US Sport story by Boris Webb, Wed, 07 Dec 2005 03:40:00 GMT


FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts - The New England Patriots backed up all the tough posturing last week with a convincing 16-3 win over the New York Jets. The Jets, who are now 2-10, are left with no answers now and the road ahead is looking increasingly rocky for them.

For the Patriots, Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk were the bulwark around whom the team rallied. Dillion's touchdown late in the third quarter took the game effectively away from the Jets and put the Patriots ahead 13-3. It was a big game for Adam Vinatieri, who set a team record for career points. Vinatieri, who has not missed a game for 10 seasons running now, has 1,134 points. He converted goals from 21, 34 and 22 yards to seal the Jets' fate.

The Patriots led 6-3 at the break. New England quarterback Tom Brady played a stellar role in the game and served as a stark remainder to the Jets that they were missing a vital cog in their defense. Chad Pennington, who managed quite nicely in that position for the Jets has been injured for quite sometime now and the team has stopped mentioning his name, so it is safe to assume that any comeback is not imminent. The Patriots are now 7-5 and this win was necessary to avoid falling to .500.

Tom Brady was all business-like after the match, "Guys did a good job of getting open, the protection was great, and that makes it easy on me. I just have to hit the open guy," he said. Ellis Hobbs was another player who shone through the match. He came up trumps in one-on-one plays with Jets receiver Laveranues Coles.

''It's one of those things where he's a vet and I'm a rookie, so obviously he's going to try me," Hobbs said when asked about the face-off. 'I've never been a guy to back down from anything. If you make it this far to the league, you have to be a competitor on the field. If somebody challenges you, you challenge back."

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