Patriots Week 8 Report Card In 25-22 Win Over the Jets

After last week’s game, the Patriots were called out …publicly by their coach, and they responded with a tough win over the Jets 25-22. Rhamondre Stevenson scored on a one-yard touchdown with just 22 seconds left to give the Patriots the lead and then scored on a two-point conversion for the final points.

Many players said after the game that Mayo’s comments helped light a fire under them. So, a potentially horrible situation worked out for the team.

“When somebody calls you out as a man, you can’t get all sensitive about it,” Keion White said. “You just have to say ‘OK, I’m going to show you’ and take it as a challenge and I think we did that. That’s just a testament to his coaching and how we are receptive to him as a coach because we didn’t get defensive and we didn’t shut down. We took it as a challenge.”

Although it was not perfect by any means, the team’s overall effort was much better. They came from behind late in the game and turned back the Jets to break a six-game losing streak. They showed toughness and resilience.

So, here are our grades this week for the Patriots-Jets game.

Quarterback(s): B

Drake Maye started well; he had three rushes for 46, including an 18-yarder on which he suffered a concussion and a non-called helmet-to-helmet penalty on LB Jamien Sherwood. He was just 3-6 for 23 yards passing, but he had two drops, one of which was an off-script play where Maye scrambled to his right and threw a beautiful 37-yard pass downfield to Tyquan Thornton who dropped it.

Jacoby Brissett came in and started off slowly, but in the second half, he got better, especially in the fourth quarter. He made a key 14-yard run and threaded a nice 34-yard pass to Kayshon Boutte during the final drive. His teammates have never questioned Brissett’s coolness and toughness.

“There’s chaos going on, he never wavers. That’s why he’s a team captain,” TE Austin Hooper said. “You’ve got two options: You can either fold, or you can fight. Thank God Drake will be all right, but when you have a guy like Jacoby, who’s won here, you don’t really blink.”

“We got a challenge earlier this week. The guys came out and responded well,” Brissett said. “We pushed it in at the end to score the win. I think that encompassed a lot of things throughout the season. Just hoping this is a snowball effect, the start of something special.”

Running Backs: C-

Rhamondre Stevenson only averaged 2.4 yards per rush, garnering 48 yards on 20 carries, but that last one was golden as he pushed across from the Jets’ one-yard line for the game-winning score and then added the two-point conversion from Jacoby Brissett. Stevenson added a second TD rushing.

Antonio Gibson only played a few snaps and had five carries for six yards. Stevenson added three catches for 14 yards in the passing game.

Wide Receivers: D

If you questioned my grading of the quarterbacks perhaps a bit too leniently, there is this…

After several weeks of harping on social media, the wide receivers’ clamoring for more targets didn’t produce a helluva lot. What they did do, however, was drop the ball six times. That isn’t backing up your quarterbacks.

Kayshon Boutte had three catches for 46, including two key catches on the final drive, so that helped the grade a bit. Thornton had two catches for 20 yards, and Pop Douglas had just two catches for 12 yards. Kendrick Bourne (3), and K.J. Osborn (1), were targeted but had no catches.

Tight Ends: B-

Hunter Henry was once again the Patriots’ most reliable receiver on the field. He continues his solid season and had five catches for 45 yards on six targets.

Austin Hooper was targeted four times and had three catches for 15 yards.

Offensive Line: C-

The Patriots got left tackle Vederian Lowe back, and he played every offensive snap. In fact, the entire offensive line played 100 percent of the snaps. They left the game looking healthy for next week. That is a big positive right there.

The run blocking just isn’t there, the running backs only ran for 54 yards on 25 carries. Of the Patriots’ 111 rushing yards, 57 of them came from quarterbacks Drake Maye (46) and Jacoby Brissett (11). Brissett had that key 14-yard scramble on the final drive.

The pass protection was much better against the Jets this time. A month ago, they sacked the Patriots’ quarterbacks seven times and logged 15 QB hits. On Sunday, the Jets garnered two sacks and four QB hits. One must also consider, the Jets have an excellent front seven. Quinnen Williams is a monster inside, he figured in both sacks, had two QB hits, and a TFL.

Defensive Line: C

The Patriots’ defensive line was better this week —not great, but better. The Jets ran for 112 yards on 28 carries (4.0-yard average). Breece Hall did most of the damage, running for 80 yards on 16 carries (5.0-yard average). He frequently got to the second level with his speed. The front seven did a much better job on the bruising back Braelon Edwards, who averaged only 2.7 yards per rush, gaining 32 yards on 12 carries, but he did bull his way for a touchdown run.

After allowing an average of 185 yards per game for the past three weeks, this was a step in the right direction. The Jets didn’t dominate the line of scrimmage like last week’s game.

“Just stop all the cute [expletive] and get back to the basics,” Davon Godchaux said. “Just knockback football, play our assignment, not a lot of calls. Just do what we do and stop the run. I know they got over 100 yards today, but I thought it was a pretty good job in the run game.“

“The run defense is all about the mindset. Once you got the mindset, you’re going to knock a [expletive] back and you’re not going to let them drive you off the ball,” Godchaux added. “I mean, the double teams, sometimes they’re going to win. They get paid, too. But if you have the mindset that you’re going to be disruptive, knock a guy back, shed blocks; it’s all in the mind.“

Linebackers: C+

The linebackers were also better this week. Christian Elliss played a career-high in defensive snaps and led the team with nine tackles, with a key sack, two QB hits, a TFL, and a pass defensed.

Anfernee Jennings played every defensive snap but two, which is very rare for edge players, and had six tackles and a QB hit. They were able to set the edge and helped shore up the middle. They did a much better job of containment this time and limited Rodgers making off-script plays.

Secondary: B-

The Patriots had a tough time with Garrett Wilson, one of the best wide receivers in the league. Marcus Jones was in coverage most of the day, and it was a tough assignment. Wilson was targeted eight times and had five catches for 113 yards.

However, when Christian Gonzalez covered Davante Adams, he held him to one catch for 16 yards. Gonzalez was also called for one of the most invisible PI calls ever. Adams overall had four catches for 54 yards.

Aaron Rodgers went 17-28 for 224 yards with two TDs, which was a far cry from the first time the two teams met. And with Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers out, Marte Mapu, Dell Pettus, and Jaylin Hawkins all stepped up.

Special Teams: B

The ST units started badly again, allowing a 40-yard punt return. But they also had the big game-changing play, which flipped the momentum. With the Patriots needing a shot-in-the-arm in the third quarter, Marcus Jones returned a punt 62 yards, setting the offense up at the Jets’ 26, and five plays later they were in the end zone.

Joey Slye made his only field goal attempt, and both extra points, the other touchdown, they went for and converted a two-point conversion. Bryce Barringer averaged 47.3 yards per punt with a long of 55, and also one inside the 20.

Coaches: B

The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit this week. After the debacle in London, they came home and had to prepare for the Jets amid all the drama. But they got the team ready to play and they put together a good game plan and it was executed fairly well.

It was far from perfect but it was good enough. And that is a step in the right direction. AVP deserves some credit, the play calling on the final drive was very good and executed well. The pass protection on the final drive was excellent.

Now, we’ll see if they can do it two weeks in a row.

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We’re on to Tennessee and the Titans.

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About Steve Balestrieri

A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)

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