The Patriots’ Matt Cassel, looking for a receiver during the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Jets at the Meadowlands, is remaining in control by staying within himself.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

FOXBORO — A lot of New York fans were stunned by the way New England quarterback Matt Cassel stayed in control in Sunday’s 19-10 Patriots victory.

Cassel completed 16 of 23 passes for 165 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. His offensive line gave him time to throw, and he made short, crisp passes.

Cassel entered the game with the utmost confidence.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself, and I surround myself with people that have confidence in me,” Cassel said yesterday on Boston’s WEEI sports-talk radio. “It was one of those situations where I knew I could go out and win in the NFL — in this league. I got this first start and the guys believed in me, as well, and I just hope I continue to do it.”

Cassel has a 70.7 completion percentage (29-for-41, 317 yards, 1 TD, 0 interceptions) and 101.4 quarterback rating in his two games this season. Through Sunday, his completion percentage ranked fifth in the league, and his quarterback rating is 10th.

Not bad for a guy who had not started a game since 1999.

Cassel said he is just trying to “manage” the game, which should help his team win.

“One of the main focuses for us this week was to go in and take what [the Jets gave] us, manage the game, don’t make any dumb decisions with the ball and to take care of the ball,” Cassel said. “We thought that if we did all of those things, then we would come out with the win.”

Mission accomplished.

Cassel said he was nervous before the game, but once it started, he calmed down.

“There was definitely a little extra adrenaline before the game, but then, as you get out there on the field and everything starts to settle down and that kickoff goes, you go, ‘OK, this is just football,’ and you get out there and you start playing.”

Cassel said he was not surprised that he was efficient against the Jets.

“For the most part, I felt really good,” Cassel said. “I was pretty crisp about my reads all day long. I knew where I wanted to go with the ball. We had rehearsed it throughout the course of the practices during the week and I just focused on what I needed to focus on and made the throws.”

Wes Welker was Cassel’s favorite target on Sunday, mainly because Randy Moss was being double-teamed for most of the game, he said.

“You’d love to throw the ball to [Moss] every play and every opportunity you have, but the defenses, with the way that they play, it’s almost somewhat ridiculous to think that you could throw to him every play because of how they play, and how they are going to double-team him,” Cassel said. “We just have to be patient and we have to take what [the defenses] give us. If they are going to double Randy, it’s going to open up other players.”

Welker caught seven passes for 72 yards.

A stalwart defense

The Patriots’ defense is in the spotlight now that Tom Brady is out for the season. Their defenders think it is just business as usual.

The Patriots’ defense has given up only 20 points through the first two games.

Since the beginning of the 2003 season, the Patriots have allowed an average of 17 points per game (including the playoffs), a mark that leads the NFL over that span.

“We have a job to do regardless if Tom is there or not,” Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas said. “It’s unfortunate that he’s not there, but it’s business as usual. You [play] the game and you move forward and you go out there and do your job the best you can, and that’s play defense. Our job is to stop them from scoring. It’s the offense’s job to score, and that’s how we take our approach. We just try to go out there and do our job and make it easier and get the ball back to the offense as soon as possible.”

For the second straight week, the Patriots’ defense made a key goal-line stand. After stopping Kansas City on four plays from the five-yard line on the Chiefs’ final drive in week one, the Patriots held New York to a field goal in the first half after another goal-line stand.

“That was very big,” Thomas said. “Giving up three versus seven, I think that was a momentum shift.”

Eckel re-signs

The Patriots released tight end Stephen Spach and practice-squad punter Tom Malone and re-signed fullback Kyle Eckel yesterday. They also signed safety Mark Dillard to the practice squad.

roblee@projo.com