A Little Better For Patriots
The New York Jets lost again on Sunday - largely due to the return of Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk - who came back from injuries. Adam Vinatieri, who hasn't missed a game in ten seasons with the Patriots set a mew team record for career points. But more importantly perhaps, was that New England had its best defensive game of the season.
"The team just feels a little more comfortable," said David Givens, "You have a lot of your weapons back, guys that have made big plays."
The Jets now 2-10, also suffering from lost player due to injury, have scored just one touchdown in four games - and it wasn't in this game. They gained just 164 yards, the fourth time this season they have been below 200.
"Having our defense on the field too long and us not scoring is a bad combination," Herman Edwards said for the Jets.
Dillon's touchdown run made it 13-3 late in the third quarter and Faulk made three big third-down catches as the Patriots 7-5 maintained their two-game lead in the AFC East over Miami. The teams meet on Jan 1 in Foxborough.
Faulk said he and Dillon, sidelined two games with a calf injury, talked about their return. How they wanted to make a point, to get things going again.
Vinatieri kicked field goals of 21, 34 and 22 yards, giving him 1,134 total points.


