Patriots Nation: Pats defense stifles Favre and Jets offense, Cassel gets his first win as a starter

Yesterday’s Patriots-Jets game was a nice metaphor for the 2008 Presidential election. While the Jets trotted out the football equivalent of John McCain, in Brett Favre, Matt Cassel was making his first start since being a high school senior in Southern California. The long-time back-up quarterback has taught the nation that “inexperienced” is not a synonym for not ready.

Cassel proved all the doubters and football experts wrong as he executed the Patriots offense to a 19-10 victory over the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

“It’s never about the doubters. It’s always about the belief in yourself,” he told reporters from the podium we are used to seeing Brady standing before at the end of a game.

He did what was asked of him, he managed the game, played smart and minimized mistakes. One way of keeping the Jets from scoring is to keep the ball out of Favre’s hands by controlling the clock. The Patriots offense kept the Jets offense off the field for over half the game. Cassel connected with wide out Wes Welker seven times for a total of 72 yards – 165 overall.

On this day, he was better than his more experienced counterpart. While Favre might have thrown one more touchdown pass, Cassel was able to minimize the damage. He did not take any unnecessary risks and took three sacks instead of, possibly, air mailing a ball into the hands of a Jets defender, like his compliment in gang-green.

“A lot of people didn’t expect [us] to do much today,” head coach Bill Belichick said in his post-game press conference. “These guys came in with a lot of determination.”

The Pats defense, specifically the front seven, were the biggest reason why New England won the game. Knowing they did not have Brady to bail them out, the defense attacked Favre and the Jets running backs like a pack of feral dogs searching for food. Rodney Harrison described the defense the best.

“Until last year we weren’t an offense that came in and scored 38 points a game,” he told reporters in the locker room. “So we know how to win close games. We know how to fight and claw.”

But by far, the play of the day came in the fourth quarter, with New York on their own 23-yard-line. Adalius Thomas not only sacked Favre but also brought down his running back Leon Washington for a 20-yard loss.

Looking like something from the opening credits of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” Thomas burst into the Jets backfield on second and 10, grabbed the nine time Pro-Bowler’s jersey and began to spin him down. But Favre was not going down without a fight. Washington tried to help his quarterback but apparently forgot the consequences of when the little guy tries to tackle the big guy. Thomas brought down both Favre and Washington but not before New York lost an additional 10 yards. At the end of the day we learn, the Patriots are still the school-yard bullies.