Going into Week eight, there wasn’t much feeling for optimism from the Patriots’ perspective. The 1-6 squad hadn’t won since their week one matchup against Cincinatti. As bad as the Jets have been, losing for four straight games coming into Foxborough (which was one of their two wins), they had a 24-6 victory over the Patriots on a Thursday night showdown. It certainly looked gloomy, seeming like the Patriots would drop their seventh straight game and be swept for the first time by the Jets since 2000. For what felt like the first time all season though, the team stepped up to the challenge and managed a three-point win margin at home. After Head Coach Jerod Mayo called the team soft last week, there was no one this week that could be pinned with that adjective. Overall, it was an excellent win for the team to move to 2-6.
Offensively, 25 points is far from a scoring boom, but it is the most the Patriots have enjoyed all season. After a quick three-and-out to open the game, the unit turned the tide with Drake Maye at the helm, with Maye rushing for a 17-yard touchdown to put the Patriots up 7-0. Maye was highly effective with his legs all day, as fans saw a lot of positives from him running the football in his short appearance – 3 carries, 46 yards, and a touchdown.
That scrambling came at a price though, as he left the game with a concussion and did not return. Jacoby Brissett came in to relieve him and the offense struggled for a little while. A Marcus Jones’ 62-yard punt return, put the Patriots in Jets territory– a drive that led to a Rhamondre Stevenson rushing touchdown. Wide receivers struggled badly, as Kendrick Bourne, Tyquan Thornton and Kayshon Boutte all had drops for a total of five between the three of them. The especially disappointing part of this is that all five drops would have been first downs at the very least if caught, with Thornton leaving would be 50-yard grab off his stat sheet.
All in all, a bad day for receivers but a reasonably effective day for the tight ends, with Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper combining for 8 catches and 60 yards. Seventh round rookie Jahiem Bell also saw some time, recording eight snaps on Sunday.
However, Jacoby Brissett was the story of the day on offense. Benched for Drake Maye after a 10-point performance against a Tyler Huntley led Dolphins a few weeks ago, we saw Brissett go 15/24 for 132 yards in a conservative but steady performance to go along with a key scramble for a new set of downs on the game-winning drive.
Not a perfect offensive performance by any means, but 25 points with a backup quarterback was enough to take down New England’s oldest and most bitter rival in a season where they had the highest of expectations.
Defensively, the Demarcus Covington’s unit looked solid for the most part. In hindsight, there wasn’t much they needed to do. The Jets’ offensive incompetence resulted in leaving at least five points on the board, with a Christian Elliss sack leading to a Greg Zuerlein missed field goal and a delay of game on a two-point conversion ending in a Patriots stop.
Garrett Wilson gave Marcus Jones problems all day, showing that slot cornerback might be, yet another need come the offseason for this Patriots team. Christian Gonzalez had somewhat of a bounce back from last week’s subpar performance, but also had a pass interference on a third down during the Jets first touchdown drive. Safety Jaylinn Hawkins has quickly elevated from a rotational piece to number one at the position following the legal trouble of Jabrill Peppers and injury to Kyle Dugger. While he hasn’t been a total negative, he’s struggled in the run force as of late and dropped an errant throw from Rodgers which should have been an interception. Elliss is beginning to come into his own a bit as a linebacker, and long term he may have upside as a rotational piece as opposed to his special team’s role he’s sported to this point.
Winning one-on-one pass rush and establishing the line of scrimmage defensively have been places the team has struggled and that continued this week though certainly to a lesser degree. Hopefully this can continue, and the unit can stick together to improve, compared to how they played in the last two weeks as this was certainly a step above the performances against the Texans and Jaguars.
Next week, the Patriots take on one of the very few teams in the league that look beatable. The team will make their way to Nashville to play the Tennessee Titans, a 1-6 squad coming off a 52-14 drubbing against the Lions.
Maye is unlikely to play from what we’ve seen this season; Giants star rookie wide out Malik Nabers suffered a concussion earlier in the season and missed the following two games. Fans will hope Maye can play, but if there’s any risk of re-injury, he is expected to be inactive.
While the offensive output would be different between Maye and Brissett starting, I’d still be inclined to strike this down as a win either way. If Maye is to start, I’ll pin this a 23-10 Patriots win, and if Brissett plays, I’ll take the total down to a 13-10 mark in the W column for the away team.