Nobody's going to be boxing this one up and sending it to Canton. It was slow, grinding, methodical and (objectively, let's be honest) kind of boring. But it was also quiet and efficient. Coach Belichick doesn't want style points - not right now, anyway - and he got exactly what he wanted, which was a W at New York.

The defense had a few shaky moments. Brett Favre led the Jets on a long opening drive, that thankfully ended on the worst field goal attempt we can ever remember seeing. But they got their glory when it counted, stuffing three straight running plays (good call, Mangini) from their own 3, and Brandon Meriweather hauled in a huge interception that stuffed any Jet momentum early in the second half. And Adalius Thomas' sack, where he used a Jet blocker as a weapon to bring Favre down, was objectively pretty awesome.

But everyone's eyes weren't on the defense; they were on young Matt Cassel, making his first start at QB since he was eight (if we remember the hype correctly). He was quiet and efficient for the most part. He didn't gamble long, he used Welker and Faulk for consistent short pickups - he "managed the game", in the parlance of our times. "There are still a lot of things we need to work on, but I was happy with the way they played. It’s always good too get a division win on the road," gushed Coach Bill at the end.

Want to talk about quiet and efficient? Let's switch to the Red Sox and Jon Lester, who...well...quietly and efficiently mowed down the Jays for eight innings of four-hit, one-run ball. The Sox touched Roy Halladay four four quiet, efficient runs, and survived a near-meltdown by Papelbon (a couple iffy calls by the umps, in our favor, didn't hurt). Now it's off to Tampa Bay to try to do there what they couldn't do here. For Matsuzaka (starting tonight), that would be throw a strike.

The Astros, already losing home games because of the hurricane, got more indignity heaped on them when they were no-hit by the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs, the "road" team, obviously brought more fans to Milwaukee than the weary Astros. "It was the first no-hitter at Miller Park, and the Brewers were nowhere to be found," wryly observed ESPN.