The Foot Was Important In This Game of Ball

The outcome was expected.  The means was a little unconventional.  The New England Patriots won another game yesterday by beating the New York Jets 20-10 in Foxboro.  With the win the Patriots moved to 14-0 and clinches the number 1 seed in the AFC.  Punts were the reason for three scores in the game accounting for or leading to 21 of the 30 points scored by both teams combined.  In the first quarter Chris Hanson punted a ball that was down at the Jets own three yard line.  Two plays later Kellen Clemens threw an interception to Ellis Hobbs who returned it for a touchdown.  Seven points, a direct result of a good punt, with a little help from a strong pass rush from Richard Seymor (who happened to injury Clemens on the play)
 
In the second quarter the importance of the kicking game continued.  Down 10-0 the Jets blocked a Chris Hanson punt and returned it for a touchdown.  Ironically enough, moments earlier there was an in-game highlight of a botched punt by the Bills that the kicker punted through the end zone to take the safety instead of risking the touchdown.  Hanson mishandled what seemed like a good snap.  He just caught it wrong, and bobbled and tried to recover and David Bowens managed to block and recover the punt for a touchdown.  That’s 14 points off of punts.  

A few minutes later in the quarter the Patriots returned the favor by blocking a punt of their own.  Kelley Washington came from the outside and after putting a juke move on the man assigned to block him got a piece of the ball that the Jets recovered but it was a turnover on downs.  A couple plays later, Laurence Maroney rushed it in for the score.  21 points from the punting game.

If those plays on the punts didn’t happen the game could potentially have been much closer.  Eliminate those 21 points and New England wins 6-3.  Three field goals total would have been all the scoring.  That’s a far cry from the 50+ points people were calling for the Patriots to run up on the Jets.  The didn’t need to do that though.  On a day with less than ideal conditions, the Patriots were happy to just run the ball and take the win.  It was a day that Maroney set a career high in rush attempts and Tom Brady did not through a touchdown.  In a game that showed anything can happen, the Patriots showed they can do it all.