As fans, we now have higher expectations of the Patriots. Not blowing the doors off the NY Jets may seem like a disappointment, but given the fact that it was a short week to recover and plan for the Jets, the Patriots did very well. Drake Maye was outstanding again and this time it was on a national stage on Thursday Night Football. The entire country now knows how good Drake Maye is.
Good
- Drake Maye is currently the odds-on favorite (betting line) to win the MVP. He was 25 of 34, for 281 yards and 1 TD without any turnovers. There were at least three dropped passes as well. He started out 11 for 11.
- Stefon Diggs had a Big Day with 9 catches on 11 targets for 105 yards. The two targets Maye missed were drops by Diggs. If he had made those catches, Maye would have thrown for over 300 yards. Early in the game, I identified the matchup of Brownlee on Diggs as an absolute mismatch. Brownlee also had the Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty when he slammed down a Patriots player after the whistle in the 1st quarter that extended the drive for a TD.
- TreVeyon Henderson had a big day with 3 TDs, two rushing and one receiving. He only had 62 yards rushing on 19 carries for 3.3 YPC. He also had 5 receptions on 5 targets for another 31 yards and a TD. I was also impressed with his blitz pickup.
- The Offensive line had its best game and didn’t give up a sack. The one sack was on Hunter Henry. Curiously, on the play, Morgan Moses looked inside and didn’t have anyone to block, and left Henry one-on-one against Johns, who easily went around Henry. Campbell had a hold against McDonald, but was great other than that.
- Henderson is only the 2nd rookie to have 3 TDs in a game. The other is Gronk.
- The Coaches, Trainers and other support personnel should be lauded for getting the team ready physically and mentally to get the team ready.
- Special Teams did a really good job containing the Jets ST.
- Christian Barmore had one sack, and if he could have had another had he wrapped up Fields on a different play where he had the Jets QB nearly in his grasp but didn’t finish him off.
- Elijah Ponder had his 2nd sack in as many weeks
- Anfernee Jennings had the lone turnover with a Fumble recovery.
- Robert Spillane led the team with 9 Tackles.
Bad
- Defense giving up the Opening drive TD is so frustrating. They were not prepared for Justin Fields’ running. Why?
- The Patriots are a tired team, and it showed Thursday night.
- Jack Westover was horrible as a receiver Thursday night.
- How do you allow Hunter Henry to be matched up 1 on 1 against Johnson, who easily went around him for a sack? On the play Morgan Moses looked inside and didn’t block anyone.
- Borregales missed a 45-yard Field Goal.
- Kyle Williams is not on the same page as Drake Maye. He was targeted 3 times and didn’t have a catch. On one play, I will blame Maye for putting too much air under the deep pass and allowing the Safety to come over and break it up. However, on another, Maye read the safety covering the TE, and Williams didn’t see it and stopped his route. This was a typical rookie mistake.
Ugly
- Injury to Milton Williams on a leg whip by his own teammate Christian Barmore. Williams tried to come back, but the team shut him down and sent him to the locker room to immediately start treatment, even before the game had ended.
- Harold Landry looks slow, and I believe he is still hurting from the Ankle injury he received in Tennessee.
- K’Lavon Chaisson is becoming a bit undisciplined. He was rushing inside with no one covering the outside on one of the big runs by Justin Fields. As a whole, the defense was very bad in containing Fields, who had 11 carries for 61 yards and a TD.
- Overall, the Defense gave up 148 yards rushing, which is unacceptable. The Defense should have and could have played better.
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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.
Pats did look tired Thursday PM, but hey they had a physical game vs Tampa Bay and not much recovery time. The JETs were also not a great challenge to be ‘up for’. The good is, the Pats get a break now of 3 days off, and then get a bye week after CIN/NYG. They need it.
Bottom line is, any win in the NFL is a good one. Especially vs a division opponent where those games are typically not easy. Look at MIA over BUFF etc. W is good.