Patriots Keep Playoff Hopes Alive, Beat Now 0-9 Jets 30-27

East Brunswick, NJ – Going into week nine’s Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, Jets fans were at a standstill. On the one hand, this was a chance to pound on a weakened Patriots team on primetime football; a division rival they haven’t beaten since 2015. On the other hand, if they win, their window to acquiring the first pick in next year’s draft gets smaller and smaller. For Patriots fans, it was a similar situation. Do you want New England to join the #TankForTrevor race and deprive their divisional rival of a generational talent in the Clemson QB, or do you play for pride, and avoid losing to the only winless team left in the NFL? Let’s break it down here. 

Superman to the rescue!!! 

            Cam Newton started the 2020 season off looking like the potential comeback player of the year. In the first two weeks of the season, the former NFL MVP was on a tear; scoring 5 total touchdowns and throwing just one interception. Then, he and Stephon Gillmore, New England’s premier corner and the 2019 Defensive player of the year, both caught the Coronavirus, forcing Newton to miss New England’s week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs (a 26-10 embarrassment manned by Brian Hoyer and Jared Stidham). When Newton returned, he just wasn’t the same. In New England’s next four games, Super-Cam returned, but he was playing like Cam Newton that was essentially fired from the Carolina Panthers earlier this offseason. He was slow on his reads, had nine total turnovers (six interceptions, three fumbles), and was even benched against the 49ers for Stidham after he threw three picks and couldn’t even surpass 100 yards passing. Monday Night’s game against the Jets was Cam’s get right game, and looking at the box score, it looks like Cam got right; 27/35 (77% completion) for 274 yards passing, 16 yards on the ground on 10 carries, and two rushing touchdowns. But on the eye test, Cam was kept to a conservative playstyle by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Most of Newton’s passes were dump-offs, flats, shallow crosses, and curl routes, with Newton not attempting a pass more than 20 yards until the Patriots’ second-to-last drive of the game (a pass to Myers that could have gone for 20, but Myers stepped back in behind the conversion line to make it a 19 yard gain).  

            Overall, it was a winning formula for Newton and the Pats, with Newton limiting turnover opportunities and letting the running game take over. And boy, did it take over. Damien Harris (went out during the fourth quarter with a chest injury) and Rex Burkhead combined for 127 total rushing yards on 26 total carries, with Burkhead averaging nearly 5 yards per carry and getting a touchdown on the night. In the passing game, the Patriots were without their reliable pass-catcher in slot wideout Julian Edelman, nor former first-round N’Keal Harry (both out with injury). Instead, it was the Jakobi Meyers and Damiere Byrd show! Byrd (5-65) was more the reliable short pass catcher for Newton, mostly targeted on curl routes and shallow drags for most of the night. Myers was the YAC Master, netting 12 catches for 169 yards, often finding holes in the Jets coverage and getting huge returns on short passing plays.  

            Only note to make about the Patriots defense;  

Jets’ tank still going strong 

            Joe Flacco sure picked a weird time to turn back the clock to being the “elite” talent he was during his days in Baltimore. In the Jets’ first six drives of the game, New York only punted once, with Flacco leading Gang Green to three touchdown drives and two field goals that helped keep the Patriots at bay for most of the game. Powered by a nitty-gritty running attack fueled by the old workhorse in Frank Gore (12-46) and the rookie up-and-comer La’Mical Perine (6-19), Flacco kept the Jets lead to 10 points twice in this game, hitting on his deep passes better than the supposed-franchise QB Sam Darnold ever could. Prior to the Jets last drive, Flacco completed 18/24 of his passes (75% completion) for 262 yards and a touchdown. He found deep threat, and former Raven teammate, Breshad Perriman (5-101) for two of Flacco’s touchdowns for the night; one coming off a 50 yard go route, the other a 20-yard go route, both blown coverages by cornerback Jaycee Jackson (more on him in a bit). Rookie wideout Denzel Mims (4-62) showed plenty of play-making promise for his third game of the year, using his 6’3, 207-pound frame to box out defenders for the ball all night. Jamison Crowder (2-26), the Jets leading receiver this season, pulled out an amazing toe-drag-swag play in the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown. The Jets defense did their best to keep the Patriots offense down. Going in without star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and losing slot corner Brian Poole to injury during the game really crippled New York defense, even though they are, objectively, the worst in the league, overall. Gregg Williams’ squad maintained a 10-point lead twice in this game, going into the 4thquarter with a 27-17 lead.  

            And then, the 4thquarter started, and the Jets did the most Jet-iest thing they could do; they melted down. After the Patriots put up a field goal to cut the Jets lead to seven, New York had two drives in the fourth quarter. The first ended in a single play; a ballsy, unnecessary deep pass by Flacco down the middle of the field to Mims on a deep post was intercepted by Jaycee Jackson (his sixth of the year) in double coverage. Patriots went on an 11-play, 72-yard drive that led to a one-yard QB sneak touchdown by Cam Newton. The next drive: a three and out in which Flacco took a sack on second down and two to stall the Jets’ momentum. From there, 47 seconds left, after punting the ball down to the Patriots 22-yard line, all New York needed to do was force a stall. Not feasible for this Jets D, as they allowed New England to march down the field for 45 yards, setting up Nick Folk, a former Jet Kicker, to win the game on a 51-yard field goal attempt. That kick would have been good from 60 yards, it was that good.  

            On the bright side, the Jets’ 2020 rookie class showed out on Monday night. Even though first-round pick Mekhi Beckton left the game with a chest injury, he played well for the one drive he was actually in. 3rdround safety Ashtyn Davis played like Jamal Adams; playing close to the line, forcing hard hits, and implementing good pressure on the quarterback. 5throunder Bryce Hall, who was called up from the practice squad earlier that day, was quiet for most of the night, but didn’t allow any major plays against him, and only had a holding penalty called on him. Punter Branden Mann averaged 41.5 net yards punting on his two punts on the night and looking like a potential Johnny Hekker for New York.  

What’s next? 

            At 3-5, New England is still in the hunt for that 7thplayoff sport, but the schedule doesn’t ease up anytime soon. They host the 6-2 Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football. As for the Jets, they have a bye week coming up, but it doesn’t offer much comfort, as none of their next 8 games looks remotely winnable. Their first game coming off the week 10 bye; a cross-country trip to a 2-6 Chargers team that has a budding franchise QB of their own in rookie Justin Herbert 

Writer

-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo