest reception of the season and was his longest catch since Oct. 2, 2005, when he hauled in a 79-yard bomb while playing for the Oakland Raiders in a game against Dallas. The 65-yarder topped his previous season-long grab of 63 yards against Pittsburgh on Dec. 9. Moss’s 65-yard catch was his fifth reception of 50 yards or longer this season. It was the second longest completion for the Patriots this year, trailing only a 69-yard scoring catch by Donte Stallworth at Dallas on Oct. 14.

HOBBS RECORDS FIRST INTERCEPTION OF THE SEASON

Ellis Hobbs intercepted an Eli Manning pass in the fourth quarter, giving the Patriots possession at their own 48-yard line. Hobbs’s interception was his first of the season and it was the sixth pick of his career. The interception was the 19th of the year for the Patriots and set up a 9-play, 52-yard drive that ended in a 5-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney that extended New England’s lead to 38-28.

QUICK HITS

Ø Adalius Thomas dropped Eli Manning for a 14-yard sack in the third quarter. The sack raised Thomas’s total to 6.5 sacks this season, a total that is tied
with Jarvis Green for second on the team behind Mike Vrabel.

Ø Junior Seau stopped Brandon Jacobs in the backfield for a 2-yard loss in the first quarter.

Ø Richard Seymour stopped Reuben Droughns in the backfield for a 1-yard loss in the third quarter.

Ø Tom Brady improved his career record as a starter to 30-5 in games decided by three points or fewer.

Ø Brady improved his career record as a starter to 38-2 in games played on artificial turf.

PATRIOTS ALLOW OPENING-DRIVE TOUCHDOWN FOR FIRST TIME IN 23 GAMES

When the Giants scored a touchdown on their opening drive, it marked the first time the Patriots had allowed an opponent to reach the end zone on its opening drive since Nov. 5, 2006 in a 27-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium. Prior to tonight, the Patriots had kept their opponents out of the end zone on their opening drive in 23 consecutive games.

 

Pats post Giants Game Notes+Quotes

Courtesy of the new England Patriots

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
Conference Call
December 30, 2007

BB: Morning. We’re coming off kind of short night here. We got back late. We’re trying to look at the film here and push through some corrections and grade the film and so forth after the Giants game and then we’ll get on to some of the other things we need to do later on this week.

Q: Any thoughts about the history that you guys did accomplish by being 16-0? Also, in your mind, as the season went along, did you have an inkling that this could be a special year for this team, for the regular season anyway?

BB: As I said all year, our focus was week to week and that’s the truth. Again, as far as last night’s game, we talked about it last night; it’s something that we can all be proud of in this organization. Everybody played a part in it. Everybody had a job to do. Certainly the players deserve the credit. They’re the ones that made the plays. But it’s something that we can all be proud of. But we have a lot of football left to play and the next time we step on the field we’ll be 0-0 in the second season. So we have still a lot to look forward to.

Q: You’ve played three of the AFC playoff teams and maybe a fourth if Cleveland gets in. How does that affect your preparation?

BB: Well, we’ll see what happens here. I think we’ll really take a good look at that whole situation after today’s games are in and we see how things shake out. We played San Diego a long time ago. The Colts game was in the middle of the season as well. So we know those two teams, and Pittsburgh was the most recent of [those] games. So we have some familiarity with those teams, but some of those games showed up quite a while back, so we’ll wait and see how things shake out today and what the seedings are and then take a look at what potentially could be our next game and we’ll go from there.

Q: What will your week be like? You and the coaches?

BB: Again, after we see how things come out today, then we’ll make our priorities and set our goals for what we want to try to get done this week with the potential opponents that we could have in the [divisional] round. And then of course we won’t know for sure until after next weekend’s games, but there are things that we can work on that we’re doing that could stand for some improvement and then we’ll also turn our attention to some of those potential opponents, but we’ll just wait and see how that comes out today before we really make any determination as to exactly how we want to start breaking all those films down and what priority we want to put them in.

Q: As much as people have talked about your dominance this year, there were several games where you were able to execute in the fourth quarter and come back and win games. What allows a team to be able to do that, to be able to execute at those times?

BB: I think it certainly starts with preparation and being able to do it on the practice field and in meetings and walkthroughs and identifying the situations and everybody knowing what to do so that, when it does come up, you can execute the play. But of course in the end it comes down to players making the plays and getting it right, and no matter how you practice it sometimes it’s a little bit different on the field the way it actually occurs. Sometimes there are some adjustments that need to be made there, but it starts with the preparation of everybody knowing what to do and aware of the different possibilities and how to adjust to it. You’ve got to block; you’ve got to tackle; you’ve got to throw; you’ve got to catch; you have to defend; you have to recover an onside kick. Whatever it is, you still have to make those fundamental parts of the plays. Or [sometimes] even if you’re in the right position it doesn’t matter. It still won’t work. So a lot of things are going on there. The main thing is the players stepping up and focusing and concentrating and executing at critical times in the game. They’re the ones who do it.

Q: Do you think this team’s ability to execute has been overlooked?

BB: I don’t know how everybody else looks at it, but I certainly appreciate it and recognize it. And, that said, it’s not perfect. There are things that we need to do better and we’ll work on those and address some of those this week and try to continue to improve as a football team as we move forward.

Q: Do you see yesterday’s game, now that it has been over for 12 hours, more as something to improve upon next time out or more as something to celebrate?

BB: I think we look at it like we look at every game. Any time we win, we’re excited to win. It’s hard to win in this league and it’s a good feeling when you come out of the game with more points than your opponent, and there is a lot of preparation and a lot of work that goes into that. With the success we’ve had this season, yesterday’s game [brings] a little bit more of a degree of satisfaction in that game because of the culmination of the regular season, but at the same time we have plenty of things that we need to work on. We’ll make those corrections and identify them and try to improve them, just like we do every week. So I don’t see that whole part of it being dramatically different from any other game. The only difference is we have a couple of extra days this week before we actually come back to practice and go to work and that is a little bit longer than we normally do. But it’s really still the same process.

Q: Do you feel at all as if your defense maybe took a step back last night?

BB: As I said, there are plenty of things in the game that we can improve on and we can do better. That’s in all three phases of the game, but certainly defensively. When you give up 35 points on defense and special teams, that’s not where you want to be. That’s not going to win every game for you in this league, that’s for sure.

Q: With Tom throwing 50 touchdown passes and with the 49 and 48 coming from a guy who plays indoors and another who played in Miami, can you put Tom’s performance into context given all of the factors involved?

BB: I think I’d just say what I said after the game: I’m happy for all of the players who achieved any of those awards or records. That’s great. I’m most proud of our team for the team accomplishments. I think those players have spoken about those things already. So I would leave that to them. I’m happy they got it. It’s kind of like the Pro Bowl recognition. I’m happy if they get selected or if they break a record. Great. But I’m most concerned about the success of the team. Tom has done a great job for us ever since he’s been here. He is a terrific quarterback. There is no quarterback I’d rather have and I have all of the respect in the world for Tom and what he has done. And I congratulate him on the things that he’s accomplished individually this year in terms of some records and so forth. I think he’d be the first one to tell you, and I’d second it, is the main thing is the [team’s] record and the team’s performance and that is what he is most concerned about. Whatever else happened along the way or didn’t happen, that is the way it is. But the most important reasons why we are out there is to win games and he is very good at that.

Q: When the players come back on Thursday, will you have to remind them that they are 0-0 and everybody has an equal chance among the playoff teams to go all the way?

BB: I think we all know that. We talked about it already after the game. Of course, we know what the situation is in the playoffs. We’ve been there before. Lose and go home, win and keep playing. It’s all one game seasons now. Everybody is aware of that. We’ll have to have a good week of preparation and prepare to play well against our next opponent, whoever that is. But we know that team is one of the best teams in the league. So it will be a huge challenge for us and that is what we will start getting ready for.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Pats-Giants Game on NBC 10

by: Frank Carpano

Good news Patriots fans.

The Patriots-Giants game, originally scheduled to air only on the NFL Network can now be seen on NBC 10 this Saturday night.

