Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ó Life without Tom Brady might not be so bad for New England after all.
Matt Cassel was efficient running the offense in his first NFL start, taking over for the injured quarterback and leading the Patriots over Brett Favre and the New York Jets 19-10 on Sunday.
“I thought Matt did a good job,” coach Bill Belichick said. “It wasn’t perfect. We had some rough spots. He did a good job of making good decisions. He didn’t put us in any bad situations and made some good positive plays. I thought he managed the game well.”
Cassel, who hadn’t started at any level since his senior year of high school, was 16-of-23 for 165 yards, Sammy Morris ran for a touchdown and Stephen Gostkowski kicked four field goals.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to have more points than the other team and that’s what we did, so I’m satisfied,” Cassel said. “I didn’t have too many butterflies going out. I’ve been in the system for four years, so I’m confident I know I can run it.”
The Jets, slight favorites going in, and Patriots receiver Randy Moss said New England was still the team to beat even without Brady, who was lost for the season last Sunday when he injured his left knee against Kansas City.
The Patriots (2-0) then showed why, ruining the Jets’ home opener and Favre’s first regular-season home start for New York.
“We knew we had to play our best football to win,” Favre said, “and we weren’t able to do that.”
New England won its 21st straight regular-season game, and beat the Jets for the eighth straight time at the Meadowlands.