It’s a battle of a pair of teams taking residence in the bottom half of the standings in the AFC East to close out the week nine slate. The New England Patriots are on the road as they make the trip to the Garden State to face the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. New England came up on the short end as they fell 24-21 on the road to Buffalo last Sunday in their previous contest. New York was drubbed 35-9 on the road by the Chiefs in their previous contest last Sunday to remain winless. The Patriots own a 65-53-1 edge in the all-time regular season series, including winning each of the last eight meetings. Last season, New England prevailed 30-14 at home on September 22, 2019 and then won 33-0 on the road on October 21, 2019 in a game where Sam Darnold said afterwards that he saw “ghosts” after tossing four interceptions and losing a fumble.
New England Patriots Hoping to Turn Things Around
New England had their chances late but failed to come up with the critical play down the stretch to wind up with a narrow loss to Buffalo. That was the Patriots’ fourth straight defeat and left them 3.5 games behind the Bills in the standings, four if you include the tie-breaker. New England rallied to tie the game twice, at 14 and at 21, in the second half of the game. After giving up the go-ahead score with just over four minutes to play, the Patriots got into the red zone with under a minute to play. In chip shot field goal range, Cam Newton was stripped on a designed run play and the Bills recovered, leaving the Patriots on the wrong side of the scoreboard on another failed fourth-quarter comeback. New England held a 349-339 edge in total offense and held a 30:46 to 29:14 advantage in time of possession in the loss. The Patriots lost the first down battle 22-20 while both teams turned the ball over once. New England’s turnover was the tipping point of the game as it took away any chance for them to steal a win.
Building every week. pic.twitter.com/40r8kx2vdJ
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 4, 2020
The Patriots enter week 9 ranked 30th in the league in passing offense as they average only 192 yards per game through the air. New England is a solid third in the league in rushing offense with an average of 159.7 yards per contest on the ground. The Patriots are just 29th in the league in scoring offense as they put up just 19.4 points per game. New England is 12th in scoring defense as they allow 23.9 points per contest. Cam Newton is 103 of 156 passing for 1,143 yards with two touchdowns and seven interceptions on the year. He has been sacked 12 times for 66 yards in losses while he leads the team with 298 yards plus six scores on the ground. Behind Newton is the uninspiring duo of Brian Hoyer (15 of 24, 130 yards, INT) and Jarrett Stidham (11 of 23, 124 yards, TD, three INT) on the depth chart. Damien Harris leads the running backs with 49 carries for 279 yards plus a score. Rex Burkhead (45 carries, 180 yards, two TD) and Sony Michel (26 carries, 173 yards, TD), when he’s healthy, have been factors in the ground game as well. Julian Edelman (315 yards), Damiere Byrd (272 yards) and running back James White (171 yards) each have 21 receptions to lead the team. Nick Folk is 11 of 12 on extra points and 11 of 13 on field goal attempts with a long of 43.
New England has the upper hand here as they face a Jets’ offense that has been awful this season. New York doesn’t have a ton of weapons to work with so the Patriots should have a decent showing on that side of the field. The Jets have thrown for more than 200 yards just twice in their eight games this season and they are sputtering when it comes to putting points on the board. New England has generated 13 takeaways on the season and that should benefit them against a Jets team that has no depth at the skill positions.
New York Jets Seeking First Win of Season
New York continues to remain the league’s lone winless team at the midway point of the season as they were hammered by the Chiefs. What makes it even worse is that not only were they smashed into oblivion, they couldn’t even cover the line despite getting nearly three touchdowns. New York hung around for a while but things unraveled quickly for Gang Green. The Jets were within 14-9 with under three minutes to play in the first half but couldn’t stop the Chiefs on their seven play, 76-yard drive that led to a touchdown with under a minute before halftime. That put the nail in the Jets’ coffin as the Chiefs dropped the hammer in the second half. New York was outgained 496-221, gave up 25 first downs while picking up 13 and lost the time of possession battle 31:30 to 28:30 in the game. The Jets committed the lone turnover in the game.
.@QuinnenWilliams been all over the place.
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/STT1oZLQdu
— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 1, 2020
On the year, the Jets are dead last in the league in passing offense as they average only 155.9 yards per game through the air. The team is 22nd in the league in rushing offense as they put up 103.1 yards per contest. New York is last in the league in scoring offense as they put up only 11.8 points per game. The Jets are 28th in the league in scoring defense as they allow an average of 29.8 points per contest. Sam Darnold has completed 112 of 191 passes for 1,045 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions. He has been sacked 19 times, losing 124 yards in the process, while adding 138 yards plus a score on the ground. Joe Flacco has connected on 41 of 79 passes for 397 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Frank Gore is the lead back in the ground game with 96 carries for 340 yards while rookie La’Mical Perine is next in line with 41 carries for 150 yards plus a score. Jamison Crowder leads the team with 29 receptions for 346 yards and two scores this season. Braxton Berrios (23 grabs, 210 yards, two TD) is the only other player with at least 200 receiving yards this season. Sam Ficken is six of six on extra points and nine of 10 on field goal attempts with a long of 54. Sergio Castillo hit his lone extra point and four of five field goal attempts with a long of 55.
New York is struggling to do anything offensively and they are going to have to figure things out if they hope to have a chance. The Jets would be well-suited to follow what the Bills did last week and pound the ball on the ground against New England’s weak run defense. As it stands, the Patriots have given up at least 126 yards on the ground in five of their seven games this season. New York is going to have to grind the clock and wear down the Patriots’ defense in order to try and stay in the game.
