The New York Jets will be looking for their second straight win against the New England Patriots, when the bitter AFC East rivals meet in Foxborough on Thursday night.
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New York Jets (1-5) vs. New England Patriots (4-2), Thursday, October 16, 8:30 PM. ET.
The Jets overachieved last season when the expectations were low, and are currently underachieving with high expectations. They started the season with an impressive victory against the Oakland Raiders, and gained 212 yards on the ground.
In their next game, they had a first half lead over the Green Bay Packers, but couldn’t close out the game, and have struggled offensively and defensively since then.
The Jets had one of the best defenses in the league last season, and were supposed to be better this year, but they have had to deal with some injuries, which have affected their play so far, with players they were counting on to contribute significantly, like Dee Milliner missing three of the team’s first six games, and is now expected to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles tear.
Offensively, the Jets identity has always been running the ball, which is something they did a lot of their first three games. In their last three games, the team has fallen behind early, which has forced them to abandon the run, and forced them to be one dimensional, putting added pressure on Geno Smith, who is still learning how to play the position and struggles at times in games.
The Patriots have been the class of the AFC East for the past decade, and were supposed to have some competition in the division this season, especially after their season opening loss to the Miami Dolphins. Despite the loss to the Dolphins, they are still on top of the division, and just defeated the Bills, who were tied with them for the division lead convincingly on Sunday.
Tom Brady and the offense struggled at the beginning of the season, and he had only 4 touchdown passes through the first four games of the season. They seem to have finally settled into their groove, and have scored 80 points in their last two games, with Brady throwing 6 touchdowns in those games.
The offense suffered a huge blow this week, when they lost their leading rusher Stevan Ridley to a season ending injury, and they will rely on Shane Vereen to carry more of the rushing load for the team.
On Defense, the Patriots are one of the best teams in the league this year, they allow opponents to score 21.5 points per game, which is the 11th best scoring defense in the league, their pass defense allows opponents to throw for 208 yards per game, which is the 4th best in the league, and the weakest link is their run defense, which allows opponents to run for 111 yards per game, which is the 14th best in the league.
The defense also suffered a major injury this week, and has lost leading tackler Jerod Mayo for the rest of the season due to injury. His presence will be missed, but injuries are part of the game, and the Patriots will have to make adjustments and hope somebody steps up to make up for Mayo’s production.
Game Line: The Patriots are favored to win the game by 9.5 points, the Over/Under is 46.5 points.
Personal Pick: The Jets haven’t played well lately, but Rex Ryan knows how to get the most from his players when their backs are against the wall, and will lead the Jets to victory in this game.
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