Mangini Works His Magic; Other NFL News

Eric Mangini and the Jets defeated Bill Belichick on Sunday

The New York Jets came into New England to play the Patriots after coming off of a bye week where they evidently, prepared very much for this game. The spread on this game was 10.5 points in favor of the Patriots and nobody was giving the Jets any credit to win the game and saying maybe they will keep it close. Well, close is what the Patriots were trying to keep it just about the whole game.

It was early in the 2nd quarter when the Patriots struck first with a field goal to give them the lead, but that was after the Jets came up with a huge eight yard sack in the red zone. And until late in the 4th quarter, the New York Jets dominated on the defensive side of the ball. After a huge touchdown pass from Pennington to Cotchery, the Patriots drove down the field in less than a minute and scored a touchdown on a pass from Brady to Caldwell and then they got the ball back with less than two minutes left in the game inside their own fifteen. Tom Brady made some very nice passes, but the problem was that all of these passes were to the middle of the field and essentially, none were to the sidelines that would have allowed them to get out of bounds and that is basically how it ended.

With nine seconds left, the Patriots had one more play to throw a bomb, but Brady fumbled the ball and the game was over. The Jets won 17 - 14.

Now, one who did not watch the game might ask, how in the world did the Jets win this game? Well, it is pretty simple -- defense. The run defense, besides for giving up a 50 yard run to Corey Dillon, play outstanding. They have improved so much since the first time these two teams faced off earlier in the season, it is not even imaginable, only letting up 135 yards on the ground to the Patriots. Brady did have a nice game verse the Jets defense with a touchdown and 255 yards, but had a key turnover late in the game.

The key player in the game has to be Kevan Barlow. Throughout the whole game, but mainly in the 4th quarter when it counted the most, Barlow took the ball from Pennington and actually ran with it. He finished the game with 75 yards on 17 attempts and a touchdown.

Eric Mangini, head coach of the New York Jets, deserves all the credit in the world. He came into the game with his team prepared as best as they can be and they played as best as they can. Great game calling and clock management too, something that Herm Edwards failed to ace as the head coach for the New York Jets.

In other NFL news, the Colts are the first team in NFL history to start off the season 9 - 0 in two straight seasons, Ladanian Tomlinson ties the Chargers' team record for most touchdowns in a game with four, as they defeated the Bengals 49 - 41, Steve Mcnair defeated his old team, the Tennessee Titans, 27 - 26, and Brett Favre, who had 347 yards and two touchdowns defeated the Vikings by a final score of 23 - 17.