MORSE: Good, Bad, Ugly as Patriots Ground Jets on their Way to Division Championship

The Patriots came out on fire and never took their foot off the gas on their way to a 42-10 victory. They dominated the pathetic New York Jets team. It was like the Varsity playing Junior Varsity. The Road Warriors finished the regular season 8-0 on the road. Only two other Patriots teams did that, and both teams won the Super Bowl that season. Take nothing away from the Patriots because they were playing an inferior and undermanned Jets team, they played flawless football.

The Good

QBs in the NFL with Pass yds ≥ 4,200, Pass TD ≥ 30, Pass rate ≥ 110.0, Rush yds ≥ 400, Rush TD ≥ 4, Completion% ≥ 70%. – 1. Drake Maye
Maye was 19 of 21 for 256 yards, 5 TDs and 0 Interceptions. In the 1^st half he was 17 of 19, 229 yards and 4 TDs.
Maye’s 5 passing TDs ties him with Tom Brady (6), Babe Parrilli (2) and Steve Grogan (1) as the only Patriots Quarterbacks with 5 TDs in a game.
Maye’s 4,000+ Yards Passing puts him up there with Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe as the only QBs in franchise history to accomplish this.
Maye’s TD passes were to five different receivers.
Maye torched the Jets when they went to man-to-man defense. He was 9 for 9 for 115 yards and 5 TDs.
Advanced metrics had Maye with a 100 QB Rating, 29.4 Completion% above expected, and 1.24 Expected Points Added. Maye is 2^nd in the league in Expected Points Added per dropback.
The last QB to throw 5 TD passes and complete 90% of his passes was Lynn Dickey for the Green Bay Packers in 1981.
The 35 points in the 1^st half were the most by any team in the NFL this year
That was the best half of football for the Patriots since the 2021 Butt Fumble game versus the Jets.
Rhamondre Stevenson with 2 TDs, had a very good game. He found a wide opening behind fullback Jack Westover — to put his team up 14-0. Stevenson had 8 carries for 47 yards and 5 catches on 5 targets for 55 yards and a TD. His 24-yard run led the team to their first 61-yard TD drive.
Treveyon Henderson had 19 carries for 87 yards.
Patriots scored a TD on their first 6 drives.
D’Ernest Johnson had a nice 32-yard Kickoff Return to give the team good field position to start the game.
Stefon Diggs was immense with 6 catches on 6 targets, 101 yards and a TD. His 31-yard catch on the sideline was beautiful. He mossed the defender snatching the ball behind his back and secured the catch with two feet inbound. His TD catch was his 4^th of the day and his 70^th of the season kicking in a $500K bonus. His 970 yards on the season means he is 30 yards from reaching 1,000 yards on the season which will kick in another $500K bonus. If he gets 8 receptions in the final game that would kick in another $500K bonus.
Morgan Moses has played > 90% of the plays and that has kicked in a $1.5M bonus for him
Hunter Henry caught 3 passes on 3 targets for 49 yards and a TD. His TD catch pushed him over his career high in receiving yards for a season.
Patriots were very disciplined today with only 2 penalties for 20 yards. The call against Jeremiah Pharms for roughing the passer was a joke. He got called for it because he landed on Cook. What was he supposed to do?
Efton Chism in his first real playing time had 2 catches on 2 targets for 40 yards and a TD. That’s why he was kept on the roster!
Mike Vrabel acknowledged Josh McDaniels play-calling in his post-game press conference. Drake Maye was also very complimentary in his Press Conference.
McDaniels used 8 different Personnel packages in the game.
Patriots were 5 for 5 scoring in the Red Zone and held the Jets to 0-2.
Mike Vrabel joined Jim Caldwell and George Seifert as the only 1^st year coaches to win 13 games. He also joins Seifert as the only 1^st year coach to go undefeated on the road (8-0) in their 1^st season with a team.
Christian Gonzalez had a good bounce back game against Adonai Mitchell who beat him often in their 1^st Gonzalez held him to 1 catch on 5 targets in man coverage against Mitchell. The one catch was for 8 yards on 3^rd and 10. Gonzo stopped him short of the 1^st. Carlton Davis had a similar game, stopping Jets receivers before the 1^stdown marker. Gonzalez also had a big hit on the sideline.
The O-line held the Jets to 33.3% Pressure Rate and only gave up one sack and that was on Drake Maye for not reaching the line of scrimmage on a scramble. He lost a yard.
Jaylinn Hawkins had an Interception of Cook for the lone turnover of the day.

The Bad

No sympathy for the Jets because the Patriots had to rely on their depth players with 7 starters not playing.
Mack Hollins injury and placement on IR didn’t affect the Patriots against the soft secondary of the Jets but it may when it comes time for the playoffs. He won’t be available until the AFC Championship game should they make it that far. Hollins should be given credit for the work that he has done with Efton Chism. His mentoring was acknowledged by Chism in his Press Conference.
Did Mike Vrabel put the hammer down on the Jets at the end of the 1^st half after a late hit on Drake Maye? I thought the hit was real cheap shot.
How bad is the Jets secondary? They don’t have a single interception through week 17.

The Ugly

On the dustup between Christian Barmore and Armand Membou at the end of the 1^st Christian Barmore stated “The play was already over. I heard the whistle blown. Bro came behind me and literally landed his whole body on my back. I could have got hurt. I’ve never been a dirty player.” I heard it described as a splash play like a belly flop on top of Barmore. I give Barmore credit for not getting a personal foul penalty after the play.
Missed Field Goal by Borregales was a negative. He needs to be solid if the team is going to move on through the playoffs.
There were too many missed tackles that allowed Breece Hall to run for 111 yards on just 14 carries. However, 59 yards came on one play with all backups in the lineup and Brenden Schooler playing Free Safety. Schooler took a horrible angle and missed the tackle.
Joe Thuney, who Bill Belichick let walk to Free Agency, won 3 AFC Championships with the Patriots and 2 Superbowls. He also won 3 AFC Championships and 2 Super Bowls with the Chiefs. KC traded him to the Bears this season. The Bears won their division, meaning that Thuney has played 10 seasons in the league, and in each season his team has won the Division. This was one of the worst mistakes Bill Belichick the GM ever made.

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About Mark Morse

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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