Today’s Jets-Patriots game was brought to you by the number 15. The Jets lost to the Patriots 15-10 and have now lost 15 straight games against New England as they fall to 1-2 on the season. Here’s a quick analysis on the rough outing for New York.
Final score: Patriots 15, Jets 10
Game notes
- Save for the touchdown drive, that was about as bad as it gets for the offense. Zach Wilson looked completely lost and the coaching staff, namely offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, look way in over their heads.
- Wilson finished 18/36 for 157 yards with a 61.9 rating. That’s equal to the number of rushing yards the Patriots had.
- Total net yards in this game: Patriots 358, Jets 171
- 3rd-down conversions: Patriots 8/19, Jets 2/14
- It’s almost a miracle the Jets were even this close given the circumstances and the performance of the offense. That’s a credit to the defense.
- And even after all the mess, including the safety, the Jets nearly hit a Hail Mary to win the game but the ball fell to the end zone just in front of Randall Cobb after bouncing around a bit.
- It took way too long for the Jets to get Garrett Wilson involved. This team keeps forgetting that good things happen when No. 17 has the ball in his hands. He finished with 48 yards on five catches (nine targets) and was a key piece of the touchdown drive.
- Can someone explain why Mecole Hardman and Jeremy Ruckert are not seeing the field? There’s no reason Hardman can’t be WR3 and Ruckert can’t be TE2.
- Who had Nick Bawden scoring the first rushing touchdown of the season for the Jets?
- Speaking of rushing, how in the world did this team allow Ezekiel Elliott to go for 80 yards on 16 carries?
- And for the second week in a row, the Jets got nothing from the run game. Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook combined for 36 yards on 20 carries. The offensive line certainly didn’t help but Cook has been a major disappointment so far.
- It doesn’t get much easier for the Jets. Two of their next three are against last season’s Super Bowl participants, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. The good news is both of those games are at home.
It was over when...
…Zach Wilson took a sack in the end zone for a safety. The Jets were down 13-10 late in the fourth quarter with a chance to go on a 90-yard game-winning drive. A penalty pushed them back (and also cost them a first down) and then Mekhi Becton was beaten by Patriots edge Matthew Judon and Wilson was toast. Even at that, the Jets almost hit a Hail Mary at the end when the ball was batted around and nearly landed in the hands of Randall Cobb.
3 stars of the game
3rd star: P Thomas Morstead – 51.3 yards per punt and flipping the field on the free kick following the safety, giving the Jets a glimmer of hope
Co-2nd star: LB C.J. Mosley – 10 tackles, continued leader of defense
Co-2nd star: FB Nick Bawden – responsible for the lone touchdown of the day for the Jets
1st star: WR Garrett Wilson – 5 catches, 48 yards, key part of the touchdown drive for the Jets in the fourth quarter
Play of the game
Not that there were really any highlights but we’ll go with Nick Bawden notching the first rushing touchdown of the season for the Jets. Who had that on their Bingo card?
NICK BAWDEN TD. WE'RE WITHIN 3.
📺 #NEvsNYJ on CBS pic.twitter.com/UvZzjRFlai
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 24, 2023
What's next?
The Jets return to primetime next week for a Sunday night showdown with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