We will have a pregame show Saturday night at 7:30 from the Meadowlands.

We will also have a postgame show.

Brady Comments pre-Giants Game

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
Press conference
December 26, 2007

Q:  Does it feel like the season has flown by or does it feel like a long time when you look back to training camp?

TB:  Probably a little of both. Some weeks, it does fly by; other weeks really feel like it’s been a grind. I’m glad it’s a 16-game schedule as opposed to a 22-game schedule or something like that. I think everyone’s excited for this week, realizing that it’s the last regular-season game. I’m really just hoping that we go out and play our best.

Q:  Is it hard not to look at the importance of this game, as far as history is concerned?

TB:  I think we all realize what a win would mean, but a win’s always big. A win is always important for us and we’ve prepared pretty hard over the last four months, as every team prepares pretty hard. Being 16-0 would be a very special achievement, one that no other team has ever achieved and we’re finally at that point.

Q:  As much as you obviously would like to finish 16-0, you want to play better and better football every week. Do you guys feel like you’re doing that?

TB:  I think we’re constantly trying to make improvements and I think we’re trying, as a team, to find ways to be consistent and efficient out there. Some weeks are better than others. Ultimately, the goal is to win the game. You’re really judged by your wins and losses and I’d love to be playing our best football come January. This will be a great step in the process and [the Giants are] a very tough opponent, on the road. Hopefully, we can put our best out there.

Q:  At the beginning of the season, could you ever anticipate a season like this, where you’re undefeated heading into the 16th game of the season?

TB:  I think whatever hopes you might have… We’ve had great seasons and we’ve been 14-2. This has been a very special season. I’d hate to think that we’d go out there and not put our best out there this week so we’ve got to bring energy and excitement. It’s going to be a big test to beat these guys because they’re very good and they play well at home, too. I just hope that we’re able to finish off the season the way that we’d really hoped. 

Q:  You’ve been on a lot of great teams and you always hear the cliché that you’re only as good as you practice. How good of a practice team is this? Is it any different from any other team that you’ve been around and what, if anything, makes it a great practice team?

TB:  I think that’s really where you get better. It’s where you find a lot of situations that you can carry over into the game of what you’re trying to do and understand as an offense, as a defense. I think, offensively, we do practice every situation. We’re very situationally aware. I hope that carries over to the way we play. Once again, I think at times it’s been better than in others. We put a lot into practice. There’s a quite of bit of emphasis, as a team, on it and Coach Belichick is pretty tough on us in practice. He always expects the best out of us. I think the pressure is always on us to go out there and achieve, even if it is practice because you can gain a lot of confidence playing well in practice. 

Q:  Did you and Randy Moss click right away in training camp, or did it take a while to really get it down?

TB:  I think it always takes a little bit of time and we still… Things come up at this point that we try to improve on. We’re still learning from each other and we’re still trying to understand situations and read each other - for him to really know what I’m looking for and vice versa. It only leads to, hopefully, more success.

Q:  At the beginning of each season, there are probably similar goals: Win the division, make the playoffs, win the Super Bowl. What’s it like when a new goal is presented to you, something like going undefeated? Is that taken as a distraction?

TB:  No, I don’t think it’s like winning too many games. That’s a good distraction to have, I guess. I don’t think that distracts us. It’s always one-week seasons. We’ve [said] this all year, that we’re just focused on the team that we’re playing and this week it happens to be the Giants. If we win it we’ll be 16-0, like last week was 15-0 and the week before was 14-0. It’s very short-term goals that hopefully at the end of the season you can look back and be very proud of what you accomplished.

Q:  One of the trademarks of this Giants defense has always been bringing pressure. Can you talk about them?

TB:  They’re very talented. I think definitely [Michael] Strahan and Osi [Umenyiora] should take the weekend off. I’d rest them. I know that, definitely not playing those two. They’re great. They’ve got 40 sacks, I think, between Osi and Michael Strahan and [Justin] Tuck. They can rush. They have some very experienced cover guys back there. It’s a very veteran defense. I’ll be lobbying for that. Coach [Tom] Coughlin, if you’re listening, definitely rest those guys.

Q:  You’re comfortable with Randy Moss obviously. Do you think that comfort level will sometimes lead you to force the ball in there or take chances with him?

TB:  It all depends on whether you complete it or you don’t. There have been times when I’ve forced it and he caught it and it’s a great play. He’s always a big part of the plan. I’m always trying to find ways to get him the ball. You can always look back and say if it’s incomplete that maybe you should have made a better throw, but at the same time, you want to give him opportunities to make those plays. 

Q:  Have you been surprised that he’s such a good guy after all you’ve heard about him otherwise?

TB:  I’m not surprised. I really try not to prejudge anybody or stereotype anybody. I just kind of deal with them as I have in my relationships with all the guys on the team. Regardless of what people say about somebody, oftentimes it’s very misleading. He’s a great guy and a great teammate and we’re all lucky to have him. 

Q:  What would getting two more touchdown passes mean to you? It’s a pretty significant NFL record if you get it.

TB:  Yeah, we’ve got a lot of records at stake, the most important one being the 16-0. I hope we achieve that. It’d be a great feat for the team. We’d go down as the only team to be 16-0 so that’s the goal I’ve got in mind.

Q:  You can have a perfect record, but do you think there can ever be a perfect team?

TB:  I really feel you can have a perfect record. I don’t know if anybody’s perfect. I haven’t experienced that. We all make mistakes and we all try to learn from them and try to work hard to achieve your goals. We set very high goals around here, as every team does. I just think we’ve been fortunate this season in a lot of ways. Along with a lot of hard work, you need quite a bit of luck, too. I think we’ve been on the good side of that, in terms of injuries and the ball bouncing our way at certain times. 

Q:  It’s kind of strange in a sense that you’re such a team guy and around here it’s all team. Sure, you can look back on those records and say, ‘I want Randy Moss to break Jerry Rice’s record,’ with all the history and everything else, and other people want to see you break records. Is that a strange thing to come into this week?

TB:  We’re in team sports so part of achieving anything in sports [is] you rely heavily on everybody else. I’m only as good as the guys I have playing around me. For every touchdown pass you throw, you need somebody to catch it, you need somebody to block for it. Nothing in this sport is achieved on your own. Like I said, being 16-0 would be the most important thing for all of us. If you take any energy away from that as a goal, then you’re really not doing yourself or your team any justice. Maybe when you look back at the end of your career you look at those things and it’s a cool thing to have, but everything I’ve experienced in the NFL and the greatest moments I’ve had is not when you throw five touchdown passes. It’s when you win championships.

Q:  Your numbers have gone down in the last three to four games from where they were at the start of the season. Does that trouble you or do you think it was an inevitable downturn and can you get it back up to what it was?

TB:  Yeah, we’re slumping. A negative trend, that’s never good. You just try to be as efficient as you can and we’ve been winning games so you always look at those. I’m not a big statistics guy. I evaluate each play. “What could I have done? What could I have done better?” I always feel I try to play very consistently and the team really can depend on me as a consistent player. I hope that continues.

 

Belichick comments pre-Giants game

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

COACH BELICHICK
Press Conference
December 26, 2007

 
BB: In a way, it doesn’t seem that long ago that we played the Giants there in the last preseason game. On the other hand, it seems like it was four years ago. But looking back on it and the Giants from when we saw them earlier in the year, certainly there’s a lot of - that game’s a lot different from this one, but we know the Giants a little bit from going against them pretty much on an annual basis. They’re tough, they’re physical, they’re well-coached, they’re hard to beat. They don’t do a lot of things that make it easy for you. You have to really go out there and play a good, tough football game. The division they’re in - Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington - we’ve seen those teams a lot on film. That’s a pretty physical division and certainly the Giants are as physical as any team that we’ve faced all year on both sides of the ball, particularly in the front. They have some good play-makers, offensively. The running backs are good, the receivers are big-play guys down the field, they have an athletic quarterback, their offensive line is real good and defensively they’re strong on the front. They can rush the passer, they can stop the run [and] they’re a good third down team. [Sam] Madison’s always a guy that’s the play-maker in the secondary, giving us and everybody else trouble, and they have a good blitz-scheme. I think their defense is a combination of just a good, basic, sound defense but it pressures the offense a lot as well, so we’re going to have to do a good job on that. I think all of those elements that I just talked about carry over into the kicking game. They’re a physical coverage team. They’re a strong blocking team. They take people on and they take them on hard, and they’re tough. I think last week’s game against Buffalo is a good example of it, where they just basically controlled the game. Even though they spotted them a two touchdown lead, they controlled the game on the line of scrimmage and in the kicking game on the line of scrimmage, and that was the difference in the game. We have a lot of respect for the Giants, always have. We need a good week of practice here, even though it’s on a short week, to get everything ready to go. This will be a big challenge for us, with their scheme and their style of play and their play-makers.

Q: Eli Manning has had an up and down season at times, but when he’s hot he’s particularly good. Can you talk a little about him?

BB: I think he’s become an experienced quarterback that sees the field well. He’s athletic enough to get out of some trouble. I’m not saying he’s a big-time scrambler, but he’s certainly athletic enough in the pocket to get out of some trouble and he’s made a lot of big plays. Kind of like—different, but sort of like [Ben] Roethlisberger, where he gets some time, looks down the field, finds [Plaxico] Burress, [Amani] Toomer, [Steve] Smith—one of those guys running around down there. [Jeremy] Shockey, until last week - and makes big plays in the passing game off scrambles. They do all of the stuff that you would do with Manning, that you would expect them to do with a good quarterback like that. They drop back, they play-action, they bootleg, they sprint out, they run max-protection patterns, they run the empty patterns and stuff like that where they’ll get everybody out. They have a good variety in their passing game. They utilize all of their players - the backs, the tight ends, the receivers, both down the field and on shorter, quicker throws, three-step drops and that kind of thing. They do a good job keeping you off-balance. They’re a well-balanced offensive football team and Manning can do all that they need him to do.

Q: Are the Giants the most blitzing team that you’ll see or that you expect to see? Thinking back, Pittsburgh blitzed you a lot and the Eagles
blitzed you a lot.

BB: It depends on how much they want to call it. I mean, they blitz. They could blitz a lot or not as much. That’s hard to tell, how they’re going to play the game. I’m sure they’ll blitz some. It’s a question of how many they want to call and whether that’s more or less than somebody else. I’m sure not - certainly, we have to be ready for it, but I don’t know.

Q: They have a league high, I think, for sacks. When you see that, are those coming off blitzes?

BB: No. No. They get them off blitzes, but they can rush. Those guys - [Justin] Tuck and Osi [Umenyiora] and [Michael] Strahan, they don’t need any help. They can get there, definitely. They do a good job. They’ve got a good pass rush. They lead the league in sacks, they lead the league in runs for negative yardage. They create negative yardage in both the running game and the passing game, and then they get you in long yardage and it’s hard to convert. And they’re a good third down team. They’re a real good defensive football team. They’re good all the way around, but it certainly starts up front. And no, they don’t need to blitz to get there at all. Definitely not. They have plenty of sacks and plenty of pressure on three and four-man rushes, if that’s what they want to do.

Q: Tom Brady and Randy Moss have been a great combination, as have Tom and Wes Welker. Even with a quarterback as good as Tom is, is there a danger sometimes that you get into a comfort zone with a player and you end up trying to force the ball in?

BB: I think every pass is - Every play is designed to be executed differently against different defenses and the way the play comes out, so I think we have to do the same thing we do in the passing game every week, which is put in our game plan [and] prepare for all the different contingencies. Again, a team like the Giants is a tough team to prepare for because they give you a lot of different looks. They play man, they play zone, they play two-deep, they play three-deep, they blitz with help, they blitz with no help. Depending on what happens on the play, how we execute the pattern and adjust it if we have to, how the quarterback reads it and delivers the ball, that’s all going to be a function of, to a degree, what’s going on on the other side of the ball, as well as it is us doing the right thing. That’ll definitely be a big part of the passing game this week. I don’t think you want to go into this game - or any game, for that matter—- without an open mind to the pattern, because it’s hard to tell what they’re going to do and where the best place to throw the ball is going to be until after the ball is snapped and you see what coverage they’re in.

Q: How much practicing in pads will the guys do this week? 

BB: We’ll take it on a day-by-day basis.

Q: How much has being able to establish the rush in the past couple of weeks helped your team going forward?

BB: I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll see how we do against the Giants. That’s really all that matters right now, is how we’re able to play against them, whether that’s running it, throwing it [or] doing a little bit of each. Maybe there’s more one way or the other - I’m not sure. Whatever plays we call, we hope we go out there and can execute them well. That’s why we’re calling them, but it’s not always the same every week. Whether there’s a carry-over from one game to the next, whether those plays carry over or even that style attack carries over, I’m not really sure.

Q: It seemed like Brandon Meriweather maybe had a little more time on defense in the last game. If that’s the case, how do you think he responded to seeing more time?

BB: I think Brandon’s improved all year. He played more two weeks ago against the Jets when James [Sanders] was out and then played in some dime situations last week. He’s improved through the course of the year and there’s still a lot of things he needs to work on, but I think he gives us good depth at the position. I’d like to see him catch the ball a little bit better, but that’s… He’s around it and I think he’s making progress.

Q: How much does the fact that you played them in a preseason game factor into this game, if at all?

BB: Well, a lot of the players that played in that game won’t be playing in this one, but from a scheme standpoint, they line up in some of the same - basically the same places, and so do we. The way the plays are blocked or the plays are defended, whichever side of the ball you’re talking about, you can definitely see how some of the schemes fit together. Maybe it’s not necessarily the players - You know, we played them two years ago in preseason as well, so I think there’s some good… There’s certainly some good teaching from those tapes because it’s us and them and it’s our scheme and their scheme, but some of the individual match-ups are different, so we’ll have to account for those, but there’s something to be gained from looking at it.

Q: Do you mean players who were back-up players won’t be playing in this game or players that have been released since the preseason?

BB: I think both teams played a lot of players in the preseason game that aren’t on the roster now for either team.

 

Monday, December 24, 2007

Pats-Dolphins postgame notes

Courtesy of the New England patriots

GAME NOTES—PATRIOTS vs MIAMI DOLPHINS

Week 16 - December 23, 2007

PATRIOTS SET NFL RECORD FOR MOST TOUCHDOWNS IN A SEASON
With Jabar Gaffney’s 48-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter - the Patriots’ 71st touchdown of the year - New England set a new NFL record for most touchdowns in a season. The Patriots passed the previous record of 70 touchdowns, achieved by the 1984 Miami Dolphins. Following today’s game, the Patriots have scored 71 touchdowns - 48 passing, 15 rushing and eight via returns. The 1984 Dolphins scored 70 touchdowns - 49 passing, 18 rushing and three via returns.

PATRIOTS HAVE HIGHEST SINGLE-SEASON POINT DIFFERENTIAL IN NFL HISTORY

Following their 28-7 win over Miami, the Patriots have outscored their opponents by a net total of 312 points this season (551 points scored, 239 points allowed). The point differential of +312 stands as the highest single-season total in NFL history, topping the +292 recorded by the 1942 Chicago Bears (376 points scored, 84 points allowed in an 11-game season). New England’s 551 points scored are the second highest total in NFL history, trailing only the NFL-record 556 points scored by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings. The Patriots have scored an average of 36.7 points per game, a mark that ranks second in NFL history to the 1950 Los Angeles Rams, who averaged 38.8 points per game (466 points in 12 games).

PATRIOTS FINISH UNDEFEATED IN DIVISION FOR FIRST TIME IN TEAM HISTORY

The Patriots have won all six of their games against AFC East division teams this season, marking the first time in team history that the Patriots have swept their division. The previous franchise-low of one divisional loss was achieved on five occasions: 1986, 1997, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

PATRIOTS SET FRANCHISE RECORD FOR TOTAL NET YARDS IN A SEASON

The Patriots have set a new franchise record for total net yards in a single season, topping the previous mark of 5,965 total net yards, set in 1978. The Patriots broke the franchise record on a 59-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney in the second quarter, after which the team had totaled 6,015 total net yards this season. New England finished the game with 6,190 total net yards this season.

PATRIOTS SET FRANCHISE RECORD FOR MOST FIRST DOWNS IN A SEASON

On a 16-yard pass from Tom Brady to Donte Stallworth in the first quarter, the Patriots gained their second first down of the game and their 349th first down of the season, setting a new franchise record for most first downs in a season. New England has topped its old team mark of 348 first downs, set in 1994. The Patriots finished the game with 366 first downs on the year.

PATRIOTS ARE FIRST TEAM TO START A SEASON WITH 15 STRAIGHT WINS

With their victory today, the Patriots have become the first team in NFL history to begin a regular season with 15 consecutive victories. The NFL expanded its regular season from 14 games to 16 games in 1978. New England topped the previous mark of 14 wins, achieved by the 1972 Miami Dolphins (who played in a 14-game season). Six teams have begun a season with 13 straight wins.

PATRIOTS TIE NFL RECORD WITH 18th CONSECUTIVE REGULAR-SEASON WIN

The Patriots have won their 18th straight regular-season game, tying the NFL record also achieved by the 2003-04 Patriots. New England has not lost a regular-season game since Dec. 10, 2006, when they fell 21-0 to the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots won their final three regular-season games in 2006 and have won 15 consecutive games to begin the 2007 season. The 1933-34 Chicago Bears hold the next longest winning streak, at 17 games.

PATRIOTS TIE NFL RECORD FOR MOST REGULAR-SEASON WINS

With 15 victories this season, the Patriots have tied the NFL record for most regular-season victories, joining the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 1984 San Francisco 49ers. The NFL expanded its regular season from 14 games to 16 games in 1978. New England’s 15 regular-season wins have set a new franchise record, topping the team’s 14 wins in 2003 and 2004.

PATRIOTS ARE TIED FOR FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED IN NFL

The Patriots have allowed just 239 points this season, tying them with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the fewest points allowed in the NFL. New England has allowed an average of 15.9 points per game this season, just one season after setting a franchise record in allowing 14.8 points per game in 2006. The Patriots’ current mark of 15.9 points allowed per game ranks fourth in the franchise’s 48-year history.

BRADY-TO-MOSS FOR NFL-RECORD 20th AND 21st TIME

Tom Brady and Randy Moss hooked up for two touchdowns in the first half, marking the 20th and 21st time that the pair has combined for a score this season. The touchdowns extending their NFL record for the most touchdown passes between any passer and receiver in a single season. The previous NFL record for most touchdown connections between a passer and receiver was 18, achieved by Miami’s Dan Marino and Mark Clayton in 1984 and by Green Bay’s Brett Favre and Sterling Sharpe in 1994. When Jerry Rice caught his NFL-record 22 touchdown receptions in 1987, he caught 13 touchdowns from quarterback Joe Montana, eight touchdowns from quarterback Steve Young and one touchdown from running back Harry Sydney.

BRADY THROWS 46th, 47th AND 48th TOUCHDOWN PASSES OF SEASON

Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes against Miami - two to Randy Moss and one to Jabar Gaffney. The touchdown passes raised was Brady’s total to 48 this season, a mark that is tied for second on the NFL’s all-time list with Dan Marino (48 scoring passes in 1984). Brady trails only Peyton Manning’s NFL-record total of 49 touchdown passes in 2004. Today’s game is Brady’s 12th game of the season with three or more touchdown passes, extending his NFL record for most games with three or more scoring tosses in a season. Miami’s Dan Marino ranks second with 10 in 1984.

MOSS CATCHES 20th AND 21st TOUCHDOWN PASSES OF SEASON

Randy Moss caught two touchdown passes against Miami, grabbing an 11-yard score in the first quarter and a 1-yard score in the second quarter. The touchdown receptions were Moss’s 20th and 21st of the season. Moss’s 21 touchdown receptions rank second in NFL history, trailing only Jerry Rice’s 22 touchdown catches in 1987. With his first-quarter scoring grab, Moss joined Rice as the only players in NFL history to record 20 or more touchdown receptions in a single season.

VRABEL’S 11.5 SACKS ARE MOST FOR A PATRIOT IN A SEASON IN THE LAST 20 YEARS

Mike Vrabel sacked Miami’s Cleo Lemon twice - for a 5-yard loss in the second quarter and for a 4-yard sack in the third quarter - raising his season total to 11.5 sacks. Vrabel’s 11.5 sacks mark the highest total by a Patriots player since 1987, when Andre Tippett totaled 12.5 sacks. Vrabel is the first Patriot to exceed 10.0 sacks in a dozen seasons, dating back to 1995 when Willie McGinest totaled 11.0 sacks.

WELKER TIES FRANCHISE’S SINGLE-SEASON RECEPTIONS RECORD

With five receptions tonight, Wes Welker has totaled 101 receptions on the season, tying Troy Brown’s 2001 total for the Patriots franchise record. Welker recorded his 101st catch on a 20-yard reception in the third quarter. Welker recorded his 100th catch of the season on a 5-yard reception in the third quarter, joining Troy Brown as the only Patriots to achieve the 100-catch mark in a season.

MARONEY RECORDS PATRIOTS’ HIGHEST SINGLE-GAME YARDS-PER-CARRY SINCE 1974

Laurence Maroney averaged 11.1 yards per carry, rushing 14 times for 156 yards. Maroney’s 11.1 yards per carry is the highest by a Patriots player who has run the ball at least 10 times since Sam Cunningham averaged 11.4 yards per carry (125 yards on 11 rushes) at Buffalo on Oct. 20, 1974. Maroney’s 11.1 yards per carry are the third highest figure in franchise history, trailing Cunningham’s total and the franchise record of 11.6 yards per carry, achieved by Larry Garron against Buffalo on Oct. 22, 1961 (116 yards on 10 carries).

MARONEY SETS CAREER HIGH FOR RUSHING YARDS, TOPS CENTURY MARK AGAIN, RECORDS HIGHEST PATRIOTS RUSHING TOTAL SINCE 2004

Laurence Maroney set a career high with 156 yards on 14 carries, surpassing his previous career high of 125 yards (10/1/06) on his 13-yard rush in the fourth quarter. Maroney’s 156 rushing yards are the most by a Patriots player since Corey Dillon had 158 rushing yards (on 32 carries) at Arizona on Sept. 19, 2004. Maroney recorded his second straight 100-yard rushing game, his third 100-yard game of the season and the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career. The 100-yard game was the fifth by a Patriots player this season, a number that nearly doubles their combined total from 2005-06 (3). Maroney also topped the century mark last week against the New York Jets (104 yards on 26 carries), against Buffalo on Sept. 23, 2007 (103 yards on 19 carries) and also at Cincinnati on Oct. 1, 2006 (a career-high 125 yards on 15 carries).

MARONEY RECORDS LONGEST RUSH BY A PATRIOT SINCE 1998

Laurence Maroney tore off a 59-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 21-0 lead. The touchdown was the longest run by a Patriots player since 1998. The last time a Patriot ran for 59 yards or more was on Dec. 27, 1998, when Sedrick Shaw scampered 71 yards in the regular-season finale at the New York Jets. Earlier in the game, Maroney had a 51-yard run as the key play in a five-play, 66-yard scoring drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss and a 14-0 Patriots lead. Prior to today, Maroney’s previous career-long run was 41 yards, achieved at Cincinnati on Oct. 1, 2006.

MARONEY BECOMES 19th PLAYER IN TEAM HISTORY TO TOTAL 10 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS

With his 59-yard touchdown run in the second quarter - his fourth rushing touchdown of the season and the 10th rushing touchdown of his career - Laurence Maroney became the 19th player in Patriots history to rush for at least 10 touchdowns in a Patriots uniform.

