New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
(PHOTO: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK) The “Wasted Season” as Tom Curran likes to call it is mercifully coming to an end, but not before one more contest.
Sunday’s game versus the division rival Jets is usually a good contest to take in but with neither team having anything to play for this is a complete dud of a game. Add to this the potential for a snowstorm Saturday night into Sunday, this will prevent fans from showing up. There is more drama surrounding Bill Belichick and whether this will be his last game coaching the Patriots. One last note about the game. This could also be Captain Matthew Slater’s final game for the Patriots. I will have more about Slater at the end of the article.
| OFFENSE
3WR 1TE |
|||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | ||
| QB | Trevor Siemian | Brett Rypien | Zach Wilson O | Aaron Rodgers O | |
| RB | Breece Hall | Israel Abanikanda | |||
| WR | Garrett Wilson | Allen Lazard Q | – | – | |
| WR | Jason Brownlee | Irvin Charles | – | – | |
| WR | Xavier Gipson | Randall Cobb | – | – | |
| TE | Tyler Conklin | Jeremy Ruckert O | Kenny Yeboah | Zack Kuntz | |
| LT | Mekhi Becton | Carter Warren | Austin Deculus | Billy Turner | |
| LG | Laken Tomlinson | Connor McGovern IR | |||
| C | Joe Tippmann | Jake Hanson O | Wes Schweitzer IR | Connor McGovern IR | |
| RG | Max Mitchell | Jake Hanson O | Xavier Newman | Billy Turner | |
| RT | Carter Warren | Max Mitchell | Billy Turner | Mekhi Becton |
Who is quarterbacking the Jets this week? Coach Robert Saleh at his Press Conference on Wednesday ruled Zach Wilson out for Sunday’s game. He is still in concussion protocol. He was listed as the starter on the ESPN depth chart but who knows with the Jets. Trevor Siemian came in for an ineffective Wilson in the Week 15, 30-0 debacle in Miami. The next week Siemian led the Jets to a 30-28 upset of the Commanders at East Rutherford NJ. Last week Siemian turned back into a pumpkin in a 37-20 loss at Cleveland. It’s obvious that the Jets don’t play well away from home. The Patriots come in as 1.5-point favorites. I wouldn’t touch this game with a 10-foot pole! Brett Rypien is now the backup QB to Siemian. Might we see some of Aaron Rodgers who was listed as Limited in today’s practice?
Breece Hall has had a very good year considering how bad the QB play, and offensive line have been. Hall is averaging 4.4 yards per carry (16th) for 816 yards (22nd). The Jets released Dalvin Cook this week. I guess he didn’t work out as well as Ezekiel Elliott did for the Pats. The Jets gave Cook an opportunity to hook on with a playoff team in a mutually agreed move. Israel Abanikanda is a 2023 5th round (#143) selection by NYJ who formally played for the Pittsburgh Panthers. He set a single game record at Pitt rushing for 320 yards to eclipse Tony Dorsett’s Pitt record of 302. He may be the best player nobody’s heard of. He was a 1st team All-ACC runningback leading the conference with 1431 yards rushing. Abanikanda finished as the NCAA statistical champion in scoring (11.6 points per game), total touchdowns (21) and rushing touchdowns (20). He also had lofty NCAA rankings in all-purpose yards (second, 164.09 avg.), total points scored (fourth, 128), rushing yards per game (seventh, 130.1 avg.) and total rushing yards (14th, 1,431).
Wide Receiver has been a problem for the Jets all season. They can’t seem to find reliable wideouts. Some of that is due to the QB problems after Aaron Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles on the first series of the season. Garrett Wison has disappointed despite making 93 receptions on 163 targets. That’s just 57 % of the throws are caught. Wilson has 1008 yards receiving, 10.8 avg, and 3 TDs. Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson don’t exactly strike fear into opponents. Gipson has 20 catches and Brownlee just 5. Allen Lazard has 23 catches on 49 targets for 311 yards, 13.5 yards per reception, and just 1 TD.
Tight End Tyler Conklin is 3rd on the team with 58 receptions on 84 targets, with 605 yards receiving yards boy no TDs. It’s Breece Hall who is 2nd on the team with 74 catches on 93 targets for 579 yards (7.8 average), and 4 TDs. Jeremy Ruckert has 16 catches as the 2nd TE, but he has been ruled Out.
The mess known as the Jets Offensive line is actually much worse than the Patriots. LT Mekhi Becton has been flat out awful. The former 2020 1st round (#11) selection by NYJ, was supposed to be the anchor of their O-line for years to come. I don’t think the Jets will exercise their 5th year option on Becton. How bad is he? Becton leads the league by giving up 12 sacks, is 2nd in the league with 18 penalties, and has a 51.1 Rating by Pro Football Focus. His ranking is 73rd which means that he is not good enough to start. Laken Tomlinson starts at LG. The 14-year veteran will be 32 next month. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2021. His best football is behind him. He signed with the Jets as a Free Agent after his Pro Bowl selection but hasn’t played to that level for New York. Joe Tippmann was a 2023 2nd (#43) selection out of Wisconsin. He has played pretty well as a rookie garnering a 58.4 PFF grade good for 24th in the league. He is tied for 3rd amongst centers with 8 penalties on the season. By comparison veteran Patriots Captain David Andrews is 10th in the league. Right Guard Max Mitchell is actually a Tackle playing Guard. He is 6’6” and was drafted by New York in the 4th Round (#111) of the 2022 draft out of Louisiana. His PFF ranking of 49.3 is as a Tackle and he was ranked 76th, not starter material. Right Tackle has rookie Carter Warren manning the position. Warren was a 2023 4th round (#120) pick out of Pittsburgh. This has been a rough year for Warren as he is ranked 78th by PFF. He has played 336 snaps so far, which is a lot more than the Jets wanted.
DEFENSE
| Base 4-3 D | |||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | ||
| LDE | John Franklin -Myers | Bryce Huff | Ifeadi Odenigbo IR | – | |
| LDT | Solomon Thomas | Quinton Jefferson IR | |||
| RDT | Quinnen Williams | Micheal Clemons | Jalyn Holmes | Al Woods IR | |
| RDE | Jermaine Johnson | Will McDonald IV | Carl Lawson | Bradlee Anae IR | |
| WLB | Jamien Sherwood | Sam Eguavoen | – | ||
| MLB | C.J. Mosley | Chazz Surratt | Maalik Hall IR | ||
| SLB | Quincy Williams | Zaire Barnes IR | – | – | |
| LCB | Sauce Gardner | Michael Carter | Justin Hardee | Bryce Hall | |
| SS | Jordan Whitehead | Chuck Clark IR | |||
| FS | Tony Adams | Ashtyn Davis | – | – | |
| RCB | D.J. Reed | Brandin Echols | Jarrick Bernard-Converse | Javelin Guidry IR |
The Defensive statistics have the Jets listed as the 18th team giving up 352 points. The Patriots are the 17th rank allowing only 349. The defensive line was very impressive and Quinnen Wiliams is still one of the best interior linemen in the league. There is a big drop off after Williams. John Franklin-Myers can get after the passer. He has 3.5 sacks and 32 total tackles. Solomon Thomas has 5 sacks and 31 total tackles. Jermaine Johnson has 53 tackles and 8.5 sacks. Will McDonald has been a disappointment. In the 2023 draft he was selected in the 1st Round (#15) but only has 11 tackles and 2 sacks.
The strength of the Jets Defense is their Linebackers. CJ Mosely has 144 tackles and a half sack. He was a 2014 1st round selection (#17) by the Ravens. He signed as a Free Agent with NYJ in 2019 and has been a mainstay ever since. Quincy Williams, Quinnen’s brother added 131 tackles. Selected in the 3rd Round (#120) by Jacksonville out of Murray State, he was waived and picked up by the Jets at the final cutdown in 2021. What a good claim! Jamien Sherwoood is the other linebacker. Sherwood contributed 38 tackles in 16 games. Another one of those light but fast linebackers, Sherwood is actually a Strong Safety playing the linebacker position like so many of the Patriots Safeties. A 2021 5th round (#146) selection by NY, he played his college ball at Auburn.
Sauce Gardner is a gifted cornerback and one of the best shutdown corners in the league. The 2022 1st round pick (#4) has lived up to the hype and performed at the highest level. He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year; 1st team All Pro, and 2x Pro Bowl selection (22 & 23). He has 11 pass breakups but no INTs. Opposing QBs just don’t throw to whoever he is covering (If they are smart). Safety Jordan Whitehead is third on the team in tackles with 97. He is a ballhawk with 4 INTs on the year. The 2016 4th Round (#117) draft pick of Tampa Bay signed a 2-year contract with NYJ. He will be a Free Agent at the end of the season. Week 1 of this year he intercepted Buffalo’s Josh Allen 3 times, and in doing so met his season $250,000 incentive bonus. Tony Adams was an Undrafted Free Agent signed last year by NY and now he is starting. He is 4th on the team in tackles with 81 in just 14 games. DJ Reed is the Right Cornerback. Originally drafted by San Francisco in the 5th Round (#142) of the 2018 draft, he signed a three-year Free Agent contract with New York in 2022. He has contributed 73 tackles this season in 14 games. DJ Reed fills the RCB position. The 2018 draft saw Reed taken in the 5th Round (#142) out of Kansas State by San Francisco. Reed is smallish at 5’9”, 188 lbs. and ran a 4.51 40-yard dash and 6.82 3-cone drill.
