Photo Credit: Steven Senne
In typical fashion, the New York Jets find a way to ruin every shot they have at controlling their destiny within either the AFC East or the AFC playoff picture, as today’s gut-wrenching loss against their division rival, the New England Patriots, was crucial in many ways possible.
Coming into the Jets’ week 11 matchup, The Jets went into the game with a lot on the line, for if they had won, they would’ve had sole possession of the first place in the AFC East. The Jets also had the opportunity to end a 13-game losing streak against the Patriots as their last win came on December 27th, 2015, when the Jets won stunningly in overtime 26-20.
To start the game, CBS had trouble broadcasting it due to power issues with their broadcast system, so the game was delayed for ten minutes or less.
The first play of the game was a Quincy Williams and John Franklin-Meyers sack on Mac Jones, indicating that this was going to be a tough defensive matchup.
On a third and two for the Patriots’ second possession, Sauce makes a play as he lays out Patriots rookie Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton for an incomplete pass as Thornton couldn’t make the play for the first down. Controversy on the play as the officials didn’t blow the whistle Sauce recovered the ball, thinking it was a fumble, but the pass ended incomplete.
With two minutes and thirty seconds left in the first quarter, the Patriots had possession, trying to make something happen off a Jonnu Smith Jet sweep. Still, he fumbled and almost gave the Jets possession, but the Patriots recovered.
After a 24-yard field goal from Nick Folk that got the Patriots on the board, the Jets offense was looking to create some magic on offense. Wilson connects with Denzel Mims on a 34-yard back-shoulder catch to give the Jets solid field position. The drive would end in a Greg Zuerlein 45-yard field goal which was initially supposed to be a 40-yard field goal if it weren’t for a delay of game penalty.
Mid-way through the second quarter, as the Patriots were trying to extend their drive down the field on a 2nd down and eight, the Jets’ defense was able to get to Mac Jones as Quineen Williams was able to get his 8th sack of the year. Unfortunately, on the next play, Rhonondre Stevenson received a 19-yard catch and ran as the Jets failed to tackle Stevenson down.
As the Patriots were at the Jets’ 26-yard line, on a third down and 12, the Jets got their 3rd sack of the game against the Patriots as Carl Lawson, and the Jets’ defense was able to force the pocket to collapse.
Former New York Jets kicker Nick Folk was 17/17 in field goal attempts against his former team. That ended when he missed on a 45-yard field goal as it hit the front post line.
Before the half ended, Zach Wilson almost threw an interception to Patriots safety Devin McCourty, but luckily was dropped.
Now into the third quarter, Patriots with possession almost mid-way through the first quarter, Patriots down the field, Patriots can’t get anything going as Michael Clemons sacks Mac Jones for a 7-yard loss which results. Then the Patriots got a holding call that resulted in a second down and 27. The drive would end in a 43-yard missed field goal attempt by Nick Folk.
With eleven minutes in the fourth quarter, Zach Wilson gets sacked by Patriots safety Kyle Dugger and almost gives away a fumble recovered for a touchdown. Still, luckily Wilson was shown to be down by contact after the replay clearly showed that Wilson was down.
Throughout most of the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter, the Jets and offenses couldn’t get anything going as the Jets had five straight three outs and each team sacking each other’s quarterbacks.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Jets haven’t had a first down since the two-minute warning in the first half. Luckily they got a first down on a nice catch by rookie Garrett Wilson.
As the Jets had the ball with under two mins remaining in the game, everything seemed like it was all in the hands of the Jets as they had the opportunity to drive the ball in field goal range for Zuerlein. But the Jets couldn’t convert on a third and one as Wilson didn’t get the ball quickly to running back Michael Carter for the first down.
Now with the Jets having to punt, Braden Mann kicked it straight to Marcus Jones, who was able to get to the outside and break away from all the Jets defenders, even Justin Hardee, from behind, as Marcus Jones was able to stun the Jets with an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown. There was a question as to whether the referees missed on a patriots block in the back on Justin Hardee, but the league office said that the play was legal and no blocking in the back was detected.
As a result, the Jets lost in the most Jets way possible, 10-3, against their division rival New England Patriots.
A lot of blame to go around, mainly on the offense, as the Jets put together one of the most putrid performances ever displayed. They put together only 103 yards combined on offense and had only six first downs, which both were NFL lows for the season. They only average a subpar 2.1 yards per play.
This game raised the question of whether Zach Wilson is the quarterback of the future for the Jets because he embarrassed himself on and off the field for himself and the Jets today. Wilson was 9/22 with only 77 passing yards and almost had two crucial interceptions that could’ve been brutal for the Jets and overthrew his wide receivers left and right. Whether it was a regular screen pass to Braxton Berrios or Tyler Conklin down the field, Wilson could not make the throws a regular quarterback would make. When asked if he and the offense let the defense down today, Wilson replied to say”
“No”
John Franklin-Meyers liked a comment on Twitter comparing Josh Allen’s quote about his performance in his week nine loss against the Jets to Wilson’s quote about his performance against the Patriots. This comment by Wilson did not sit well with some Jets players, as they are now left frustrated with Wilson’s lack of accountability for his performance in today’s game. Allen goes on to say:
“I put that on me. I let the team down… as a QB, you can’t play like S–t.”
While you have Zach Wilson taking no accountability for his performance when asked if he let the offense down, saying:
“No”
The Jets had ten combined punts today, and Zach Wilson only had nine completions today.
They barely had any rushing attack today, as they only had 59 rushing yards combined. James Robinson hardly received snaps in the game. Fellow tail-backs Ty Johnson and Michael Carter grabbed a bulk of the carries.
When Saleh was asked about the Jets’ offense in the second half and only gaining two yards on seven possessions, Saleh replied:
“It was dog shit.”
What sucks is that the Jets’ rough performance on offense overlooked the Jets’ dominant performance on defense as they were able to get to Mac Jones six times, showing that the Jets finally seem to be forming a pass rush emergence in their defense which is something that hasn’t been shown in quite some time.
Either way, Zach Wilson needs to learn to think before he speaks and take some accountability because not taking at least some responsibility for the Jets’ lack of performance on offense today will damage anyone’s status in a locker room. The Jets locker room was as quiet as ever after today’s loss.
Hopefully, the Jets can shake off this devastating loss and focus on their next matchup at home as the Chicago Bears come to town. The question leading up to the matchup will be if they will see Justin Fields or not due to him leaving the game with a shoulder injury, so the Jets might have to face off against backup Trevor Siemain.
