Ron Borges of the Boston Herald writes about the Patriots ability to "ground-and-pound" the New York Jets on Sunday. The Patriots gained 152 yards on the ground, led by a career-high 136 from BenJarvus Green-Ellis. "We try and have a balanced offense," Pats coach Bill Belichick said. "Did it today. Did it last week. It's a little bit of a chess match between the play-callers and the quarterback at the line of scrimmage, trying to keep us out of bad plays."
Jeff Howe of NESN.com writes about the defensive performance against the Jets minus one of their captains, Jerod Mayo. The Patriots held the Jets to just three of 11 on third downs and allowed a season-low 14 first downs. When defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was asked about the defense he responded, "We know we've got the talent. We've got all the parts. We just needed to put it together, and that's what we did. We had to focus. Jerod wasn't out there with us, and I heard the media, some of you guys said we didn't have a shot because Jerod wasn't out there. But we wanted to show that this is a good defense, and no matter who comes in for him, they can play just as good."
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes about Aaron Hernandez and his return to the Patriots lineup last night. After missing the last 2 games, Hernandez was able to haul in five catches for 56 yards. When asked about his night, Hernandez responded in typical Patriots fashion, "Every win is a big win in this league,'' Hernandez said. "But against a rival like the Jets, to get one in the division, sure, that's huge.''
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com takes a look at the defensive snaps chart. Kyle Arrington, Patrick Chung, Gary Guyton, and Devin McCourty were present for all 54 defensive snaps, a season low. Other players seeing an expanded role were Brandon Spikes and James Ihedigbo.
Danny Picard of CSNNE.com writes about Tom Brady's reaction to the Patriots win over the Jets. Even with Brady moving into a tie for ninth all-time on the career touchdowns list with 275, Brady sees room to improve. "I thought we could have done a lot better offensively," Brady said.