TROY BROWN MAKES 2007 DEBUT

Wide receiver Troy Brown made his 2007 debut in today’s game when he returned a Miami punt following the Dolphins’ opening possession of the game. Today’s game is Brown’s 192nd game in a Patriots uniform, moving him past Raymond Clayborn and into third place on the franchise’s all-time games played list. Tackle Bruce Armstrong is the franchise’s all-time games played leader with 212 games from 1987-2000. Defensive end Julius Adams ranks second (206) and running back Mosi Tatupu ranks third (194). Brown has played in 192 games during his 15-year tenure with the Patriots from 1993-2007. Brown’s 15 seasons with the Patriots tie Julius Adams for the second longest tenure with the team, trailing only Steve Grogan’s 16 seasons with the franchise from 1975-90. Brown’s 15 seasons with the Patriots are tied for the second longest tenure of any NFL player with his current team, trailing only quarterback Brett Favre (16 seasons with Green Bay) and kicker Jason Hanson (16 seasons with Detroit).

QUICK HITS

Ø    Chris Hanson recorded a 64-yard punt from deep in his own end zone in the third quarter, recording the Patriots’ longest punt in more than three years dating back to Dec. 12, 2004, when Josh Miller boomed a 69-yard punt against Cincinnati at Gillette Stadium.

Ø    Jarvis Green sacked Cleo Lemon for a 6-yard loss in the second quarter, raising his season total to 6.5 sacks.

Ø    Adalius Thomas dropped Miami’s Jesse Chatman for a 5-yard loss in the second quarter.

Ø    Richard Seymour sacked Lemon for an 8-yard sack in the fourth quarter, raising his season total to 1.5 sacks.

Ø    Ty Warren sacked Lemon for an 11-yard loss in the fourth quarter and combined with Junior Seau to drop Lemon for a 4-yard sack on the next play. The sacks raised Warren’s season total to 4.0 sacks

Monday, December 17, 2007

pats-jets postgame notes

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

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GAME NOTES—PATRIOTS vs NEW YORK JETS

Week 15 - December 16, 2007

PATRIOTS CLINCH TOP SEED IN AFC PLAYOFFS
With their victory today, the Patriots have clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs for the second time, joining the 2003 team as the only squads in team history to accomplish the feat. New England has won the 2007 AFC East division championship and has also clinched a first-round playoff bye. They have won their division for the fifth straight year and have earned a first-round bye for the fifth time since the current playoff format was adopted in 1990. The Patriots also earned first-round byes in 1996, 2001, 2003 and 2004. New England will host a divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium on the weekend of Jan. 12-13.

PATRIOTS TIE NFL’S LONGEST WINNING STREAK TO BEGIN A SEASON

The Patriots have begun the 2007 season with 14 consecutive victories, becoming just the second team in the NFL’s 88-year history to open a season with 14 straight wins. New England joins the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who finished their season 14-0. The NFL went from a 14-game regular season to a 16-game regular season in 1978. The Patriots are the third team in league history to win 14 straight games within a single season, joining the 1972 Dolphins and the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, who won their final 14 games of the year to finish 15-1.

PATRIOTS TIE FRANCHISE RECORD FOR REGULAR-SEASON WINS

With 14 victories in 2007, the Patriots have tied the franchise’s single-season record for regular-season wins. The Patriots also won 14 games during the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, finishing with a 14-2 record in both seasons. The 2007 Patriots are the 24th team in NFL history to win 14 or more regular-season games.

PATRIOTS TIE SECOND-LONGEST REGULAR-SEASON WINNING STREAK IN NFL HISTORY

The Patriots have won 17 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season, tying the second longest regular-season winning streak in the NFL’s 88-year history. New England’s winning streak ties the 17 straight wins by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears for the second longest streak, trailing only the Patriots’ NFL-record 18 consecutive regular-season wins from 2003-04.

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.

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. He finished the game with 4,235 passing yards this year. 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.

WELKER TOPS 1,000 RECEIVING YARDS FOR SEASON

On his final catch of the day - a 16-yard reception in the fourth quarter - Wes Welker exceeded the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season. Welker finished the game with 96 receptions for 1,004 receiving yards in 2007. His 96 receptions are tied for the third highest single-season total in team history (Ben Coates, 1994). Troy Brown holds the team record with 101 catches in 2001. The 1,000-yard season is the first of Welker’s career, and along with Randy Moss’s 1,343 yards, the Patriots have two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season for just the second time in team history. New England also had two 1,000-yard receivers in 1979 (Harold Jackson 1,013 and Stanley Morgan 1,002). Prior to this season, the Patriots had just eight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, accomplished by five players (Morgan (3), Terry Glenn (2), Jackson, Ben Coates and Troy Brown).

MARONEY TOPS CENTURY MARK

Laurence Maroney gained 104 yards on 26 carries, recording his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and the third 100-yard rushing game of his career. Maroney also topped the century mark against Buffalo on Sept. 23, 2007 (103 yards on 19 carries) and also at Cincinnati on Oct. 1, 2006 (125 yards on 15 carries).

MOSS BREAKS 12,000 RECEIVING YARD MARK FOR CAREER

On his final catch of the game - a 46-yard reception from Tom Brady in the fourth quarter - Randy Moss exceeded 12,000 receiving yards for his career, becoming the 15th player in NFL history to accomplish the feat. Moss ended the game with 12,043 career receiving yards on 763 career receptions.

MOSS BREAKS 1,300 RECEIVING YARD MARK FOR SEASON

On his 46-yard reception in the fourth quarter, Randy Moss exceeded 1,000 receiving yards for the season, becoming the second player in Patriots history to achieve the feat. Stanley Morgan is the only other player in team history to break the 1,300-receiving yard mark, gaining a franchise-record 1,491 receiving yards in 1986. Moss ended the game with 1,343 receiving yards on 87 receptions in 2007. His 1,343 receiving yards are the second highest single-season total in Patriots history, trailing only Morgan’s 1986 total.

EUGENE 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.

WILSON AND THOMAS TEAM UP TO CREATE TURNOVER

Adalius Thomas forced New York’s Chris Baker to fumble following a third-quarter completion and Eugene Wilson scooped up the loose ball to give the Patriots possession at their own 14-yard line. The forced fumble was Thomas’s first of the season and was the 16th forced fumble of his eight-year NFL career. For Wilson, the play was his fourth career fumble recovery and his first of the season.

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 victory over the Eagles at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

EVEN STEPHEN

Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Following the field goals, Gostkowski was 18-for-21 on the season (85.7 percent) and 38-for-47 for his regular-season career (80.9 percent). Including his 8-for-8 career playoff mark, Gostkowski is 46-for-55 in his career (83.6 percent).

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.

QUICK HITS

Ø    With their victory today, the Patriots tied their all-time series with the Jets and are now 48-48-1 all-time against New York.

Ø    The Patriots have gained 5,790 total net yards this season, the second highest total in franchise history and trailing only their franchise-record 5,965
total net yards in 1978.

Ø    The Patriots have gained 347 first downs this season, the second highest total in franchise history and trailing only their team-record 348 first downs in 1994.

________________________

Brady comments post Jets

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady

Postgame Press Conference
December 16, 2007

Q: How important was this win for you? Especially playing in the elements, big win obviously for your head coach.

TB: 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.

Q: (On how the conditions and the wet ball affect the offense.)

TB: 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.

Q: 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?

TB: 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.

Q: Did you think you had [Randy] Moss in the endzone there where Hank [Poteat] reached in a broke it up?

TB: Yeah I did. I did.

Q: Were you amused, disinterested - what’s the word for the whole Belichick-Mangini subplot this week?

TB: 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.

Q: Do you think that chapter is closed now on this rivalry or is that something that will always be part of it?

TB: 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.

Q: How tough were those conditions and how much did they dictate the game plan?

TB: 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.

Q: At the end of the second quarter, I think, you had the wind at your back, was that a factor?

TB: 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.

Q: 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?

TB: 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.

Q: 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?

TB: 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.

Q: 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?

TB: 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.

Moss comments post Jets

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

PATRIOTS WIDE RECEIVER RANDY MOSS
Postgame Press Conference
December 16, 2007

Q: How did the conditions affect the play on the field?

RM: 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.

Q: Did Bill Belichick show at all how much he wanted this victory?

RM: 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.

Q: Did the conditions call for your game plan to not stretch the field?

RM: 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.

Q: Do you expect to play in another weather game like this again in January?

RM: 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.

