By Mason Sousa
Wow. It can’t get more embarrassing than that. I was dead wrong in my preview of the Bears last week. I even feel like I should apologize for giving the Bears absolutely no shot to beat the Patriots never mind embarrass them on national television.
Be that as it may, the Patriots are heading into Week 8 at 3-4 and looking up at the rest of the AFC East. A sentence I wouldn’t even dream of saying.
The New York Jets are 5-2, something I wasn’t expecting to say either, but here we are. They are currently on a win streak of four games or more for the first time since the 2015 season. The offense hasn’t been special but at times it’s been explosive. Players like WR Corey Davis and RB Breece Hall have hit the big play this season. However, the promising rookie Hall tore his ACL last week and is done for the year, while wide receiver Corey Davis is out this week with a MCL sprain. Those players are currently the team’s leading rusher and receiver respectively. It’s fair to say the offense takes a hit without those players in the lineup. The Jets however did trade for Jaguars running back James Robinson earlier in the week and wide receiver Elijah Moore will have a chance to prove himself after he requested a trade prior to Week 7.
The Jets are built somewhat similar to the Patriots. Focus on the run game and rely on your defense to put it in layman’s terms. Quarterback Zach Wilson hasn’t done much over the 4 games he’s played but he hasn’t cost his team games either. In fact, there hasn’t been a touchdown pass or an interception thrown by Wilson in the last 3 weeks. It’s been all run game and big plays on defense/special teams that have got the Jets in the endzone as of late. Along with RBs Michael Carter, James Robinson and even Zach Wilson scrambling a couple times I expect to see Patriots preseason legend Braxton Berrios take some jet sweeps against his former team. Berrios is their kick and punt returner but when his number is seldom called on offense most of the time he’s getting a chunk play for his team and moving the chains.
And if I can be Frank… Gardner’s got that Hot Sauce.
Sauce Gardner is special young cornerback and has taken on some elite wide receivers so far this year and has handled his business. He leads the league with 12 pass breakups. To put that into perspective one of the best shutdown corners of all time Darrelle Revis drafted by the Jets as well had 17 passes defensed in his rookie year. Gardner is well on his way to surpass that mark. He’s not there yet in terms of being a “shutdown corner”. He very well could be in a year or two but right now he is rapidly showing signs of being one the league’s next best defenders in the secondary.
INJURIES on the Patriots: David Andrews and Christian Barmore have not practiced this week and look to be Out. While Kyle Duggar managed to get back to the practice field on Friday. Those are 3 big blows to the team. Playmakers and leaders that will be missed on the field against a hot team with a lot of momentum in a stadium that’s going to be rocking.
It’s a bad week to miss center David Andrews after the illegal blindside block he was on the receiving end of last week. Andrews is still in concussion protocol and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams is waiting. So far this year, Williams is playing at an All-Pro level leading all DT’s with 5 sacks. Williams commands attention on the interior line and is splitting double teams with ease to disrupt the opponent’s backfield. James Ferentz will be thrown into the fire at center while guards Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu will face their toughest task of the year and will get their share of battling the young, quick, and big defensive tackle.
Christian Barmore and Kyle Duggar are both questionable at best to suit up against the Jets. Barmore is known for his pass rushing as a defensive tackle but has improved this year in stopping the run. His unavailability has hurt the Patriots front seven and was a factor in the Bears running 243 yards on Monday Night Football. As for Duggar, he is a superstar in the making at safety. When watching Duggar carefully you can tell he has excellent football IQ and can see where the ball is going faster than others. He’s aggressive and a tremendous tackler. He did return to practice on Friday coming off an ankle injury against the Bears. I assume he’ll be a game time decision. Andrews, Barmore and Duggar are significant pieces of the team and their absences will/would be felt.
Quarterback Mac Jones however is officially off the injury report so, if going by that, he is fully recovered from the high ankle sprain in Week 3. While Bill Belichick continues to be vague and indirect about the starting quarterback. Jones looks like he is the guy to face the Jets in Week 8. “Mac Jones took a full workload [in practice] I expect him to be fully available for the game” Belichick said on Thursday. There’s space for wiggle room in that quote like the head coach’s quotes usually are. ‘Available’ doesn’t mean ‘start’ even though very reputable NFL Insider Field Yates reported that Mac Jones will start. If Belichick believes keeping the QB a mystery for the opponent is effective then so be it. But at the very least keep your own players in the loop so there is no confusion and they can prepare accordingly.
The Jets blitz the second lowest in the league. (The only lower is Chicago by the way). When they have a mammoth of a man in Quinnen Williams taking on multiple blockers that trickles down and makes the secondary’s job a little easier with more in coverage. The corners Sauce Gardner and D.J. reed along with safeties Jordan Whitehead and Lamarcus Joyner have all played more than 97% of the team’s total defensive snaps this year and have developed a strong chemistry with one another. And last but not least is the quarterback of the defense C.J. Mosley who was 1 of only 5 players to record over 100 solo tackles last season. A case could be made saying that Mosley is the best inside linebacker in the league in his 30s. Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris were disappointing last week against a very beatable Bears run defense and now face the 11th ranked run defense. They’ll be needed to help the Patriots overcome the embarrassment on Monday night.
BOLD PREDICTION:
Mac Jones plays the whole game and throws 2 TD passes. It would be the first multi touchdown game for Jones this season.
GAME PREDICTION:
Robert Saleh’s defense is keeping receipts. They are feeling really good about themselves and like the feeling of winning. MetLife Stadium might be the loudest it’s been in a while as the hated Patriots come in for a visit. The loss of Breece Hall is massive for the Jets. Newly acquired James Robinson is good I’m just not sure how effective he will be less than a week with his new team.
The game plan is simple for both. Run the ball, take command in the trenches, and control the clock. This will be a fight and I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets chippy either.
It’s a statement game for both teams. For the Patriots to rebound from that awful loss against the Bears and show the little brother in the division that they are still superior. And as for the Jets, it’s not only to show big brother that they have surpassed them but show the rest of the league they belong and deserve to be a contender. The Patriots run defense concerns me even without Hall and that’s why I believe the Jets get the upper hand in this one. FINAL SCORE: JETS 24 PATRIOTS 17