Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 11 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI at SEA | BAL at NYG | CHI at GB | CLE at BUF | DAL at WAS | DEN at ATL | DET at CAR | HOU at IND |
| MIN at TB | NO at KC | NYJ at NE | OAK at MIA | PHI at CIN | SD at PIT | STL at SF | TEN at JAX |
Week 11 Game Recap: New York Jets 34, New England Patriots 31
What you need to know
| New York Jets |
Brett Favre had a good fantasy line and was instrumental in the Jets winning this game. The Jets offense kept just enough of a run game to make the Patriots respect it. It was clear however that Favre wanted to attack by spreading the defense out, staying balanced and making quick throws. Favre started and finished the game with impressive drives. On the opening drive, Favre went five for five with a touchdown to Leon Washington and was five for six in over time that lead to the winning field goal from Jay Feely.
Thomas Jones had another solid fantasy week following his huge performance last week against the Rams. He broke 100 yards yet again while carrying the load 30 times. Jones scored a key touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give the Jets lead once again after the Patriots had tied the game.
Leon Washington was an integral part of the Jets win. He picked up yards through the air and on the ground. He caught a TD pass to cap off the opening drive of the game and give the Jets an early lead. In the second quarter, Washington took a Patriots kickoff 92 yards untouched for another New York touchdown.
| New England Patriots |
Matt Cassel showed a lot of moxie in this game and he ended with a gaudy stat line. He became the first Patriots QB to ever throw for 400 yards and also run for greater then 50 yards in the same game. Cassel spread his three passing touchdowns to Ben Watson, Jabar Gaffney and Randy Moss.
The Patriots featured a three headed monster at running back during this game. None of Ellis-Green, Faulk, or Morris established any type of consistent running attack. In fact, Matt Cassel was the Patriots best rusher at 62 yards. The Jets front four certainly deserves some of the credit as there was little room to run between the tackles.
Randy Moss was one second away from having a poor game. His improbable 16 yard TD catch with a single second left on the clock salvaged both his stat line and the Patriots hopes of winning the game. This clutch catch forced the game to overtime.
What you ought to know
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 26 - 33 - 258 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 1 - 0 |
Favre started the game five for five with a touch down to Leon Washington and was highly impressive with his typical strong arm and great zip on the ball. The offense featured many plays with one or three step drops. The Jets also showed a fair amount of empty sets with four or five wide. Favre did a super job of looking off linebackers and he also used pump fakes to manipulate the Patriots defenders and help his intended receivers get open. Favre struggled some during the middle of game when the defense dialed up more pressure and made him throw out of sync. Overall, he avoided giving up turnovers and helped manage the game beautifully. The drive in over time was impressive in the fact that the Jets sideline looked dejected after the Patriots tied the game with one second left in the game. Favre was on point in the final drive and used Keller to help keep the chains moving.
| RB Thomas Jones, Rush: 30 - 104 - 1, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (3 targets) |
Jones ran hard and got plenty of opportunities in this game carrying the ball 30 times. He followed his blockers well and got the yards he should. Jones was not able to break off any longer runs as his biggest rush went for 13 yards. His lone touchdown came on a one yard dive late in the game to give the Jets the lead. Also of note, Jones did receive some red zone targets as well.
| RB Leon Washington, Rush: 5 - 18 - 0, Rec: 2 - 17 - 1 (4 targets) |
Washington made the most of his limited action in this game. He was targeted just the four times and only ran the ball five times. On his touchdown, he lined up as a wide receiver and was matched up on a linebacker. Jones caught the wide receiver screen pass and sped to the end zone from ten yards out. This capped an impressive opening drive for the Jets. Washington also had a huge impact on the D/ST by taking a kick off 92 yards for an impressive score.
| WR Laveranues Coles, Rec: 5 - 38 - 0 (5 targets) |
Coles seems to be targeted on shorter routes with the hopes of him making defenders miss after the catch. His best catch of the game came on a key third down play that was originally ruled incomplete. Jets head coach Eric Mangini prudently challenged the play and it was over turned to a completion. This reversal of fortune for Jets gave them a first down instead of having to punt and eventually to a touch down. Coles has been nursing leg injuries and he limped off the field when he got his rolled up on by fellow teammate Thomas Jones. Coles returned a couple of plays later.
| WR Jerricho Cotchery, Rec: 5 - 87 - 1 (8 targets) |
With Coles catching the shorter stuff, this has freed up Cotchery on the other side to vertically stretch opposing defenses. He had a couple of very nice catches on the day including a circus one handed catch with a Patriots defender draped all over him. His touchdown was impressive by making a defender miss on a tackle attempt and then extended the ball with his full reach to break the plane of the goal. Cotchery was targeted in the red zone one occasion other then the touchdown. Also, of note he had a ball stripped away and fumbled early in the fourth quarter.
| WR Brad Smith, Rush: 1 - 17 - 0 |
When the Jets used the wildcat formation inside the red zone, he ran the ball off tackle with having an option toss to Thomas Jones. They play was well run and went for 17 yards and almost a score.
| WR Chansi Stuckey, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Stuckey made a key catch on a third and two late in the fourth quarter. This was his only target in the game.
