Pats Dominate Jags in Preseason Opener

On Thursday night in Gillette Stadium the New England Patriots started the 2011 preseason with a bang; destroying the Jacksonville Jaguars 47-12. It was the most points scored by a Patriots teams since September 4, 1977, when they defeated the Washington Redskins 45-7.

Back-up quarterback Brian Hoyer got the start since the Patriots didn’t see any reason to risk getting Tom Brady injured. Hoyer did not disappoint. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 171 yards and threw an 11 yard touchdown pass in the first half.

In the second half Patriot fans got to see the much anticipated debut of QB Ryan Mallett. From his very first drive, Mallett looked to be in total command of the offense. He seemed to play with a lot of confidence as he led the Patriots to four consecutive scoring drives in the second half.

Patriots’ nation had to wonder how Mallett would perform, because he has looked a bit shaky at times during first couple of weeks of training camp. It has mostly been due to his rookie inexperience. Learning the pro game is big step, but he definitely possesses the tools to succeed in the NFL. And we saw this on a warm August night in Foxborough. Mallett final stats were 12 of 19 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown.

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Other notable rookies managed to have productive performances in the game. Former LSU standout, Stevan Ridley scored three touchdowns in the game on two goal line runs and a 16-yard pass from Mallett. Ridley ran 16 times for 64 yards and caught seven passes for 47 yards . Free-agent running back, Richard Medlin made an impact by scoring two touchdowns.

Other than Brady, there were several other veterans that were held out of the game. WR’s Chad Ochocinco, Deion Branch, and Wes Welker were all held out of action. DT’s Albert Haynesworth and Vince Wilfork, along with LB Jerod Mayo, were also sidelined.

The Jaguars started their number pick, QB Blaine Gabbert the entire first half. Gabbert definitely has much room to improve, which he’ll get with experience. He led the Jags to three scoring drives in the first half, all resulted in field goals. Gabbert completed 9 of 16 passes for 85 yards.

The Patriots’ defense played pretty solid. They did variety of new things such as flipping back and forth from a 3-4 to a 4-3. We will probably see a lot more of this as the season progresses.

After the game Bill Belichick managed to keep things in perspective. “It felt good to be out there tonight. We managed to do a lot of positive things; but we have a long way to go.” Belichick didn’t want to get into too many details about individual players performances until after he reviews the game films.

The Pats will now get to work to start preparing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom they’ll be playing next Thursday at Raymond James Stadium.

By: Ryan K. Lee
ProFootball-fans.com New England Patriots Correspondent