Gold Stars, Penalty Flags: Brady Excels; LaFell Stumbles In Return
By Levan Reid, WBZ-TV Sports
BOSTON (CBS) -- Sunday's 30-23 win over the Jets was obviously one of New England's best wins this season. Even with limited personnel on the offensive side of the ball the Patriots were able to still put up 30 points against a tough Jets defense.
Here are your gold stars and penalty flags for Sunday's win.
Gold Stars
- Tom Brady gets a gold star. I'm not sure who people believe should be in the lead for the MVP race but if that person's name is not Tom Brady, they may need to have their head examined. He threw for 355 yards and ran for 15 yards -- the leading passer and rusher for the Patriots. I'm serious, I have never seen anything like that. Brady is attacking defenses and beating them at their strength. There were times against the Jets where he just orchestrated the drive and kept NY off balance. Right now, he's the best in the business.
- Danny Amendola gets a gold star. This is the second game in a row that Danny has been the star. He finished with eight catches for 86 yards and a clutch touchdown. Everybody was dropping passes, but Danny caught everything that was thrown his way.
- Rob Ninkovich gets a gold star. I lost count at how many Ryan Fitzpatrick passes he batted down. The passes came out quick with low trajectory and Rob was there to knock them down. Nink is getting smarter at his job.
- The Pats' rush defense gets a gold star. Admit it, everyone thought Chris Ivory would run all over the Pats. But he was held to 41 yards on 17 carries. The Pats' D did a great job against him and took the Jets rushing attack out of the game.
Penalty Flags
- Brandon LaFell gets a penalty flag. What was going on here? JoJo had six drops against the Jets and then afterwards he said he was real down on himself. It's one game and the next one is a couple of days away. He'll have to redeem himself.
- Malcolm Butler gets a penalty flag. Eric Decker simply hammered Butler all game long. If there was a third down play to be made, it was Decker who was going to make it and Butler who was going to get beat. He's out there by himself and he's learning the hard way. Against the Jets, he had a tough day.
Follow Levan Reid on Twitter @LevanReid.
