We are gathered here today to celebrate the demise of the 2024 New York Jets, who have now lost five straight games, three of which have come after firing Robert Saleh, and their defense has been notably worse in every area post-partum. Not even taking out Drake Maye (on a helmet-to-helmet hit where no flag was thrown) saved them, as Jacoby Brissett, in his place, put together the fourth quarter of his career, overcoming a myriad of drops by his pass catchers and was still able to make tremendous decisions to help the offense put up 11 points on their final two drives.
You simply hate to see it for a team that gave the keys to the proverbial asylum to a raging narcissist in Aaron Rodgers, who brought in all of his friends for a Super Bowl run that's now over before October even ends. It's not that this was a perfect game for the Patriots to win their second win, but I've said this before, and I absolutely will again. You can crush the first round of the 2022 draft with hits on all three of your picks. You can trade for and sign all the marquee players you want and put together one of the best defenses in the sport. At the end of the day, the uniforms are green, they play (on the outskirts of) New York, and the helmets have J-E-T-S on the sides. As long as that's the case, they're the same loser organization from top to bottom that they always have been. Sayanora; will not be missed, and I hope Fireman Ed is a joyless husk of a man today.
Now that the eulogy is over, I have some film notes and other items to offer.
How Bad Teams Remain Bad
We can make fun of the Jets for many things, but Aaron Rodgers' command at the line of scrimmage is about 35% of the reason the Jets lost this game. Jeff Ulbrich had to burn four total timeouts, all of his first-half timeouts in less than 13.5 minutes, to avoid delay-of-game penalties, with Aaron Rodgers including two on his own, most notably on the two-point conversion try in the fourth. I figured the first was intentional for getting a better punt, but according to Connor Hughes from the Jets beat, he saw Rodgers and Garrett Wilson talked on the sidelines, with Rodgers clearly upset beforehand. That certainly felt like a good time to go for it. That certainly felt like a good time to go for it, and like in many instances, there was zero sense of urgency out of most of the Jets huddles, which falls completely on Aaron Rodgers.
Here's a look at the late two-point conversion try. Just watch Rodgers' body language for the duration of this video (for context, there are about 10 seconds on the play clock when New York breaks the huddle. Not great!!!).
Again, I just want to reiterate this. This was a two-point conversion which would've pushed this into a seven-point game; a big play, if you will. Rodgers already put the Jets behind the 8-Ball, taking forever to get the play call in, and then there's simply zero energy or urgency from him at any point in this clip. Absolutely pathetic on his part, and there were more than a few cases of this. He's supposed to be the leader of this team, and his bitchy and passive-aggressive attitude set the tone for this offense all game. I guess "The Greatest Thrower of a Football Ever" (MJ Hurley's words, not mine, and also a lie) didn't get the memo that the Jets needed a win.
We can get into the Greg Zuerlien misses that hurt them, the Jets' losing contain on Drake Maye on literally every snap he took, and the majority of the Jets' defense quitting on the Patriot two-point conversion, but this game for New York feels like the culmination of a half decade's worth of bad decisions coming home to roost. You just hate to see it—not me, though. This is almost as good as watching the Yankees lifelessly dragging themselves along in the World Series.
Gave 'Em a Chance
While the final numbers as a cornerback weren't great for Marcus Jones, I thought he gave Garrett Wilson a ton of competitive cover snaps, and he certainly wasn't getting beat because of a lack of effort. That, however, is not what I'm discussing here. His punt return was maybe the biggest play of the entire game because afterward, the Patriots outscored the Jets 18-9, and Jacoby Brissett played his best half of football in multiple seasons. In just a fraction under 30 minutes of work, Brissett completed 14 passes for 129 yards, was willing to push things downfield, and played as mobile as he has all year. But we have to talk about this play by Brissett because I'd put this up with any clutch throw that's been made all year.
This is the clearest example there was of Brissett looking way better in all aspects of being a quarterback. By the time he hits the top of his drop, this ball is either going towards Kayshon Boutte, or Brissett is getting drilled for a sack thanks to a well-schemed six-man blitz where the Jets send a safety but drop Jemien Sherwood in coverage. Kendrick Bourne probably would've been open on that far side, but Brissett would never have had time to come off his first read, and he delivered an absolute gem. Looks like old friend Jalen Mills (No. 35) realizes this one is going Boutte's way just a hair too late, but Brissett does a great job of getting this ball in a spot where only his guy could get it. A gutsy throw to a guy who had some drops beforehand but was cash money when they needed him the most and staring down the barrel of a sack at that. Here's the endzone view.
Even on some plays before and after this, I thought Brissett hung in super tough in that second half, making plays that he probably wouldn't have made in Weeks 1-5. That scramble drill play being one of them speciffically. This is the version of Jacoby Brissett I was expecting to have once he signed. Even if it's only for this week, he showed up big-time when this team needed him and gave the Patriots a chance to win, which is all you can ask for. Tough and gritty doesn't even begin to describe it, and I'd feel way better about him starting vs. Tennessee than I would've at halftime on Sunday. Also, go out of your way to iso on Hunter Henry stonewalling Will McDonald here. How about that on tape on National Tight End Day?
(Almost a) Complete Game Shutout
The only catch that Christian Gonzalez was tagged as "allowing" was Davante Adams' grab right before triple zeros in prevent. Outside of the two prevent snaps he took, where he's trying to ensure he doesn't go over the top or get out of bounds, I have Gonzalez down for 19 cover snaps on Adams with just two targets, zero catches, and a PBU down by the goal line. That was not what I was expecting coming into the week, figuring that he would stick with Garrett Wilson on a near full-time basis, but Gonzalez was someone who's taken some heat over these last two weeks and nailed on home turf in a rivalry game. Unreal level of compete and composure from a kid who's still only 22 years old. Speaking of that PBU, here's Gonzo getting coached up by Mike Pelligrino before that play even happens, and then our first real evidence that he indeed has emotions after the breakup.
Is Vederian Lowe Simply Legit Now?
I believe I touched on this earlier last week, but Vederian Lowe feels like a massive development for the Patriots as of late in an admittedly small 2.25-game sample size (vs. Miami, Houston, and New York). Watching things back, especially in the fourth quarter, I thought he came up pretty big as a pass protector, and while not perfect (I'd double the number of pressures PFF credited him for), he had a ton of competitive snaps against a pretty good pass rush group, even having a couple of clear wins against Quinnen Williams in the fourth quarter; one of which is on the Boutte completion, and here's the other
I can't say that I can see him being a long-term fixture at left tackle for this team, one way or the other, but the bottom line is Lowe has objectively looked great since Week 5 and was a big part of this win—worth highlighting. It was a very good game.
Final Score: New England Patriots 25, New York Jets 22
Gaffney's Three Stars from Patriots-Jets II
3rd Star - Christian Elliss (9 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Pressures, 1 Sack, 2 QB Hits, 1 PBU)
2nd Star - Jacoby Brissett (15/24, 132 Yards, 0 TDs, 3 Carries for 11 Yards)
1st Star - Christian Gonzalez (Held Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson to a combined 0 Yards on 22 Cover Snaps (19 on Adams) and 2 Targets, PBU)
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