As Patriots head coach J.M. decided in an unsual move (but similar to what he did for the final game of the 2011 season) to rest his starters for the Week 17 game where New England had already clinched the division and first round BYE), giving starts to otherwise backups QB Ryan Mallett, RB Stevan Ridley, WRs Julian Edleman, Laurent Robinson, and Taylor Price against the 5-10 Jets. Mallett performed even better than Brady did against the Jets in Week 15. Not only did Mallet throw for 5 TDs and only 1 INT, but he erased a 10 point deficit to New York from the end of the third quarter to stage a forth quarter comeback and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and the Patriots won 42-38 and finish the season at 14 and 2. It remains to be seen, however, if Mallett can be consistently clutch, or if this was just a fluke.
Additionally, on the negative side, the Patriots' starting defense continued to perform poorly, this time giving up over 200 yards rushing to Jets RB LaDanian Tomlinson and over 300 yards passing to QB Mark Sanchez. Experts predict that due to New England's continued struggles on defense, despite their first round bye, an early exit is a likely conclusion.
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