FOXBOROUGH - The Jets milked that first one, didn’t they? They beat the Patriots way back when to go 2-0 en route to 3-0, and they had a lot to say. Of course, they didn’t beat the real Patriots, who were missing two players of some consequence.
One, as we all know, was Wes Welker, the man Bill Belichick refers to as “the best slot receiver in the league.’’ And the other was Tom Brady. Some guy wearing No. 12 played in that game back on Sept. 20, but it certainly wasn’t Tom Brady.
Welker played yesterday. Darrelle Revis did another nice job on Randy Moss, which is fine and dandy, but that’s only the starting point in trying to defense New England when Brady is on his game and Welker is in the lineup. Brady found No. 83 for a Welker-career-high of 15 catches, good for another Welker-career-high of 192 yards. There were a lot of reasons why that 16-9 Jets triumph two months ago turned into a 31-14 Patriots victory down at The Razor late yesterday afternoon and early evening, but it’s a pretty good place to start.
Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis is no fool. It all made sense to him.
“If you look at it,’’ he observed, “Welker, that is really their offense. That is where everything is generated through. Moss, they know we are keying on him, so that frees up Welker a little bit. He is the focal point. He makes a lot of tough plays for them. We know what type of player he was, but they just hit us with him.’’
About the only thing Welker didn’t do was get into the end zone. But he constantly moved the chains to help set up the team’s three offensive touchdowns and the 26-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal.
Most of the time he tortured the Jets with his usual quick-out or across-the-middle slant stuff, accompanied by his usual Yards After Catch (YAC), but he broke out of that mold in the second quarter. On third and 7 at the Jets’ 46, Welker and Brady caught the Jets defensive backs in an indecisive moment and made them pay, with Welker breaking free for a 43-yard grab that set up the Patriots for a first-and-goal at the 3. Two plays later Laurence Maroney went in to make it 21-0.
“I think they got a little confused,’’ Welker explained. “I noticed it, and Tom did, too.’’
“They looked like they were going to blitz, and then they changed their mind,’’ added Brady. “Then I saw Wes running upfield.’’
That was the biggest yardage-gobbler, but there were five Welker receptions of 15 yards or more, and eight in double figures overall. On a nine-play, 76-yard drive that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Moss, Welker accounted for 51 yards on receptions of 17, 15, and 19 yards.
He’s a handy guy to have around, according to the coach.
