In the Patriots' fourth matchup with the Jets in 20 games, head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots traveled to Giants Stadium to face his former defensive coordinator in Jets head coach Eric Mangini to open the season. The Jets reached Patriots territory on their opening possession, but were forced to punt. The Patriots then began a 12-play, 91-yard drive that ended in an 11-yard Wes Welker touchdown reception to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Kelley Washington forced a fumble on Jets returner Justin Miller after a 26-yard return, but tight end Chris Baker recovered the ball at the Jets' 33-yard line to retain possession. The Jets went three-and-out, but the Patriots punted back to the Jets despite a 19-yard Dont&#233; Stallworth catch to begin their next series. Three plays later, Jets quarterback Chad Pennington was sacked by linebacker Mike Vrabel and defensive lineman Ty Warren, forcing a Jets punt on the final play of the first quarter. Starting from their own 42-yard line after the punt, the Patriots reached the Jets' 25-yard line, where kicker Stephen Gostkowski lined up for a 42-yard field goal attempt. However, the snap was fumbled by holder Matt Cassel, and recovered by Cassel to turn the ball over on downs. The Jets responded with a 10-play, 66-yard drive, tying the game at 7-7 on a 7-yard pass from Pennington to wide receiver Laveranues Coles. Several plays into the Patriots' ensuing drive, before and after the two-minute warning, wide receiver Randy Moss caught passes of 33- and 22-yards from quarterback Tom Brady to put the Patriots in the Jets' red zone. Brady then connected with tight end Benjamin Watson on a 5-yard touchdown pass that was reviewed by the booth but upheld, giving the Patriots a 14-7 lead going into halftime. Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs returned the opening kickoff of the second half 108&#160;yards for a touchdown and a new NFL record for the longest kickoff return in the league's history; at the time, it also tied the existing record for longest play in NFL history (a record broken a few weeks later by Antonio Cromartie). Nine plays into the Jets' next drive, Pennington was sacked by defensive lineman Jarvis Green and was injured; Kellen Clemens entered the game but the Jets were forced to punt two plays later. Four plays later, Brady hit Moss for a 51-yard touchdown reception that extended the Patriots' lead to 28-7. However, the Jets came back with a 9-play, 70-yard drive that was capped off with Coles' second touchdown grab of the day, this one from one yard out, to cut the Patriots' lead to 28-14. The Patriots received the ensuing kickoff with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter and would not surrender the ball until there was just under seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, ending the 17-play drive with a 22-yard Gostkowski field goal that extended the Patriots' lead to 31-14. The Jets then went three-and-out, and punter Ben Graham's 36-yard punt gave the Patriots the ball at their own 47-yard line. On a 1st-and-goal from the Jets' 1-yard line, fullback Heath Evans could not score; the Patriots challenged that the ball did in fact break the plane of the goal line but the play was upheld. On the next play, following the two-minute warning, Evans did in fact score on a 1-yard run, increasing the Patriots' lead to 38-14. The Jets' next drive stalled on a Vrabel strip-sack of Clemens that the Jets recovered, but ended on a failed fourth down conversion from the Jets' 38-yard line. The Patriots then kneeled down once to end the game and give them their first victory of the season as they started 1-0. On September 10, Bill Belichick was accused by the Jets of authorizing his staff to film the Jets' defensive signals from an on-field location, a violation of league rules. The Jets confiscated the video camera used by video assistant Matt Estrella to film the signals during the game and filed a complaint to the league office, detailing the accusations. On September 13, Belichick was officially fined $500,000, while the Patriots were also fined $250,000, and forfeited their first round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. If the Patriots had missed the playoffs, they would have instead forfeited their second and third round selections in the 2008 draft. Goodell said that he fined the Patriots as a team because Belichick is effectively the team's general manager as well as head coach, and exercises so much control over the Patriots' on-field operations that "his actions and decisions are properly attributed to the club." Goodell considered suspending Belichick, but decided that taking away draft picks would be more severe in the long run. Belichick later issued a statement in which he apologized for what he called a "mistake" in his interpretation of the rules. However, he denied ever using videotape to gain an advantage while a game was underway.

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