| Special Teams | ||||
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | |
| PK | Greg Zuerlein | – | – | – |
| P | Thomas Morstead | – | – | – |
| H | Thomas Morstead | |||
| PR | Xavier Gipson | D.J. Reed | – | – |
| KR | Xavier Gipson | |||
| LS | Thomas Hennessy | – | – |
The Jets Special Teams are an experienced unit. Greg Zurlein’s nickname is “the Leg”. He can kick those long field goals and kickoffs deep in the endzone. Zurlein is ranked 11th by Pro Football Reference (PFR) and has made 32 of 34 Field Goals this year. Thomas Morestead is a 37-year-old veteran punter and is ranked #1 by PFR. He has averaged 49 yards per punt and dropped 33 of those inside the 20. Morestead did not receive the Pro Bowl nod. Xavier Gipson is ranked #5 overall in Kick Returns and Punt Returns. He has one Kickoff Return for a TD. Gunner Justin Hardee supplanted Matt Slater as the Pro Bowl Special Teamer this year.
Pro Bowl Snubs
It was reported that no Patriots players were selected to the Pro Bowl. That is not correct as Matt Judon was selected as 1st Team Pro Bowl. He will not participate because of injury. However, two other players deserved to be selected. Christian Barmore has been one of the most dominant Defensive Tackles in the league. Safety Jabril Peppers has also had a solid year. These two players were keys to the Patriots’ Defense allowing only 3.2 yards per carry for the year, and in the second half they were the most dominant defense. Credit must also go out to coaches Stephen Belichick and Jerod Mayo for getting this Defense ready every week despite the team record. Bryce Baringer was in consideration, but he fell off as the season went on. He has dropped 40% of his punts inside the 20-yard line.
Matthew Slater
There may not have been a more classy player in Patriots history than Matthew Slater. Not only was he a perennial Pro-Bowl selection (10 times) but he was also the spiritual leader of the team. This from a 2008 5th round (#153) selection out of UCLA. Slater was a WR that no one heard of! Bill Belichick knew of him and valued his skills so much that he took him in the 5th round. Nobody could have predicted that Slater would play 16 years in the league. Slater should get a call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday. He and his father Jackie would be the first Father/Son combination selected to the HoF. Matt was selected to the All-Pro 1st team 5 times and 2nd team 3 times. He also contributed to the Patriots winning three Super Bowls. His awards include the Art Rooney Award (Sportsmanship) and Bart Starr Award (Outstand Character and Leadership). It’s just a matter of time before he will be selected. Slater wants to be a minister and is very likely will stay in the Foxboro area. His wife Dr. Shahrzad Slater is a pathologist and Vice President of LMK Clinical Research Consulting. The couple are well known for their charitable work in the Providence RI area.
Snow For Sunday
If you have tickets for the game pay attention to the weather forecast. The local meteorologists are predicting a wind driven snow event for Sunday. The predictions are all over the place right now and the weathermen are giddy about the pending disaster. The storm is coming in Saturday Night through Sunday. In the past, the patriots were unable to clear all the seats in the stadium while it snowed. Stay tuned to local sports broadcasts for the latest on the game.
Belichick Scheduled to Meet with Krafts Monday
Mike Reiss is reporting that the meeting is scheduled for Monday. It is normal there would be an after the season meeting between the owner and Coach to discuss what has happened and what the plan is going forward. However, this is more pivotal with the bad the two tears of bad results. Belichick will be given an opportunity to express his thought on what happened. Anything is possible. I expect that Kraft will insist that Belichick relinquish the GM duties. Belichick will balk at this, and Kraft will then ask what team he would like to be traded to. Belichick will not be allowed to talk to teams until a trade is consummated. However, you know that Belichick’s agent has already been in touch with the teams he would be interested in coaching. The bar has been set by Sean Payton and his trade from NO to Denver. NO received DEN 1st picks in 2023 (#29 – 650 points) and a 2024 2nd Rd pick (#46 – 450 pts) and NO will send 2024 3 rd (#78 – 200 points), an 890-point difference. A comparable trade with San Diego would be 2024 1st #10 -1300 points and 2024 5th round pick (72-points). NE would add 2024 3rd pick (#66 – 250 points) and a 2025 3rd round pick (200-points). This would be a mutually agreed parting of the ways that will allow Belichick to pursue his goal of reaching the most wins record. This would be the cleanest way to end his tenure with the Patriots and Kraft is not actually firing Belichick.
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