FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It felt like old times at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. The New York Jets rolled into town and — just as the Patriots have done for the bulk of the previous two decades — New England wiped the floor with their AFC East rival to the tune of a 54-13 defeat in Week 7. While this win was reminiscent of previous cruise-control victories over New York, this one may have the ability to be even more impactful than simply snapping an 0-4 record to begin the year at home.  

After a six-week stretch to begin the year where they limped out to a 2-4 record and failed to close out games that they used to always come on the winning side of, the Patriots were in desperate need of a “get-right” game, especially as they enter this new era with rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Fortunately for them, they were gift-wrapped just that with the now 1-5 Jets pulling up to Foxborough. 

New England made quick work of New York, going on a 17-0 run to begin the game, which was essentially all that was needed to walk away with the win. That said, the Patriots continued to pour it on, totaling 551 yards of offense that included seven touchdowns (three passing, four rushing). Meanwhile, Jones turned in the first 300-yard performance of his career and completed passes to 11 different receivers. 

“That’s what we want to do,” the rookie said of the offensive explosion. “I think we got a little flavor of if we do everything right throughout the week and practice well and do our job in the game, it kind of translates over, and you just play together as a unit, as an offense, and then special teams played well, really good. The defense played great. It’s all three phases, and that’s what happens when you can do that. 

“We’re not satisfied. We’ve got plenty of games left, and we’re excited we finally kind of saw a little bit of a result that was good, and we’ve just got to stick to the formula and stick to the process.”

It seems like the club was aware that this game could prove to be a trampoline as they roll into the next phase of their season. The offense was quick to pull from its bag of tricks as Josh McDaniels deployed a double-pass on the Patriots’ opening drive of the game that resulted in Kendrick Bourne completing a 25-yard touchdown to Nelson Agholor. In the past, those types of plays appeared in “break glass in case of an emergency” scenarios, rather than an opening punch, especially against a team that has just one win of the season. However, getting off to such a fast start and keeping their foot on the gas could be the type of confidence booster that this Patriots team needs. 

“I think it just goes back to stacking days, and today we were focused on today,” Jones continued of the offense. “That’s a result that showed. We came in and we had good energy, 1:00 kickoff, and we were ready to play. We’ve got to do that every time. It can’t be a one-time thing. Like I said, we’re not satisfied at all by any means. We have plenty of work to do, and plenty to get better at. It just makes it more fun when you can see a little bit of results, and then, like I said, focus on the process of the week and focus on how we can get better.”

Of course, New England will find more resistance as they continue on throughout the rest of the regular season than they did against a Jets team that looks destined to rival for the No. 1overall pick once again. That said, being able to tangibly see the results unfold successfully — as Jones noted– could be the medicine needed to open the floodgates for New England going forward, even if it was against an inferior opponent. 

Read More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *