On Sunday, the New York Jets took on the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. Heading into this game, the Patriots had beaten the Jets 12 consecutive times dating back to November 2016 while Bill Belichick was looking for his 325th career win as an NFL head coach. What was left was a 22-17 loss for the Jets making it 13 consecutive games and Belichick got his 325th career win in the house where he is especially loathed. While the Jets are still 5-3 on the season, this is a game the Jets had to have because the rest of the AFC is extremely stacked and it is going to be a dogfight the rest of the way to see who gets the three wild cards. Not only was this a game the Jets had to have in terms of the playoff picture but to prove that they’re no longer going to be a pushover and that they can in fact beat the Patriots. This did not happen today.
In terms of the offense, everyone not named Zach Wilson did their part. Wilson completed only 20 of 41 passes for 355 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. A majority of the 355 passing yards and final touchdown pass came with the Jets already trailing 22-10. However, Wilson looked very good early on connecting with TE Tyler Conklin an 8-yard touchdown pass, his first of the day giving the Jets a 10-3 lead. The wheels began to fall off before halftime when the Jets had the ball with a chance to add to their lead when Wilson made an ill-advised throw that ended up being intercepted. Instead of points going to the Jets, the Patriots tacked on a field goal before halftime. The rest of the game was all Patriots until the Jets scored a garbage-time touchdown with less than 2 minutes to play. The Jets' offense really missed rookie RB Breece Hall and is going to have to adjust to life without him as he will be out the rest of the regular season. If the Jets want to have any sort of success in the second half of the season, Zach Wilson is going to have to step up and play like the #2 overall pick that we all know he’s capable of doing.
In terms of the defense, they pretty much did whatever they could do to keep the Jets in the game. The three interceptions thrown by Wilson only resulted in 6 points for the Patriots. It could have been a lot worse. In addition, Patriots QB Mac Jones was sacked 6 times but it was not enough as the Jets' offense was extremely inefficient. The turning point in this game though was when Mac Jones threw a pick-six to the defensive CB Michael Carter but DE John Franklin-Myers was called for an inexcusable roughing the passer penalty. Head Coach Robert Saleh asked the refs for an explanation of the call and they said that he hit the quarterback too hard. Instead of the Jets going into the locker room at halftime up 17-3, they went in only up 10-6.
Next week, the Jets will host the Buffalo Bills as a part of Salute to Service week across the NFL. If the Jets' offense plays anything like they played today, it is going to be an embarrassing showing at the Meadowlands. Even if the Jets' offense plays well next week, it is still going to be tough for them to beat a hungry Bills team. Don’t worry Jets fans…even though your team lost today, there is still plenty of season left and a lot more winnable matchups later this season.
-Jack Henry Cicio
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