Jets Vs Jets?

Thursday Night Football opened this past Thursday with the New England Patriots hosting the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. That had to have been one of the most stressful Patriots game I have ever watched in the past 6 years. Plagued with injuries, Hernandez being incarcerated and Welker being with the Broncos this season is practically a new era for New England. Thank God we still have McDaniels, Brady, Edelman and the big man himself, Bill Belichick. 

TE Rob Gronkowski was still inactive this week although its being speculated that the Gronk will be active next Sunday against Tampa Bay. That's fantastic news to our ears. I just hope he's the old Gronk. I have faith that he will be though so no worries. Shane Vereen is out until at least week 11 after having surgery on his wrist after breaking a bone in week 1. He'll be good as new after this little hiatus. An injury that should not surprise anyone involves former Rams wide receiver, Danny Amendola. It was speculated back before week 1 that he would be inactive for that week due to a groin injury. He was very persistent in playing so, unsurprisingly, he played. Of course by doing so, he re-injured his groin and now the man is inactive for 2-6 weeks. Get better soon, buddy but please, please do not rush yourself back. Health is more important than re-injuring yourself for the game.

Our key offensive players that really need to step it up these next few weeks include Stevan Ridley, Aaron Dobson, Julian Edelman, LeGarrette Blount, and Kenbrell Thompkins. Ridley found himself on the bench during week one for some fumbling issues. Luckily after being put on notice by Belichick to be ready to play Thursday, he managed to keep ahold of the balls. Aaron Dobson managed to score the only touchdown pass from Brady. There were several dropped passes that was beyond ridiculous. I seriously was hoping that Dobson would have a breakout performance in week two. But there's still 14 games left for that so no worries. Honestly, with the game against the Jets being his first NFL game, it's to be expected. I'm sure his nerves got the best of him.

The punting teams probably had the most action. A total of 17 times the punting teams were used. This game was just a horrible game all around for both teams. Rookie quarterback fresh out of West Virginia, Geno Smith, completed 15 out of 35 passes for 214 yards and 3 interceptions. Badass Tom Brady did not have his best game whatsoever. He completed 19 out of 39 passes for 185 yards with 1 touchdown. Luckily enough, he had no interceptions. The top 2 rushing performers for New England was Stevan Ridley for 40 yards with Blount for 11 yards. Jets top 2 rushers were Ivory with 52 yards and Powell for 48 yards. Julian Edelman had 78 yards receiving with Dobson right behind him at 56 yards. 

There were moments when Geno Smith took a little longer to throw the ball which led him to be sacked numerous times. Jets' Bilal Powell had a nice little 3 yard touchdown run sending the score 13-10. Their luck ended there when Patriots' Talib and Dennard intercepted a total of 3 times in the fourth quarter. Could nerves be the reason for the interceptions? Who knows. In the first half there were a total of eleven punts, a lost fumble, a missed field goal, three field goals and a touchdown.

Now my favorite part of the game was the ejection of not one but two New York Jets' players. Ferguson and Colon. Having been ejected from the game, the two were seated on the sidelines. Watching Belichick get all fired up and wanting them off the field before we proceeded was awesome. Hearing the Ferguson and Colon having to wear their helmets while walking to the tunnel was great. I would have loved to have been there because I think I would have thrown everything in my reach to those two fuckers. 

And now that I think I have covered everything, I just want to give a huge shoutout to Robert Kraft and the entire New England organization. During Thursday night's halftime, all of the Boston bombing victims were honored. They donned Patriots' jerseys with the number one with their last name on the back. It's moments like these that I am so proud to be a New England Patriots fan. And one day, I WILL get the courage to move to Boston.

Win or lose, I will ALWAYS be a Patriots' fan, whether we're 0-16 or 16-0. I'll still be rooting for my boys because they're MY team and I will ALWAYS be proud of them.