As Good as it Gets

Tom Brady and the Pats humiliated New York last night,
 hanging a 45-3 beatdown on Rex Ryan and the Jets. 

Ask any Patriots fan what they felt was the most satisfying aspect of last night's 45-3 demolishing of the Jets and, without hesitation, I bet their answer would be this: shutting up Rex Ryan.

Sure, watching Tom Brady pick apart the "vaunted" Jets defense to the tune of 21-29 for 326 yards and four touchdowns was nice. Of course, we all got up and shouted in unison when Wes Welker and Deion Branch made Darelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie look like slouches, hauling in pass after pass and piling up the yards after the catch. 

Or maybe you were like me and blown away by the play of the much bemoaned Patriots defense. Coming into last night's pivotal matchup, they were statistically rated as the worst unit in the NFL, giving up the most total yards (399.1), passing yards (288.5), opponent's completion percentage (68.3) while also having the worst third down percentage (50.7).  Guess the old adage is true that statistics, after all, are just statistics. Just ask Mark Sanchez. He was picked off three times and unable to score a single touchdown against the "worst" defense in football. 

Nope. All of the above paled in comparison to the unparalleled satisfaction felt by watching Rex Ryan stand helplessly on the Jets sideline, shivering in the freezing Gillette cold as the points kept piling up. For a guy who always has something to say, Ryan was silenced on national television, left speechless and clueless beneath the shining spotlight of Monday Night Football. 

Leading up to last night's game, Ryan was his loud, brash, trash-talking self, spewing arrogance left and right. When asked about Tom Brady's then 25 game home winning streak, Rex instead reminded us all that his team was 8-0 in their last 8 road games. Facing the Patriots on the road didn't seem to worry him. He called his Jets "just the men for the job."

After all, this is the method Ryan chooses to employ. While Belichick is humble and kills opponents with kindness, Rex throws it in your face by acting like he's already beaten you before the game has even started. We all learned this is how he operates after watching HBO's training camp documentary Hard Knocks this fall, where he reminded us all on national television how good the Jets are. How many big-name free agents they've signed. How they're the next big thing. How they're ticketed for the Super Bowl this season even though they're never won a big game. 

In the end, Rex and the Jets can talk all they want. But when it comes down to actually backing it up, they're nothing more than a bunch of overhyped, overrated imposters built up by the media and their loud mouthpiece of a coach. This is why we hate them. New Englanders have been spoiled enough to know what it takes to win a championship. Rex and the Jets act like it's owed to them. I guess someone forgot to tell them that you actually have to earn it. 

The one single moment I was most proud of last night occurred early in the fourth quarter. But it wasn't Tom Brady connecting with Aaron Hernandez for a one-yard score to make it 38-3. It was what happened right after that on the Patriots sideline. Despite seemingly putting the game out of reach, Belichick gathered his entire team together. The image was iconic and perfectly symbolic of the Patriot way. All 53 men came together, literally and figuratively, surrounding Belichick in a tight huddle, listening intently as he rallied them not to let up. 

Do you ever see Rex Ryan rallying his team together like that? Nope, he's too busy planning his trip to the Super Bowl. That's fine. Because when it all comes down to it, the Jets have't won a championship in over four decades when a guy named Namath guaranteed they would. Rex can talk all he wants, but after last night's crushing defeat, he must realize now that the road to the Super Bowl goes through the Patriots. And if his Jets plan on playing in that game, they're going to have to come to Foxboro again this season when it's even colder, and hopefully snowier and beat the Patriots on their home turf. That's fine with me. Because while Rex and Jets keep talking and talking, Brady, Belichick and the Patriots just keep winning. And that's what they did again last night, convincingly.