Gold Stars, Penalty Flags In Patriots' Loss To Jets
BOSTON (CBS) - That was kind of a rough game the Patriots had against the Jets.
I got the feeling at times that they were never in it. Here are your gold stars and penalty flags:
Gold Stars
- Rob Gronkowski gets a gold star. It was great to see #87 back and he had an immediate impact. He had eight catches for 114 yards and he was targeted 17 times. He's going to get in better football shape. There were times when I was watching him, I felt he was running against the wind. The only problem I had with Gronk is I thought he was taking hits instead of giving hits. I'm sure that will change as he gets more into a groove.
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- Chris Jones gets a gold star. The young man finished the game with two sacks and 10 tackles. That's a great game, but afterwards he was better. All the hubbub circled around him and that field goal play, and without hesitation the rookie sat at his locker and said it was his fault, taking every bit of the blame. Turns out it's how they were all taught so it wasn't his fault, but Jones never shied away from the issue. A young player just came up big.
Penalty Flags
- The Patriots third down offense and defense both get a penalty flag. Defensively we saw how much the Pats missed Wilfork, Mayo and Talib. The D could not get off the field on third downs as the the Jets were 11 for 21 on third down conversions. That is a crazy number. It got better as the game went on but they started very poorly.
Offensive, the Pats were 1-for-12 on third down. Tom Brady had a poor game but on third downs he airmailed more than a couple of passes. Their efficiency was poor. Give the Jets defense some credit as they got to Brady and caused that frustration, but that offense has to be better.
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The field goal pushing penalty gets a penalty flag. I'm not going to say much here but this call should not be what talked about when deciding a game. I hate when the flags change the outcome and this potentially did.
- Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels gets a penalty flag. The Pats had loosened up the Jets front seven by working in the run and then they stopped. Brady began to take sacks the minute that happened. The play-calling came under fire this week, and McDaniels' game-plan was not a competitive one. It was almost as if he was trying to work in Gronk. They are going to need to spread the ball around more going forward.
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