With quarterback Matt Cassel making precious few mistakes and a defence that looked as good as it did at any point last season, the New England Patriots spoiled Brett Favre's home debut with the New York Jets with a 19-10 victory at the Meadowlands. Cassel did not try to be a direct replacement for the injured Tom Brady, nor did the Patriots ask him to be. He chipped away at the Jets with screens and underneath passes, and leaned heavily on the running game. He almost never went deep, but in one of the rare times that he did, he underthrew a pass to Randy Moss, which allowed cornerback Darrelle Revis to break up the pass.
"I talked to Tom a lot over the last week," Cassel said. "We had many different conversations on many different aspects of the game. His big advice was to go out there, manage the game, be smart with the football, and that we have enough good players on this team to win if I do that." Cassel completed 16 of 23 passes for 165 yards with no touchdowns, but no interceptions. If he continues to do that, his Patriots are going to win a lot of games this season.
Stephen Gostkowski kicked four field goals for the Patriots and Sammy Morris got the lone touchdown for the team. Favre or no Favre, the Jets have a long way to go. They won their opener against a Miami team who won only one game last season, and they did very little Sunday to suggest that they're a vastly improved team with a future Hall of Fame quarterback at the helm. At one point, they had a first-and-goal at the three-yard line, and instead of letting Favre pass, the Jets ran it into the line three times and kicked a field goal.
It was more than curious. It was crazy. Then again, Favre did not question the decision. Chansi Stuckey scored the Jets' touchdown in the fourth quarter from a Favre pass, but it was too little too late to prevent the Patriots and Cassel from claiming the victory. * Newsday
