Thanks to Stephen Gostkowski's booming kickoffs and Kevin Faulk's serpentine punt returns, the Patriots enjoyed a decided advantage in field position. Their average starting position was their own 42, while Favre and the Jets began, on average, at their own 21.
So Cassel and the Patriots had a head start of more than one-fifth of the field on Broadway Brett and the Jets, making Cassel's job of managing the game in place of Tom Brady that much more manageable.
"I think just in terms of managing the game it's a lot easier to move the ball 50 yards or sometimes 15 yards into scoring position than it is to move it 60," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "That's the advantage of field position. This was a big field-position game, and I thought that in the kicking game that our special teams unit and [special teams coach] Brad [Seely], they did a great job."
Nobody tilted the field - or the outcome - more than Gostkowski, who in addition to nailing a career-high-tying four field goals blasted five of his six kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. The sixth kickoff was 4 yards deep in the end zone, but Leon Washington elected to take it out and was belted by Ray Ventrone at the 20, essentially a sixth touchback.
"He had a great day," said Belichick. "He hit them going in both directions, too. He kicked the ball well, and really did a good job on the field goals. It was a good operation with [long snapper] Lonie [Paxton] and [holder] Chris [Hanson] on the field goals, but on the kickoffs, that was pretty much a one-man show there. You kick it out of the back of the end zone and you and me could run down and cover."
While Gostkowski was pinning the Jets deep in their territory, Faulk, who was making his regular-season debut after being suspended by the NFL one game for violating the league's drug policy, was picking up field position for the Patriots on punt returns. The 10-year veteran had three punt returns for 53 yards, a 17.7-yard average.
