Just Like That, the Pats take Over the East Again
Geno Smith and the New York Jets fell hard at Cincinnati
Going into last week, and for the first half of Sunday’s game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, it looked as if there might be a race this year. Then the outscored the Dolphins 24-0 in the second half, and the Buffalo Bills were run over by the New Orleans Saints and later the New York Jets were absolutely crushed by the Cincinnati Bengals, and just like that, the Pats once again emerged as the only playoff worthy team in this division.
The Dolphins came out red hot in the first quarter on Sunday in Foxboro. They drove the ball into Patriots territory the first three possessions and turned two of them into touchdowns. Ryan Tannehill was red hot and the defense put the clamps on Tom Brady and the offense, this despite Brady having Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola to throw the ball to. Miami took a 17-3 lead into the halftime locker room and it looked as if they could end their three game losing skid and pull to within a half game of the Pats.
But whatever Bill Belichick said at halftime he should record it and say it every week because in the second half it looked as if the teams switched uniforms. Miami could barely muster positive yardage against the Patriots defense they were gashing in the first half. And despite losing starting right tackle Chris Vollmer for the season in the first half, the Pats scored two touchdowns in less than two minutes to tie the game in the third quarter on a Brady to Aaron Dobson 14 yard pass and a two yard Brandon Bolden touchdown run.
Things really turned sour on Miami when later on while still down by only three points, they forced a Tom Brady fumble on a blind side hit. But the ball was illegally batted by a Dolphin trying to recover the football, and by the time it was all over, the Pats had a first down and actually picked up 10 yards on the play. They would go on to score the final points and make it a 27-17 victory. So now Miami finds themselves 2.5 games behind the Patriots and under .500 at 3-4.
The Buffalo Bills fell to 3-5 after they were run over by the 6-1 New Orleans Saints 35-17. Drew Brees torched the Bills for 26-34 for 332 yards and five touchdowns. As bad as the Bills were on Sunday, they were not the worst team in the East.
That would be the New York Jets who fell to 4-4 when they were ambushed by the Cincinnati Bengals 49-9. Andy Dalton was the second opposing QB to throw five touchdowns against an AFC East opponent on Sunday. He was 19-30 for 325 yards in the game. Four of his TD passes were to Marvin Jones who ripped the Jets for 122 yards. He was targeted eight times and caught all eight balls. Jets rookie Geno Smith had such a bad time with the Bengal defense, he was benched for the fourth quarter.
So now New England has a two game lead over the Jets and are the only team in the division above .500 That sounds familiar doesn’t it? So it would appear the demise of the Pats was greatly exaggerated and will have to wait at least one more year.
