Fun, Fun, Fun. It’s fun to watch the home team comeback with under three minutes left in the game and snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. It’s fun to be able to write positives things about the old town team and it’s always fun to beat the Jets.
I have to start with Jacoby Brissett who was thrust into the game after Drake Maye was felled by a cheap shot, hit in the back of his head by Jets LB Jamien Sherwood. Maye played 5 more plays before his day was done. More on that later. Alex Van Pelt was ultra conservative in his play calling when Brissett came into the game and was only allowed one pass play on 3rd and 8 for a 3-yard completion to DeMario Douglas. It was like Van Pet didn’t trust him. That culminated with two minutes remaining in the first half and all three timeouts, when the Patriots just ran out the clock. The fans let the coaches have it with a rain of boos coming down.
Brissett ended up 15 of 24 for 132 yards and no turnovers. He was victimized by the poor play of his WRs with 5 drops. The game-winning drive (The NFL Red Zone Drive of the Day) started at their own 30-yard line after the Jets had gone ahead. Brissett led them down the field on a 70-yard drive on 12 plays resulting in the TD and 2-point conversion. The winning TD came on 4th down and inches with just 22 seconds left on the clock. He was 4-8 on the drive including a scramble for 14-yards on 3rd and 9 and another big 3rd down and 10 pass to Kayshon Boutte at the Jets 9 yard. That 34-yard pass made up for a couple of alligator arm dropped passes.
On the final drive Kendrick Bourne and DeMario Douglas both dropped passes. Borne used the wrong technique trying to cradle the ball into his body rather than extending his hands forward and catching it with his hands. Douglas reached for the ball but didn’t lay out for the catch. He didn’t give it his full measure in what was a critical moment. The WR’s had 5 drops in the game. I want to see more execution by the receivers and less of them flapping their gums and texting on social media. Tyquan Thornton had a nice 14-yard catch and run across the middle to set up a go-ahead Joey Slye FG.
I must state that the Officiating crew was abysmal. What was a ticky-tac pass interference call against Christian Gonzalez that extended the 1st Jets TD Drive, was not called the same way against the Jets. Just because it’s established players like Davante Adams or Sauce Gardner doesn’t mean it should or shouldn’t be called. The refs have established the bar, and it should be called the same on both teams. How they missed the helmet-to-helmet hit by Jamien Sherwood on Drake Maye when Maye was giving himself up with a slide is beyond me. The angle at which Sherwood dove at Maye was intentionally low and to intentionally cause damage. The Patriots coaches were livid at the non-call. Sherwood will get fined by the league, but that is not enough. If the league wants to stop this type of head hunting, then he should be suspended for at least one game and for as long as Maye is out with a concussion. Tyquan Thornton was hit before the ball arrived, no call. Marcus Jones was called for Pass Interference when the replay actually showed it was Offensive Pass Interference on Garret Wilson. Christian Elliss is called for Interference against Breece Hall. Ellis had screened Hall out of bounds and the ball was uncatchable, yet Elliss gets called for it. Later in the game, Jalen Mills does the same thing to Pats TE Austin Hooper, no call. If the refs had called the game fairly, the Patriots would have won easily. I can say this when the coaches and players can’t, or they will get fined.
Alex Van Pelt’s play calling leaves a lot to be desired. They introduced a new toss sweep, but after the 3rd time Van Pelt called it in the 1st quarter, the Jets adjusted, but AVP kept calling it. He even called it on the final drive for no gain. If they had faked the toss and got the Jets moving that way they could have come back with a TE screen. On the first series in typical Van Pelt play calling, two runs for 5 yards and then tried a deep pass to Kayshon Boutte against Sauce Gardner. What the heck, why don’t you just feed the Christians to the lions. Gardner is the best Cornerback the Patriots will see all year. Three and out. I will say that the 1st run by Stephenson was good for 6 yards with Lecitus Smith playing the Eligible Tackle (3rd TE) position.
Game balls were handed out by Jerod Mayo to the three safeties (Jaylinn Hawkins, Marte Mapu and Jon Jones), as well as the next man up, Jacoby Brissett. Marcus Jones got picked on all day against the bigger Jets receivers. Consequently, I didn’t hear Jon Jones name mentioned once during the telecast, but Jerod Mayo acknowledged his contribution during his post-game press conference. I have been crying for Jon Jones to move to Free Safety since the spring. Demarcus Covington played more man defense today, but he got too conservative in the 4th.
Christian Elliss played a lot today in the middle. He led the team with 9 tackles. The only sack of the game belonged to Elliss, and he had a pass defended and 2 QB Hits. I thought Davon Godchaux played well with two stand up tackles at the line of scrimmage and didn’t get blown off the line giving the LBs room to make the plays. He had 3 tackles and 2 of them solo. Detrich Wise and Keion White were both credited with 4 solo tackles.
Hunter Henry had another clutch game with 4 catches for 45 yards on 5 targets. Hooper had 3 for 15 yards on 4 targets.
Marcus Jones had a big 62-yard Punt Return to start the Patriots 1st series of the 2nd half. After stopping the Jets on a 3 and out to start the 2nd half, Jones took the 52-yard Thomas Morstead punt back 62 yards. Jones gave JaMychal Hasty credit for a big block and apologized for not taking it to the house. Five plays later the Pats were in the endzone.
For the 1st time all season the Patriots had an Offensive Line starting unit that played together for the second time. Vederian Lowe, Michael Jordan, Ben Brown, Mike Onwenu and Demontrey Jacobs started together. Brown gave up a sack to Quinnen Williams and Mike Onwenu was late picking up an A gap stunt by Williams and gave up a combined sack by Williams and Javon Kinlaw. The Pats ran for 111 yards but 46 of those were by Drake Maye.
Bryce Baringer had one of his worst days punting. He had 5 punts averaging only 47.2 yards per punt. The 55-yard punt extended his streak of games with at least one 50+ punt. Only one of his punts was inside the 20.
Xavier Gipson had a 40-yard punt return. It was tough day for Greg Zuerlein, who should be looking for a new employer next week. He missed an extra point when the holder Thomas Morstead failed to rotate the laces out and then followed that up with a crucial missed 44-yard FG. Zuerlein hit a 29-yard FG. The wind was swirling inside Gillette, but Joey Slye made his lone FG attempt, a 23-yarder.
Aaron Rodgers was 17 of 28 for 233 yards and 2 TDs. His QB rating was 111.2 and was only sacked once. The Patriots did a great job of containing Rodgers in the pocket, not allowing him to extend plays by scrambling. He had Zero rushing. A few times he had all day to pass in the pocket and giving him that much time with Adams and Wilson he was bound to find an open receiver.
Breece Hall had 16 rushes for 80 yards while Braelon Allem chipped in with 12 carries for 32 yards. Combined they had 112 yards for 4.0 average. This is a great improvement by the defense.
This was the 1st Patriots Home victory since October 22, 2023.
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Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
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