| TE Dustin Keller, Rec: 8 - 87 - 0 (11 targets) |
He and Brett Favre certainly have a rapport with other. He was the most targeted Jets receiver. Many of his plays were seam routes as well as simple stop routes where he found the soft spots in the Patriots zone coverage. Of note, Keller dropped a sure TD that was thrown slightly behind him, although he should have made the catch. He was targeted often in red zone situations and was impressive by catching many balls over the middle and in heavy traffic.
| TE Chris Baker, Rec: 3 - 11 - 0 (4 targets) |
Baker made three catches that were all short gains. It was apparent that Baker is more of a short yardage type of receiver and Keller is used more in medium to deep routes.
| PK Jay Feely 2 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 10 points |
Feely scored ten points and was four for four on extra points. He was good on two field goals, one from 22 yards and the game winner in overtime from 34 yards.
| NYJ Rush Defense |
They did a good job of limiting the Patriots running attack and none of the running back got untracked. With playing a lot of man coverage, they gave up a lot of yards to QB Matt Cassel who escaped the pocket frequently and picked up 62 yards on his various scrambles.
| NYJ Pass Defense |
It was a great performance for the secondary. There were times where they looked stout and were giving the Patriots trouble. However, Cassel and company started to take what the Jets were giving them and they went on to rack up 400 passing yards. The Jets were able to sack the quarterback twice and one of them was on fourth down late in the first half deep in Jets territory.
| QB Matt Cassel, Pass: 30 - 51 - 400 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 8 - 62 - 0 |
Cassel showed excellent scrambling abilities and was often able to run for more then ten yards at a time. During the first half he seemed a little stiff and like he was afraid to mistakes. All of his throws were conservative, and thrown only where his receivers had a chance to catch the ball. This led to a few poor early throws. As the game progressed he made better reads and took advantage of single coverage when possible. The signature play of the game for Cassel was out routes all based on timing. They ran variations of this play to both Gaffney and Watson and probably had success in the neighborhood of about ten times. He did a great job of distributing the ball to various targets and run the hurry up offense extremely efficiently. Cassel struggled to find rapport with Randy Moss on his deep throws throughout the game and missed some opportunities for potential easy scores.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 8 - 38 - 0, Rec: 4 - 49 - 0 (5 targets) |
Faulk was being utilized by running outside as well as some delayed draws especially from the shotgun. As usual, Faulk enjoyed more success catching the ball. He had a good gain up the sideline as he ran over a few Jets defenders.
| RB Sammy Morris, Rush: 5 - 14 - 0 |
Morris returned from injury to run the ball five times. He ran hard and helped the Patriots in short yardage situations.
| RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Rush: 2 - 9 - 0 |
Green-Ellis had a one or two decent runs early in the game where he picked up solid yards usually from power running formations. The constant rotation may have hurt his feel for the game and he did not see much action in the second half. The Jets do deserve some credit for limiting yards between the tackles and this where Green-Ellis seems to thrive.
| RB Heath Evans, Rush: 2 - 2 - 0 |
The FB had a couple of quick hitter type runs.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 7 - 108 - 0 (8 targets) |
It was a typical Welker performance in that he ran great routes, found soft parts in the defense and was effective after the catch. No real high lights for him, however by the end of the game he racked up over 100 yards and was a good fantasy start.
| WR Jabar Gaffney, Rec: 7 - 86 - 1 (12 targets) |
Gaffney was working primarily out of the slot. When the Jets doubled Moss and Welker, Gaffney got single coverage and took advantage of it. He also benefitted from two prevent situations both at the end of the half as well at the end of the game. This is where a lot of his yards came from. Gaffney caught his touchdown at the end of the half where he simply ran past the Jets defender for an easy score. Also of note, Gaffney had one dropped ball and caught a two point conversion.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 3 - 26 - 1 (8 targets) |
Moss did not make a reception until the first play of the third quarter. He and Cassel struggled with their deep routes as he was often over thrown. Moss drew double cover the entire game was being jammed at the line of scrimmage and this effective. On the last play of the game for some reason the Jets gave Moss a free release and single coverage. It cost them a clutch 16 yard touchdown catch from Moss. This last play rescued Moss owners from a potentially poor stat line.
| WR Sam Aiken, Rec: 1 - 43 - 0 (2 targets) |
Aiken caught a WR screen and went untouched for 43 yards and on his other target he had a drop.
| TE Ben Watson, Rec: 8 - 88 - 1 (15 targets) |
Much like Gaffney, Watson was busy because the Jets game plan was to double Moss and Welker for much of the game. He made a couple of really nice catches during the game including catch over the middle that he was mauled by a Jets defender. He received three red zone looks during the game. A bizarre play for Watson was him losing a fumble on the opening possession in the third quarter. It was odd because he wasn't even hit on the play, he simply dropped the ball while trying to his arms to protect the ball.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 3 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points |
Gostkowski was perfect on the day and scored 11 points. This included three extra points and three field goals from distances of 42, 31 and 47 yards.
| NE Rush Defense |
They grinded it out against Thomas Jones all game and made him work for every yard they did not get gashed for any big plays. In total the Jets ran for a touchdown and 140 yards.
| NE Pass Defense |
The pass rush came alive during the middle of the game and the pair of Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour registered sacks. The secondary also forced a fumble from Jets receiver Jerricho Cotchery. The linebackers had some trouble with Dustin Keller and perhaps the key play of the game came in over time. The Jets were facing a third and 15 and for the Patriots blew their coverage assignment on Keller and he ran uncovered for 16 yards to convert the first down and keep the winning drive alive.
