Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
The Patriots beat the Jets 30-27 on a 51-yard Nick Folk field goal as time expired on Monday night, but was it even worth it?
New England (3-5) was in a dog fight against the now 0-9 Jets, and with the AFC East all but out of reach as Buffalo sits at 7-2, Monday night’s game was a cruel reminder of where this organization is at right now.
The Patriots are a one-and-done wild card team at best, especially after Joe Flacco (18-25, 262, 3 TD’s, 1 INT) looked like the old 2012 Baltimore Ravens version, tossing dimes to receivers and picking on supposed second-best corner JC Jackson consistently.
The offense still struggled and settled for field goals, but Jakobi Meyers did have a breakout game with 12 catches for a whopping 169 yards. Still, needing a walk-off field goal to beat a winless team with a plethora of outstanding quarterbacks remaining on the schedule, it’s fair to wonder if the Pats would be better of losing these types of games for draft position. It’s gotten uglier faster than anyone expected, so why delay the inevitable?
Even after a win against the hated Jets, Bill Belichick still wasn’t all that pleased with the performance.
“”Cam did a great job, made some good reads and some good adjustments some good checks,” said Belichick. “The Jets always have a lot of defensive pressure in their packages and Cam did a nice job with it. We’ve just got to keep working and take it one week at a time. I don’t think the team lacks confidence, we just have to keep playing better and coaching better…maybe we’ll have better results.”
Leading 27-20 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Flacco was picked off by Jackson at the New England 28 one play after a Folk field goal cut the deficit from 27-17. Newton eventually pushed his way into the end zone from 1-yard out and Folk tied it at 27 apiece with 1:57 left, capping an 11-play drive. The Jets appeared to go into full tank mode with a brutal three-and-out, punting the ball back to the Patriots’ 22.
Newton converted a 3rd-and-1 to the Pats’ 42 with 22 seconds left, but seemingly mismanaged the clock, spiking it with just eight seconds to go. It appeared briefly that Belichick was upping the ante in the tank game, but Newton hit Meyers for a 20-yard gain down to the 33 and called a final timeout with three seconds left, setting up Folk’s game winner.
“As soon as I saw it 20-yards downfield, I knew it was going to be true,” said Folk. “I knew I had enough leg to get it there.”
The Patriots took a 7-3 lead on a 5-yard run from Newton with 3:34 left in the first, sadly it was the team’s first-first quarter touchdown of the year. New England trailed 20-10 at the half thanks to Flacco touchdown passes to Breshard Perriman (5 catches, 101 yards) and Jamison Crowder. Sergio Castillo also added a 50-yard field goal during the run as well.
Newton opened up the second half with arguably his best drive as a Patriot, marching 78 yards in 13 plays and chewing up 7:33 of clock. The drive ended with Burkhead rumbling in from 1-yard out to cut it to 20-17. The Jets answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive of their own and went back up 27-17 on Perriman’s second TD reception of the game.
Folk’s 29-yard field goal soon thereafter set up Jackson’s pick and the strange final few minutes
Meyers’ night was a special one, especially since it was his birthday, and Newton (27-35, 274 yards) was a bit more decisive than he had been. Still, there was nothing in this game that gives any Patriots fans hope that there is a playoff run in them. Damien Harris did run extremely hard and added 71 yards on 14 carries, but left the game late with an injury.
For anyone who will never get over Spygate and Eric Mangini, any win over the Jets is nice, but is it really worth it? Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Allen all remain on the schedule, with one more meeting against the Jets closing out the season. There is little reason to believe this offense can keep up with any of those offenses at this point.
Regardless of what this season may ultimately become, Newton knew this night was a big one. A win is a win anyway he can get it at this point in his career, a “crossroads” as he’s called it.
“A game like this, the last couple games, it builds character,” he said. “This was a much-needed win, not only for our division, but our conference.”
As a lifelong Patriots fan I will aways feel at least a little bit happy about a win over the Jets, and I understand Cam is basically playing for future. Unfortunately, in a year that’s been so, so bad by New England standards, it was not unfathomable to think hitting rock bottom Monday night would have been the best thing for them moving forward.