Patriots 24, Jets 17 Pennington Runs Out of Answers Against Brady and New England By KAREN CROUSE Published: September 18, 2006 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Sept. 17 ? Quarterbacks Tom Brady and Chad Pennington are not blood brothers like Peyton and Eli Manning. Their bond comes from having the same perfectionist gene. e Patriots? Brady and the Jets? Pennington occupied the same Giants Stadium stage Sunday afternoon that the Mannings performed on a week earlier, and they put on a show, leading with their arms but also with their heads and their hearts. The 30-year-old Pennington produced the better numbers, but for the fourth time in five meetings featuring the two, the 29-year-old Brady came away the winner. The Patriots weathered 17 unanswered points by the Jets to prevail, 24-17, in front of a crowd of 77,595 that included Joe Namath, the iconic quarterback who led the Jets to their only Super Bowl title. Brady completed 15 of 29 passes for 220 yards. He threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Chad Jackson in the final minute of the second quarter and was intercepted once and lost a fumble. Pennington surpassed 300 yards for the second consecutive week, throwing for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was intercepted by Tedy Bruschi with seconds remaining while trying gamely to one-up the Giants? last-gasp comeback earlier in the day against the Eagles. In a span of less than six minutes in the third quarter, Pennington hit Jerricho Cotchery for a 71-yard score and Laveranues Coles for a 46-yard touchdown. Pennington was hit as he released both passes, which happened often on a day when the Jets were without their most experienced offensive lineman, Pete Kendall. On both plays, the receivers found the end zone on the strength of strong individual efforts after the catch. Cotchery was sandwiched by two Patriots as he caught the ball and staggered, but he managed to bounce off his would-be tacklers and sprint some 40 yards for the score. ?That?s got to be the best play I?ve made in my entire life,? said Cotchery, who finished with six catches. The play unfolded in front of Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, who argued that Cotchery?s knee was down at the point of the catch. But the play was upheld on review. ?That was probably the biggest play of the game,? said Coles, who followed it on the Jets? next possession with a crossing route that he turned into a touchdown through sheer will, eluding the grasp of three Patriots in the final 20 yards. Cotchery?s touchdown reception with 6 minutes 15 seconds left in the third quarter brought the Jets? offense to life. They had 129 net yards of offense in the first half as their running game continued to sputter. They finished with 51 yards on the ground, with Kevan Barlow counting for 42. What Cotchery?s catch gave the Jets, aside from a face-saving score, was ?Mr. Mo,? Pennington said, referring to momentum. ?That?s what it?s all about.? The Jets? first possession of the fourth quarter culminated in a 42-yard field goal by Mike Nugent, who had missed two shorter field goals in the Jets? Week 1 victory at Tennessee. The Patriots? Stephen Gostkowski had a 29-yard field goal blocked by Jonathan Vilma, who recovered the loose ball, giving Pennington & Company the ball at their 9-yard line with 65 seconds left to work a miracle. Pennington completed passes to Cotchery, Derrick Blaylock and Justin McCareins to move the Jets to the 45-yard line before he was intercepted. Brady developed a rapport with Deion Branch and David Givens while leading the Patriots to three Super Bowl titles, and Pennington seems to be developing a similar relationship with Cotchery, a third-year pro out of North Carolina State, and Coles. Then again, Pennington?s problem has never been timing patterns but timing. Brady and Pennington entered the National Football League in 2000, Pennington as the 18th overall pick and Brady as the 199th, and from there their careers have taken divergent paths. While Brady was earning his three Super Bowl rings, Pennington sustained three injuries, one to his wrist and two to his throwing shoulder. Eric Mangini, the Jets? first-year coach, watched Brady practice every day for six years while he worked with the defense in New England. Working with Pennington now, he sees many of the same qualities that he admired in Brady. ?His intelligence, his understanding of not just what the offense is trying to achieve but what the defense is trying to achieve,? Mangini said. ?Those are the same traits that I really like about Chad. There are a lot of similarities between those two guys.? Mangini has been depicted as a Belichick clone, but prot?g? and mentor could barely see eye-to-eye after the game. They grazed palms on the field and said ?good game? before repairing to their respective locker rooms. Asked who spoke first, Mangini shrugged and said, ?I think it was mutual.? When pressed, he said, ?You?ll have to check the videotape.? EXTRA POINTS The Jets were held scoreless in the first quarter, the 16th consecutive game in which the offense failed to produce a touchdown in the opening 15 minutes. Defensive back Ty Law returned an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Patriots last December, but the last time the offense scored a touchdown in the first quarter was in the 2005 home opener against the Miami Dolphins.
