Brady sharp as Pats crush Jets

Sep 9, 2007, 21:27 GMT

East Rutherford, NJ - Tom Brady completed 22-of-28 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns, as New England routed the New York Jets, 38-14, in the season opener for both clubs at the Meadowlands.

Randy Moss, who missed the entire preseason with a nagging hamstring injury, caught nine balls for 183 yards and a score for the Patriots (1-0), who won their fourth straight game to open a season.

Laurence Maroney rushed 20 times for 72 yards, Wes Welker had six receptions for 61 yards and a TD, while Ellis Hobbs returned a kick an NFL-record 108 yards for a score and Ben Watson added a touchdown catch.

Chad Pennington threw for 167 yards on 16-of-21 completions and two TDs before leaving the game in the fourth with a right ankle injury for the Jets (0-1), who lost their season opener for the second time in three campaigns.

'They beat us in all three phases,' Pennington said. 'When you play a really good team, you have to find an edge, and we didn't have any edge today.'

Backup signal-caller Kellen Clemens completed 5-of-10 pases for 35 yards to finish the game, Laveranues Coles had seven receptions for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Thomas Jones rushed for 42 yards on 14 carries in defeat.

Hobbs opened the second-half by returning the kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown, the longest kickoff return in NFL history. Roy Green of the St. Louis Cardinals held the previous record of 106 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in 1979.

Moss then hauled in a 51-yard pass from Brady to make it 28-7 with just over seven minutes to go in the third.

Pennington was hobbled on the Jets' next series, coming up awkwardly on his right ankle when Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green tackled him, but returned for the following drive taped up and gamely led his team on a nine-play, 70- yard drive culminating in Coles' one-yard TD catch to bring New York within two touchdowns.

New England put the game out of reach with a 17-play, 75-yard drive taking nearly 10 1/2 minutes and bridging the third and fourth quarters, ending with Stephen Gostkowski's 22-yard field goal to make it 31-14.

Heath Evans plunged in from one-yard out with less than two minutes remaining in the contest for the 38-14 final.

'I thought the offensive line did a good job,' said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. 'We ran the ball consistently. It was a good solid effort offensively.'

The Pats got on the scoreboard on their first possession, dissecting the Jets defense on a 12-play, 91-yard drive capped when Brady hit Welker for an 11- yard score on a crucial 3rd-and-8.

New England could have taken a 10-0 lead on its first drive of the second quarter, but a botched hold by Matt Cassel on Gostkowski's 44-yard field-goal try resulted in the Jets getting the ball on their own 34.

Pennington then completed seven passes on the ensuing drive, including one to Coles for 37 yards, and a seven-yard touchdown pass to Coles which tied the game, 7-7 with 4:15 left in the half. The Jets took more than six minutes to go 66 yards in 10 plays for their first touchdown of the year.

Moss snagged two passes for 55 yards on the Pats' next possession, and the visitors went up 14-7 on Brady's connection to Watson for five yards with 1:07 to go, and that lead held up at the break.

Game Notes

The Pats have won the last seven games at the Meadowlands and eight of nine overall against New York...Belichick won his 125th career game as a head coach, and improved to 12-6 against the Jets...Brady improved to 11-2 lifetime and posted his first career three TD game against the Jets...Pennington passed Vinny Testaverde for fourth place on the all-time Jets completions list with 1,096...New England hosts San Diego next Sunday night, while New York travels to Baltimore also on Sunday.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

.