Q: What did you think about the fans throwing snowballs onto the field?

RM: 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.

Q: How satisfying is it to be just the second team in NFL history to start a season 14-0?

RM: 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?

Q: How important is it for you guys to get that number-one seed?

RM: 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.

Q: Is that culture a good thing for you as a player?  The fact that “looking ahead” is off your shoulders?

RM: 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.

Q: Can you talk about your catch when there was pass interference called?

RM: 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.

Q: Was your old college quarterback [Chad Pennington] the last guy you wanted to see out on the other side of the field?

RM: 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.

Q:  Is there a chance the team might take it easy and rest some players in the next couple of weeks?

RM: 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].

Q: Did you think you were going to catch a touchdown on that pass broken up by Hank Poteat?

RM: 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.

Q: How did you like playing fullback?

RM: 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.

Belichick comments post Jets

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
Postgame Press Conference
Patriots vs. Jets
December 16, 2007
 
BB: 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. 

Q: You’re 14-0. How significant is that, that you’re only the second team ever to do that?

BB: 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.

Q: You have to be happy to have wrapped up home field advantage as well.

BB: Yeah, that was good. That was good.

Q: With the number one seed wrapped up, does the context of the games change the way you’ll utilize your personnel?

BB: We’ll do what we always do.

Q: You touched on the elements. How much of a factor was that?

BB: 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.

Q: When you say, “Do what we always do,” does that mean…

BB: 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.

Q: How about as far as what players…

BB: 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.

Q: 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.

BB: 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.

Q: Laurence Maroney had over 100 yards and 20-some carries. Were you happy with his performance?

BB: 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.

Q: Did you expect to run as much coming in or was that weather-related adjustment?

BB: 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.

Q: 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?

BB: 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.

Q: On special teams, Kelley Washington made some big plays today.

BB: 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.

Q: Did you see something from Maroney today that maybe you hadn’t seen earlier in the year?

BB: 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.

Q: Now that it’s over, how do you feel about being done with the Jets?

BB: 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.

Q: Washington also hds a big play early in the game. How important has he been on special teams?

BB: 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. 

Q: With everything now wrapped up, why wouldn’t there be an advantage to letting up and maybe resting guys?

BB: I think I already answered that question. Anything else?

Q: 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…

BB: Yeah, I think we’ve covered all that.

Q: Will you follow up with the league?

BB: I think we’ve covered all that.

Pats lockeroom postgame (jets) quotes

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

PATRIOTS LOCKER ROOM QUOTES
December 16, 2007

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 III, 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. 

Jets postgame quotes

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

NEW YORK JETS HEAD COACH ERIC MANGINI
POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
December 16, 2007

EM: 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.

Q: Can you talk about your third down efficiency in the first half?

EM: 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.

Q: Kellen Clemens was listed as probable with a rib injury. Was he close to coming back?

EM: 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.

Q: What was your thinking in using Brad [Smith] at quarterback? It was obvious that he wasn’t going to be a threat to throw.

EM: 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.

Q: Was that package in place regardless of Clemens getting hurt?

EM: That is something that was not in reaction to Kellen’s injury. It was something that we had as part of the game plan.

Q: What are your emotions like after the buildup to this game?

EM: 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.

Q: I meant your emotions as it related to the spying thing, etc?

EM: 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.

Q: What did Bill Belichick say to you at the end of the game?

EM: I can’t remember. Good game or good luck or something like that.

Q: What did you say to him?

EM: Good game or good luck.

Q: It looked like your defense was trying to give a lot of different looks by moving a lot of guys around.

EM: 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.

Q: Clemens was reported to have a rib injury. Is that accurate?

EM: Yes. I’ll know a lot more about it as we go.

Q: Was he medically able to return?

EM: It was a coach’s decision.

Q: What did you see on the play when you got your punt blocked?

EM: 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.

Q: Did you feel that was the turning point?

EM: 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.

Q: Was Chad Pennington having difficulty hearing during the game?

EM: 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.

Q: How long did he have to deal with the glitch?

EM: I think it was a series or part of a series.

Q: Are there any suspicions on your part about that?

EM: No. That happens a lot where the helmets go in and out, different places.

Q: Is there a possibility that Pennington could start next week?

EM: 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.

Q: What about Laveranues Coles? It looked like he tried to go but couldn’t.

EM: 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.

Q: Was that also a product of the conditions?

EM: 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.

Q: Did you hear anything derogatory from the fans?

EM: I think that there is a boatload of those comments, but that is what you get at every stadium.

# # #

NEW YORK JETS QUARTEBACK CHAD PENNINGTON
POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
December 16, 2007

Q: With the poor third down and red zone play, do you feel like you guys let one get away today?

CP: 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.

Q: After you threw that pass to Justin McCareins in the end zone, did you have a feeling it was going to get overturned?

CP:  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.

Q: Can you talk about finally getting into a rhythm?

CP: 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.

Q: Did you put up as good of numbers as Brady [in scout team]?

CP: I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to count.

Q: Do you feel like you guys proved a point tonight?

CP: 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.

Q: What are your thoughts for next week? Do you hope to start?

CP: 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.

Q: Did the weather play a part?

CP: 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.

Q: What were you able to exploit today?

CP: 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.

Q: Was it motivation to try to beat the Patriots’ unbeaten streak?

CP: 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.

Q: Was it difficult to get your rhythm back after Brad Smith went into the game? Do you take that personally?

CP: 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. 

Q: Can you talk about how quick that transition from watching to playing happens?

CP: 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.

# # #

NEW YORK JETS QUARTERBACK KELLEN CLEMENS
POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
December 16, 2007

Q: Can you talk about when you got hit?

KC: 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.

Q: How painful was that?

KC: It wasn’t anything immediate—really just some pain when I got back to sideline and I started visiting with doctors from there.

Q: Could you have come back into the game?

KC: 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.

Q: Were you disappointed or upset?

KC: 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.

Q: Did you come back to watch the game on the sideline?

KC: Yeah, I was on the sideline. I was on the sideline for most of the second quarter and the whole second half.

Q: Were you physically able to return?

KC: 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.

Q: What type of injury is it?

KC: It’s being called a rib injury.

Q: Can you talk about Pennington’s game?

KC: 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.

Q: How much pain are you in now?

KC: I can feel it.

Q: As you watched, do you feel like you guys let this one get away?

KC: 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.

# # #

NEW YORK JETS SAFETY KERRY RHODES
POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE (PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT)
December 16, 2007

Q: Coming in as such underdogs, do you feel like you guys proved a point today?

KR: 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.

Q: How do you feel like your game plan worked?

KR: 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.

Q: Do you take it personally when people say you’re going to lose by 50 or 60?

KR: 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.

Q: Did you hear anything interesting from the fans?

KR: 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.

Q: Do you feel like this was a lost opportunity and that you left plays on the field?

KR: 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.

Q: What were the things you guys did consistently today?

KR: 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.

Q: To confirm, it was a plastic rat?

KR: 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.

Q: Do you feel like the team has Eric Mangini’s back?

KR: 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.

# # #

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.

Chad Pennington, Quarterback
(On the game conditions)
It is difficult, but that is football.  When you are a little kid you dream about playing in games like this. You ask your mom and dad to play outside in the snow and the rain, so it is difficult but again it’s football. For the most part, you do everything you can to stay away from turnovers, especially throwing the football and you have to understand it is going to be close game. It was a close game and we did not make enough plays.

(On not starting)
I have been in this situation before, and what I have learned in the past is that you have to prepare as the starter and understand you’re not going to get the reps in practice. You do the best you can after practice to try to get some throws in and work on some things. It is all mental and this week for me there were no physical reps whatsoever besides scout team, and I was Tom Brady all week. Once Kellen (Clemens) went down, I had to refocus my mind and just take it one play at a time.

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.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Tom Brady Talks about the Jets

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
Press conference
December 12, 2007

Q:  The perception is that you not only want to beat the Jets to get a win, but to beat them badly. Is that an accurate perception?   

