Frustrating night for Pennington

But when he's bad, he's awful.

Many NFL analysts contend the bright young fourth-year QB out of Marshall has the stuff to be another Joe Namath.

That, however, is down the line. Right now, he's not even another Ken O'Brien or Richard Todd.

New England's 21-16 win over the Jets last night at Giants Stadium was a roller-coaster ride for Pennington.

"The quarterback's the captain of the ship, so when we lose a game like this, it hurts me more than anybody," he said.

Sure, Pennington looked brilliant piloting the Jets to a pair of touchdowns, in the first and fourth quarters, taking the ball in himself each time -- from the 1 and then the 10. But, just as surely, he was his own worst enemy.

Pennington completed 24 of 43 passes, good for 229 yards, but was intercepted five times -- and two of them led to Patriot scores.

It was a frustrating night for the quarterback who went out with a fractured wrist in a preseason game with the Giants, wound up missing all of September and October, then bounced back in November, leading the Jets to four wins in their next seven. Now his team is 6-9, its hopes of at least a break-even season gone, and only a trip to Miami remaining.

For Pennington, who teamed with Randy Moss to tear up whole sections of the NCAA record book at Marshall, it was one of his worst experiences since his freshman year in college.

"I threw five interceptions against Tennessee-Chattanooga," he said. "But at least we wound up winning that one."

One play after Pennington coughed it up in the game's first minute, Tom Brady threw a 35-yard TD to David Givens. Willie McGinest returned another steal for a 15-yard TD in the second.

Still, Pennington's team had a shot in the fourth -- until Eugene Wilson's pick-off at the Patriots 36 sealed New York's doom with 45 seconds left.

"The first two [interceptions] were great plays by their guys," Pennington said. "The last three were just bad decisions on my part.

"I'm totally disappointed. When you look at it, it's all my fault."

Best advice from Vinnie Testaverde, the Pennington backup who filled in when Pennington mended, is not to take things so personally.

"Remember, the guys on the other side of the line, they're pros, they're great players, too," he said. "They make plays just the way we do.

"When you put the ball up, it's a 50-50 thing. But . . . we were still in a position to win it at the end."

After 59-plus minutes, though, Wilson was in the right position, and the Jets' Santana Moss wasn't. . . .

Dan Klecko, the Patriots' rookie nose tackle out of Temple, had something extra to smile about. His dad, Joe Klecko, a member of the famed New York Sack Exchange as a Jet stalwart from 1977-87, was introduced at halftime as the defensive end/tackle on the franchise's all-time team.

Joe Klecko's 77 career sacks trail only fellow Sack Exchanger Mark Gastineau's 107 on the team's all-time charts. Among other things, he was the first defensive player named to the Pro Bowl at three positions: end, tackle, and nose tackle.

But the Patriots still won 13 of their 22 clashes with the Jets over that 11-year stretch.