It's going to be a beautiful day for a football game at MetLife stadium. A perfect day for the Patriots to get their first win and get back to 500, hopefully with a share of 1st place in the east. The Patriots have beaten the Jets in 10 consecutive games, with the last Jets' win coming in overtime on December 27th, 2015 (26-20).
First Possessions of the Halves- Yeah, those didn't go so well for the Patriots last week on either side of the ball. Giving up touchdowns to the Dolphins on both of their possessions and getting only 3 points yourself, isn't going to win a lot of ball games. In the Jets game neither offense could get anything going. In their first half with the Panthers, the offenses combined for 5 consecutive punts and two turnovers to start the game. The second half wasn't much better, as they once again combined for 5 straight punts. Here's to hoping that the Patriots are the team that comes out of the locker room ready to play and sets the tone for an easy victory.
Special Teams- Heading into today's game, the Patriots look to have the advantage on special teams as Nick Folk is now officially back in his role as place kicker. The Jets special teams unit might not be very in sync yet as they had to bring in a new punter after Braden Mann was injured last week. Last week rookie kicker Matt Amendola did a great job filling in as punter. Punting in a game for the first time at any level, Amendola was busy with 6 successful punts, two of which were inside the 20. This week the Jets picked up longtime Saints punter Thomas Morstead. Morstead has played in 190 games and has an average of 46.5 yards per punt. Amazingly, he's only had 1 punt blocked in his career and that was back in 2011. While the Patriots special teams was mistake free last week, the punting and return game wasn't very good. On a short field where you could easily be going for it, you have to at least try to use the sideline to pin your opponent.
Special Teams- Heading into today's game, the Patriots look to have the advantage on special teams as Nick Folk is now officially back in his role as place kicker. The Jets special teams unit might not be very in sync yet as they had to bring in a new punter after Braden Mann was injured last week. Last week rookie kicker Matt Amendola did a great job filling in as punter. Punting in a game for the first time at any level, Amendola was busy with 6 successful punts, two of which were inside the 20. This week the Jets picked up longtime Saints punter Thomas Morstead. Morstead has played in 190 games and has an average of 46.5 yards per punt. Amazingly, he's only had 1 punt blocked in his career and that was back in 2011. While the Patriots special teams was mistake free last week, the punting and return game wasn't very good. On a short field where you could easily be going for it, you have to at least try to use the sideline to pin your opponent.
Rookie Quarterbacks- If you haven't heard, Belichick is pretty good at making opposing rookie quarterbacks look pretty confused on a football field. Additionally, the Jets organization has recently shown themselves to be pretty solid at ruining young quarterbacks. What a great opportunity for the Patriots defense to show how good they are. Sure the media will then say it was just the Jets, but we are used to that. Last week Wilson finished the game pretty strong with a second half quarterback rating of 123.9. That being said, the Jets offense had a pretty poor performance as they combined for 252 total yards. The yardage lost on sacks (6 for -51) was greater that their total rushing yards (45).
Mac Jones looked pretty dang good in his debut. He finished the game with a quarterback rating of 102.6. That's pretty impressive considering how Josh McDaniels didn't put him in position to throw for touchdowns and the offensive line was the weakest link.
Mac Jones looked pretty dang good in his debut. He finished the game with a quarterback rating of 102.6. That's pretty impressive considering how Josh McDaniels didn't put him in position to throw for touchdowns and the offensive line was the weakest link.
Running Game- When the Patriots have a player run for 100 yards they almost always win. Of course when you have have two running backs fumble the ball, that chance of winning goes right out the door. Hopefully, the supposed strength of this team shows up the rest of this season. The Jets do not appear to have any sort of running game. That could make for a long year for Zach Wilson.
Spreading the Ball Around- Both rookies spread the ball around last week. Wilson targeted 9 different players and connected with 8 of them. Mac targeted 8 and connected with all of them. One of Wilson's favorite targets last week was Braxton Berrios, you remember him. Hopefully, he doesn't become the difference maker. Wilson's most productive receiver was free agent Corey Davis. Davis had 5 receptions for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jamison Crowder did not play last week due to a positive Covid test. As of now it appears he is a go although he's been nursing a groin injury all week. Unlike Jones, Wilson did get the chance to throw some deep balls last week. Of course, none of them turned into receptions.
At this time, no one is for certain if Jonnu Smith will be dressed for the Patriots. Last week he caught all 5 passes thrown in his direction for a total of 42 yards. He also had one carry for 6 yards. Mac's most productive wide receiver was free agent Nelson Agholor. Agholor had 5 receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown. Since the Patriots always seem to spread the ball around, I'd fully expect that trend to continue. If we could maybe try a few passes that are 20+ yards today, that would be great.
Spreading the Ball Around- Both rookies spread the ball around last week. Wilson targeted 9 different players and connected with 8 of them. Mac targeted 8 and connected with all of them. One of Wilson's favorite targets last week was Braxton Berrios, you remember him. Hopefully, he doesn't become the difference maker. Wilson's most productive receiver was free agent Corey Davis. Davis had 5 receptions for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jamison Crowder did not play last week due to a positive Covid test. As of now it appears he is a go although he's been nursing a groin injury all week. Unlike Jones, Wilson did get the chance to throw some deep balls last week. Of course, none of them turned into receptions.
At this time, no one is for certain if Jonnu Smith will be dressed for the Patriots. Last week he caught all 5 passes thrown in his direction for a total of 42 yards. He also had one carry for 6 yards. Mac's most productive wide receiver was free agent Nelson Agholor. Agholor had 5 receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown. Since the Patriots always seem to spread the ball around, I'd fully expect that trend to continue. If we could maybe try a few passes that are 20+ yards today, that would be great.
RSS Feed
