There will be no Super Bowl for Messrs. Belichick and Brady this year. The braggarts and buffoons from the Meadowlands took it all away with four quarters of smashmouth football, sending the frontrunner Patriots home for the summer. If it makes anyone feel better, Red Sox pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Fort Myers, Fla., Feb. 13.
“It’s a one-game season,’’ said Belichick. “If you don’t play well, you’re done. We all know that.’’
This was not your garden variety postseason elimination. Losing to the Jets is worse than losing to the Lakers. It might even be worse than losing to the Yankees and that is because of the lack of class demonstrated by the Jets in the days and months leading up to yesterday’s epic showdown. The Jets are all about smack talk. They hurled insults at New England for a week. Then they came to Foxborough and backed it up. This game was not as close as the score would lead you to believe. It was 28-14 before the Patriots scored a hollow touchdown in an empty stadium with 24 seconds left.
We love to poke fun at John Candyesque Rex Ryan, but the Footie outcoached the Hoodie when it mattered. The Patriots made a bad gamble on a fake punt that backfired badly before intermission and New England’s clock management in the fourth quarter had fans wondering who let Clive Rush back on the Patriots sideline.
The day got off to a bad start when it was learned that Belichick was benching the wildly-popular Wes Welker because of comments Welker made during the week. Most of us were amused when the Patriots slot receiver used 11 “foot’’ and “toe’’ references during his Thursday press session. Welker was obviously poking fun at Ryan’s well-documented infatuation with his wife’s feet. Belichick did not think it was funny and sat Welker for the Patriots’ first series.
