For the past few years, I have written a weekly in-season article for the New York Times’ football blog, The Fifth Down. The Fifth Down has been folded into the regular sports section, so you can find my weekly articles on the NYT Sports Page. The main subject in my article this week revolved around Chip Kelly’s NFL debut and the failure of the running game in week one. But since today is also game day, here is an excerpt about a bit of trivia for the Jets-Patriots game:
Belichick against Rookies
The Patriots defeated Buffalo and rookie quarterback EJ Manuel on Sunday, 23-21. On Thursday Night, rookie Geno Smith and the New York Jets travel to New England in hopes of pulling off a big upset. Rookie quarterbacks are now just 4-11 in games against Bill Belichick’s Patriots, although one of those wins came from the last Jets rookie to start against New England: Mark Sanchez. New York is a thirteen-point underdog in week two, which is par for the course. With the exception of a meaningless week 17 game against Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans in week 17, 2006, no team with a rookie quarterback has ever been favored to beat Belichick’s Patriots. At thirteen points, that makes Smith’s Jets the largest underdog of any of these rookie-led teams.
Year Wk Opp Quarterback Loc. Boxscore Line W/L PF PA 2013 1 BUF EJ Manuel Home Boxscore 10 Loss 21 23 2012 6 SEA Russell Wilson Home Boxscore 4 Win 24 23 2012 11 IND Andrew Luck Road Boxscore 10 Loss 24 59 2012 13 MIA Ryan Tannehill Home Boxscore 9 Loss 16 23 2012 17 MIA Ryan Tannehill Road Boxscore 10 Loss 0 28 2010 9 CLE Colt McCoy Home Boxscore 4 Win 34 14 2009 2 NYJ Mark Sanchez Home Boxscore 3.5 Win 16 9 2009 11 NYJ Mark Sanchez Road Boxscore 11 Loss 14 31 2006 17 TEN Vince Young Home Boxscore -3 Loss 23 40 2004 8 PIT Ben Roethlisberger Home Boxscore 3 Win 34 20 2004 13 CLE Luke McCown Home Boxscore 11 Loss 15 42 2004 20 PIT Ben Roethlisberger Home Boxscore 3 Loss 27 41 2003 15 JAX Byron Leftwich Road Boxscore 6 Loss 13 27 2002 13 DET Joey Harrington Home Boxscore 6 Loss 12 20 2001 17 CAR Chris Weinke Home Boxscore 6.5 Loss 6 38 For his career, Belichick is 18-9 as a head coach or defensive coordinator against rookie quarterbacks.
You can read the full article here.