TB:  I don’t think we’ve ever said anything like that. I think it’s a good team and we’ve had a good history with this team. It’s always been very competitive when we’ve played them. They have very talented players; they’re very well coached. It’s an explosive team. We played them in the playoffs last year and they’re a very difficult team to prepare for—especially offensively— because they do so many things. It’s a big test for us. It’s a division rival and we’re all excited to play. I hate it when people say, “Well, this one is really going to mean something.” Like the other 13 [games] didn’t mean anything? We put everything into it that we can every week so I hope that we go out there and play the best game of the year. Hopefully, we make some improvements that we need to make on things that we didn’t do so well the last couple of weeks. I think everybody’s excited about playing the Jets. I don’t think anyone cares about revenge or what they said about us or anything like that.

Q:  There seems to be a heightened level of intensity with this team since what happened earlier this season.

TB:  I think we’re having fun. We’re really enjoying ourselves. It’s fun when you win. We put a lot into it every week and through the offseason conditioning program and I think we’ve played a pretty difficult schedule this year. We’ve played some very difficult games on the road. We come out of these games and everyone is excited. Hopefully, that becomes apparent through the way that we play and the energy that we bring, but it’s been a fun year. It’s fun to win every time you take the field. That’s been exciting for this team.

Q:  It’s possible to imagine, though, that it wouldn’t sit well with the veterans that there would be a question of the legitimacy of your Super Bowl victories considering the amount of work you put in.

TB:  It’s something every week. It’s something people say, or do - you can’t control any of it. I think what we can control is our own attitude and what’s important to us. It’s a great strategy and we’re trying to use things as motivation—of course you do, it’s a long season. This team has made improvements in a lot of areas and we have to continue to find ways to make improvements. You play a team like the Jets that knows us extremely well. We know how well coached they are - they have great coaching. They have great players. They play very hard. I mean, you watch this last Cleveland game and they’re playing like they were the ones that were 12-0 at the time. We’re trying to be the best we can be and we’re trying to make improvements on the practice field and in the games. One week it’s one thing and the next week it’s another. It’s almost like the Enquirer and everyone’s making up this or that. That’s not the case. We’re just really trying to achieve up to our potential and that’s the reality.

Q:  Who do you consider the better dynasty, the Patriots or the San Antonio Spurs?

TB:  Oh man, I have no idea. I really don’t. I don’t follow them a whole lot. I like the Golden State Warriors and that’s not much of a dynasty.

Q:  Potentially, the weather calls for a blizzard on Sunday. What impact might those conditions have on an offense and you as a quarterback?

TB:  Yeah, the weather changes around here quite a bit. We’ve been very fortunate this year to have great weather. Probably aside from the Baltimore game, the wind has been relatively nonexistent. It hasn’t been too cold or anything. But any time you play in a bad-weather game, your level of awareness and concentration has to go up. You can’t take anything for granted. The center-quarterback exchange becomes very important. Handoffs to the running backs become important. Depending on the wind conditions, it makes it difficult to throw the ball, maybe to the outside part of the field or down the field. You try to just complete the ball and let guys run. I think we’ve been in games over the years when weather has played a factor. We try to practice outside as much as we can as well to get used to those elements. 

Q:  Does it concern you at all that a team that doesn’t have anything to play for would resort to extreme measures to try to stop this team or you in particular?

TB:  That’s never something that I’ve worried about. I don’t think, playing the Jets this weekend… They do have a lot to play for. They’re trying to get better and improve as well. They’re just like any other team. They’re not in the playoffs, but at the same time, they have three games and those players have a lot of pride. They play us very hard and I have a lot of respect for those guys. Every time we play them, it’s a battle. Every single time, it’s a hard-fought game. Playing those guys twice every year, you do gain a lot of respect of their abilities, their toughness and their discipline. There are a lot of great qualities that they have as a team that I’m sure when Eric [Mangini] was here, he brought to them and that they had before Eric got there. I don’t think they’re cheap players. I think they’re very tough, hard-nosed, disciplined players that enjoy playing football and who are very explosive at a lot of the skill positions. Defensively, [the Jets] make a lot of plays: 11 interceptions, 11 straight games with interceptions. Kerry Rhodes has got four interceptions in his last four games. It should be a challenging game. 

Q:  Would you say that putting together a dynasty is much harder in football where there’s a lot of coming and going and free agency? I know you don’t like to talk about it, but what’s your perspective of what you’ve accomplished despite factors like free agency in this era? How much do you feel that you’ve accomplished?

TB:  We’ve lost quite a few guys over the years. The thing about football is that guys come and go and coaches have come and left. I think that the foundation of the team and what Coach Belichick stresses has remained the same. Every time that we walk in the door, there are four things that it reads [on a sign], and every time that we walk out, there are four things that it reads. It comes down to doing your job and speaking for yourself. My favorite is, “Manage expectations.” I think, as a team, we try to focus on the things that we can control and if people want to say good things or bad things… For example, this week, records don’t mean anything to me. They’re 3-10; we’re 13-0. You’re going into a game where they don’t care what record we have. We don’t care what record they have because they’re capable of winning the game and we’re capable of losing games. Unless you put forth each week and focus on team goals, you lose track of the big picture. It’s worked since I’ve been here and it’s been fun to be a part of an organization where you don’t just sit around and look at your press clippings and say, “We can’t ever be beat.” You lose real critical players or real critical coaches and you figure that you’ll role right into the next season. No. Part of what makes it enjoyable and the success of the team and the franchise is that you put a lot into it. Every week, before the game, you have an anxious stomach and you’re sitting in the locker room and you’re searching for breath and then you’re running out on the field and you’re nervous every week because you feel like you don’t know what the outcome is going to be.  That’s part of competitive sports.

Q:  How well does Eric Mangini disguise his defenses despite the number of times that you’ve played them?

TB:  That’s a big key for them. Just like us as an offense, you try to disguise what you’re doing. You don’t really want to line up and say, “We’re in this formation and here’s the same play that you’ve seen on film for the last six weeks.” They do a really good job of disguising and lot of the things they did last year—They did a lot of walk-around stuff, they do a lot of all-out blitzing, they run a lot of all-out blitz. We try to prepare for everything. You never want to go into a game and have surprises. You want to have answers for what they’re doing, but knowing Eric [Mangini] there will be something new and some new look that we haven’t prepared for. I know as a team we’re going to have to really concentrate on every play and if it doesn’t turn out exactly as we had practiced, we’re going to have to be able to adjust on the field, and that comes with good decision-making. It’s a very challenging team to prepare for. They do a lot of different things and they do a lot of different things very well. If you lose track for one play, like we did last year, there will be a strip-sack and they’ll have the opportunity to make plays and really play well and stay in the ballgame.

 

Belichick on the Jets

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

COACH BELICHICK
Press Conference
December 12, 2007

 
BB: Sorry I’m running a few minutes late here this morning. I just got off the conference call [with] New York and you know how those things can run a little long. We’re into the Jets and this is a team that’s been in a lot of tight games. Obviously they played very well a couple of weeks ago against Pittsburgh when they beat them. There’s a lot of new faces. Of course, the quarterback is the most obvious one, but defensively they’re playing a lot of people across the board, both in the secondary and in the front seven. [There are] a lot of new players, a lot of rotations, guys playing different positions. Like sometimes [Dewayne] Robertson’s at end, sometimes he’s at nose. Sometimes [Shaun] Ellis is at outside linebacker, sometimes he’s at end. Sometimes [Kenyon] Coleman’s on the left, the right and so on and so forth. There’s a number of different personnel things that they do. As we know, the Jets are a very explosive team. They can get you on one play in any phase of the game, whether it’s a kickoff return by [Leon] Washington, or a blocked kick or a big play pass to [Jerricho] Cotchery or [Laveranues] Coles or a long run by [Thomas] Jones or a strip-sack or an interception by [Kerry] Rhodes or one of their pressure defenses where they get a guy coming free and knock the quarterback down, knock the ball lose and all of that. They’re explosive, they can turn games around in a hurry, score quickly and they give you a lot to get ready for, so we’re going to need all of the time that we can get to try to recalibrate here. I think this is quite a bit different from what we saw in September. Certainly there’s some similarities, I’m not saying that, but there’s a lot of things that are new. It’s been three months and they’re doing some things differently that we’ll have to prepare for this week and that will be a big challenge for us. That’s where we’re at today on the Jets.

Q: Weather-wise, things can always change, but right now there’s a possibility of snow in the forecast. When you’re putting together your plan, how much do you put stock into that and how much flexability do you have within the plan?

BB: I think you certainly have to be aware of it. When you’re playing in the Northeast and at this time of year, you have to be ready for the different elements. I think my experience has been you have to be careful about going overboard one way or the other this far in advance, on Tuesday when you do the game plan or Wednesday when you put it in, because a lot can change between now and Sunday. The forecast is a foot of snow and it turns out to be 60 degrees and vice versa. I think you set it up the way you would want to play the team in kind of a normal situation, and then as the game gets closer, then you be ready to adjust to the conditions as they get a little more predictable and as it comes to precipitation or heavy winds or things like that, we usually don’t talk to the team about that until either the day of the game or, in this case it’s a 1:00 game, so maybe the night before. But I’ve made that mistake before, the night before telling the team, “We’re going to be playing in a foot of snow.” You wake up the next morning and it’s 50 degrees and sunny and they look at you like, “What a moron you are. Why did we go through that?” But in the end, no matter what the conditions are, our opponent is the Jets, and that’s the team we have to stop. We have to block them, we have to tackle them, we have to defend them, we have to cover kicks against them and that’s really, no matter what the situation is, weather-wise on Sunday, we have to do a good job against the New York Jets. They’re our opponent this week and that’s where our real focus is. I’m not saying the weather couldn’t be a factor, but I think we have to focus on the Jets and then, as I said, maybe as it gets closer to game time, if there’s something that might affect us then we’ll work with that. 

Q: I assume the New York guys were asking you about your relationship—

BB: Oh, they had a lot of questions. I’m sure we can get you the transcript. Take a good look at it.

Q: Is this a personal thing with you, this game, or not? Can you void yourself from that aspect of it?

BB: It’s the next game. It’s a division game. This is a team that we know well, [that] we played three times last year [and] twice a year. It’s a division game. They know us well, we know them well and we’re just going to try to do what we always do, which is win - try to have a good week of preparation and go out there and play well on Sunday. That’s our job. That’s what we get paid to do and that’s what we want to do. Everything that’s in the past is in the past. Everything that’s in the future doesn’t really matter. Right now it’s a one game season [and] we’re focused on the New York Jets. That’s all I’m focused on. And I’m happy to talk about that, and that’s really about the extent of it.

Q: There’s going to be so much attention paid to that post-game handshake. When you’re in that kind of scenario—

BB: The handshakes and the high-fives and all that - Right now my attention is on the New York Jets, and that’s really all I’m thinking about, is how I can prepare our team to the best of my ability to prepare for the game and play it on Sunday.

Q: My question was, does it make you uneasy? You seem to be a guy who’s comfortable when the action is on the field and you don’t care for that kind of spotlight.

BB: Well, right now my focus is on getting ready for the New York Jets. High-fives, I really haven’t thought too much about that—Cartwheels.

Q: You mentioned the quarterback change. What does Kellen Clemens do differently than Chad Pennington that you have to prepare for?

BB: I think they’re both really good. Clemens had a real good preseason so we saw him in preseason getting ready for the opener. But he’s an athletic kid. I think he has a strong arm, can make all of the throws, he’s scrambled out and done a good job of making some plays out of the pocket. He’s also, on reverses and stuff like that, he’s aggressive. He’ll go out there and block. He’s a tough kid and I think he’s got a good arm. He can get the ball down the field. He’s got a good touch on it and he’s strong in the pocket. You have to wrap him up. They move him around some on - They’re not a big bootleg team, but they run some plays where the quarterback moves in the pocket and he’s certainly athletic enough to do that. He’s pulled the ball down on some scrambles and picked up some key first downs on third down situations, so you have to - Similar to last week with [Ben] Roethlisberger. I’m not talking about a guy that’s—not Vince Young, but a guy that can pull the ball down and pick up yardage and gain first downs in critical situations, so you have to defend that as well with Clemens.

Q: Can you talk about Vince Wilfork? He seemed very active last week. He’s obviously having a very good year for you. Can you just talk about how he’s come along?

BB: Oh, Vince is a real good player. I think he does everything well. He’s strong, he’s physical, he’s a tough guy to block in the running game and he’s an explosive guy in pass-rush and he has good quickness and plays with good leverage. Vince is smart. He understands football, he understands blocking schemes, defensive concepts, where we’re strong on a particular defense, where we’re weak and sometimes - him being right in the middle - how he can compensate on that one way or the other. When you’re strong on one place and weak on another, then the first place you can start to adjust is right in the middle of the defense, whether it be the nose or the middle linebacker or one of your safeties to try to cheat back there to balance it up, that type of thing. Vince is very well-prepared. He’s one of the most instinctive and smartest defensive linemen that I’ve coached, and he’s got a lot of skill and he works hard. He’s out there all the time. He’s good in the offseason. There’s a long list of positives.

Q: As you’re probably aware from your New York conference call, Newsday is reporting that a Jets employee was told to leave Gillette Stadium last year for illegally videotaping. Can you confirm that?

BB: There’s a lot of things that have happened in the past or been talked about in the past and really, all of the past is in the past. I don’t care about any of those. Right now my focus is on the New York Jets.

Q: There is a history with the Jets going back to the ‘70s. There was a fistfight after a game—

BB: In the ‘70s? Let’s talk about that. I bet everybody’s interested in that. Something that happened 40 years ago.

Q: Do you feel that your players are particularly angry about playing the Jets every time you play them?

BB: It’s a division game. It’s a division game. Division games are very competitive. You’re used to playing a team a couple of times a year. We played the Jets three times last year. We know each other well. It’s a competitive game. We want to do well. I’m sure they want to do well. That’s the way it is.

Q: I understand that you do want to talk about the Jets. However, you were heavily punished for what went on with your situation—

BB: The past is in the past. I’m not thinking about the past. I’m thinking about this week.

Q: Who’s your favorite former Cleveland Browns ballboy?

BB: When did you come up with that one? Just at the spur of the moment or was that one…Been working on it? It would probably be my son, Stephen. That’s probably who it would be. I couldn’t put anybody ahead of him. He was young and inexperienced, but you know, I had a soft spot for him there.

Q: This game is obviously going to be an emotional game for both teams, but Vince Wilfork said this week the difference with the defensive line’s play was how emotional they were for 60 minutes. Did you notice that?

BB: I thought we played better defensively last week than we had in some other weeks, but again, last week is last week, so it doesn’t really - it doesn’t make any difference. I don’t think there’s any carry-over. I think the carry-over will start on Sunday afternoon when the game starts and then we’ll see how we play and how we play verses them at that point in time. Again, to me, this week it’s a one-game season, like they all are. You start on Wednesday, you get ready for Sunday and Sunday you go out there and put your best effort out there on the field and we’ll see how good or not good that is.

Q: You saw the Jets game against Pittsburgh on tape when you were preparing for Pittsburgh, and I’m sure you’ll see it again this week. That stands out as so different from all of the other Jets games. What was the difference with that game?

BB: Well, it came right down to the - How many overtime games have they been in this year? It’s like every other game they’ve been in. Practically every game they’ve been in, it’s come down to the last possession. Including last week. Last week’s game against Cleveland, that came right down to the best possession, too. That’s the way most all of their games have been, other than the Dallas game, so to me, that’s the way it’s been with them. And they make a lot of plays. Just like last week - You think that Cleveland is in good shape after [Jamal] Lewis scores, and then the Jets score. Then they’re on-side kicking again [and] they’ve already got one one-side kick. To me, that’s the way they are. We’ve seen that before, too. We had a big lead on them down there in the second game last year. What was it, 24-0 or whatever, and then they block a field goal and they’re throwing for the end zone at the end of the game. So, like I said, one or two plays, they can turn it around in a hurry. And it can be in any phase of the game. It could be in the kicking game, offensively or defensively. They’re a well-balanced team [and] they have a lot of firepower.