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BY JIM DAWSON

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

PATRIOTS DOWN JETS 22-17

Tom Brady and crew got into an aerial dogfight with the Jets Sunday. The Patriots of New England shot down the Jets of New Jersey, oops New York. Tom Brady, despite a gimpy knee and rust from missed practices, found a way to win.

And he did it after losing Gronk early and then Martellus Bennett at the beginning of the 2^nd half. Bennett appeared to reinjure his bad ankle. He came back and mostly blocked. Gronk didn’t come back and now has a bad back to go with his chest injury.

Brady has said that his favorite receiver is the one that’s open. Sunday that was rookie Malcolm Mitchell who beat Darrelle Revis not once but twice for TDs. The first one was a tribute to Brady’s composure (he dropped the ball) as he regained possession, moved laterally and hit Mitchell crossing the end zone left to right.

And that albatross of not getting turnovers of late? Well that weight is lifted as the Pats got a crucial strip sack by Chris Long, Trey Flowers recovered the Fitzgerald fumble and that sealed the win and grounded the Jets.

Malcolm Butler forced Robby Anderson to fumble. Butler recovered it at the 50. It led to the Pats tying TD (10-10), the first of Mitchell’s TD catches. He bobbled it but held on.

And soon to be suspended (out on appeal) Alan Branch was a welcome contributor with 1 tackle and 6 assists (7) and a block of a 54-yard FG try that Head Coach Todd Bowles was unwise to try. His team had played hard and the score was tied just before half. The block gave the Pats the ball at midfield with 2 minutes to the half. Only a missed 39 yard FG by Stephen Gostkowski kept Bowles from costing his team 3 points.

Early the Jets were putting intense pressure on Brady. After the Butler forced fumble (9:46 left to the half), CBS had a stat that the Jets D had 5 hurries and 3 knockdowns of

Tom Brady. But after that fumble, Brady and the Pats marched down the field and scored the tying touchdown. The OL seemed to block better, especially in pass protection. Cameron Fleming #71 was often used as a blocking TE.

And we finally saw a decent pass rush (at times). Even when it was only a 4-man and even a 3-man rush. Malcom Brown forced Fitzpatrick into an intentional grounding which short-circuited a late drive. Trey Flowers caused a holding call on the Jets (it was declined). Nink caused Fitzgerald to throw away the ball.

The Patriots came in needing to shut down the running of Matt Forte and Bilal Powell.

The D did. The Pats had more yards rushing at the half (35 yards to 32) and at the end of the game (91 to 64). The Jets were held to a 2.8 yard rushing average. It prevented the Jets from controlling Time of Possession which ended in the Pats favor (30:36 to 29.24).

Dion Lewis (6 carries) spelled LeGarrette Blount (11 carries) and had 4 catches (34 yds).

Now the LA Rams come to town on Sunday at 1. My brother Brad will be joining Driller Killer and I as our guest at the game. The Dawson Boys reunited. Go Pats!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Tom Brady had a mental error on the team’s 1^st possession as he took a timeout after Dion Lewis was ruled to have made a 1^st down. It allowed the Jets to check the spot and the official review overruled the call, forcing NE to punt. Later Brady used his head (literally) and a shoulder shrug making Muhammad Wilkerson go offsides for a 1^st down

On the Jets 1^st possession, Bill Belichick made a questionable decision when he turned down a 10-yard penalty on 3^rd down. It would have made it 3^rd and 18 for the Jets. Nick Folk then kicked a 51-yard FG (3-0). Maybe Belichick didn’t think his pass D could hold on 3^rd and 18. Brandon Marshall already had two catches for 1^st downs.

It looked like Brady wanted to go to Gronk early not knowing how long he’d have him. Brady just missed on two long passes to Gronk. On the 2^nd, it looked like #27 Darryl Roberts hooked Gronk’s arm. After Gronk went down, he soon left the game.

The Patriots were only 4 for 14 on 3^rd down but their biggest play was the 4^th and 4 they made. It kept the late go ahead TD drive going. A screen to James White in the right flat.

You had to love Josh McDaniels’ trick play where Brady threw Hogan a backwards pass and Hogan, under pressure, got off a good throw to Mitchell which resulted in a holding call on Darryl Roberts. It led to the Pats first score, a FG that made it 10-3.

On the Jets 2^nd series Devin McCourty made a great tackle on Enunwa to prevent a 1^st down and force a punt.

Not counting Gronk and Bennett, 8 different receivers were targeted at least once by Brady. Edelman led the way with 11 targets (8 catches), but Lewis (4 catches) and Mitchell (5 catches) were targeted 7 times and James White 9 (4). Spreading the love.

BULLETS

• Congrats to PC’s soccer team which beat undefeated Maryland 5-4 coming back from a 4-1 deficit. PC then beat Creighton in Omaha (only home loses – 2 to PC). PC is now in the Elite 8 and plays NC on Friday.

• And the PC b-ball team beat undefeated Memphis and stayed with Virginia into the 2^nd half. PC scored 52 points vs a team that had given up 41 or fewer to its last 4 opponents.

• Per Bill Chuck (Globe – 11/27) Rick Porcello left 11 runners on. None scored. Justin Verlander left 15 on. 8 scored. If they didn’t score, Verlander leads the league in ERA.

• The Globe’s Ben Volin (11/27) noted that the Pats have the 2^nd lowest strength of schedule (.436) in the NFL ahead of only Dallas (.408).

E-MAIL (On shows comparable to The Twilight Zone:)

Hi Jim, Happy Thanksgiving! Man Horror / Sci -fi is my area of knowledge. Here are a few shows that were somewhat comparable:

·         Outer Limits

·         One Step Beyond

·         Tales from the Dark Side

·         Night Gallery

·         Tales from the Crypt

·         Darkroom

·         Lights Out

Just to name a few. No idea on the western question though. I own over 3,000 movies and tv series. Garry Gillett Turns out I'm a big horror buff as well. I recognize all but the last two. Is Lights Out the movie? Not familiar with Dark Room. Hard to find good horror these days. A lot of dreck or movies that are just OK. Liked Babadook, and Under the Skin, Ex Machina too. Also there is a lesser known movie called Headhunters which is worth seeing though it's not straight horror. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for emailing. - Z

THE HOT CLUB

So in strolled Pal Al and Mr. Yankee whom I introduced to FootJoy. I told them that FootJoy was the reason that I didn’t do sports trivia in the Zine. He’s so knowledgeable that I’d be buying him a drink every week. Mr. Yankee is not too shabby either when it comes to sports knowledge, especially baseball and not just about the New York Yankees. So FootJoy posed this question to Mr. Yankee: Who was the last switch-hitter to win the AL MVP? It stumped Mr. Yankee. Answer at the end of the Hot Club section.

So Mr. Yankee immediately asked FootJoy the following trivia question: Who are the 5 players with 500 or more home runs who each played for just one team? FootJoy got 4 of the 5. Then Fleet Feet Pete was asked the question and he got all five. Answer at the bottom of the Hot Club section.

So after this and much more back and forth between FootJoy and Mr,.Yankee, Pal Al said to me: “You’ve created a monster!” “I know”, I said. “A two-headed monster.”

Answer to FootJoy’s question: Vida Blue

Answer to Mr. Yankee’s question: Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Mel Ott, and ‘Mr. Cub’ Ernie Banks.

LAST ISSUE’S QUIZ ANSWER

Who was the ‘Father of the Western’, a film actor, director and producer who also is credited with creating the first movie studio, worked with many titans of the industry and was born in Rhode Island? Why Thomas Ince who was born in Newport, RI and died after celebrating his 44^th birthday on William Randolph Hearst’s yacht Oneida. Ince was once a partner with Mack Sennett and D.W. Griffith in the Triangle Motion Picture Company. Ince directed the movie Civilization (1916) which beat out D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance at the box office. Ince built the first movie studio (Santa Ynez Canyon, CA). It was called ‘Inceville’. While some have raised questions about a scandal with Ince getting sick on Hearst’s yacht and then dying a couple days later, Wikipedia suggests it was because Ince ate salted almonds and drank champagne which he was not supposed to do because he had peptic ulcers. He went from indigestion to death by heart failure.

THIS ISSUE’S QUIZ

This band got its name from their phys. ed. teacher. Of their hits, one is so popular that it’s requested when even other bands are playing. Band name? Song?

Sportzine is available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz