Patriots Fend off Jets Riding Three TD Game by Maye, Short Week Ahead
This Week 6 AFC East showdown had New England pulling out the win 26-19 over the Jets, extending their record to 19-2 over the last ten years when playing the Jets. Yet again, the Patriots fail to escape unscathed, losing offensive linemen Morgan Moses (Ankle), Ben Brown (Knee), and Alijah Vera-Tucker (Hamstring). In addition to the O-line losses, WR Romeo Doubs went down (Shoulder) after scoring his 42-yard touchdown and was added to the IR on Monday. At this rate, the increasing injuries are worrying, especially entering a short week Thursday night matchup with the Bears.
Even with the injury riddled line, Drake Maye delivered his third consecutive game with at least three touchdown passes. Despite the touchdowns, Maye (18/32, 235 Yards) postgame stated, “It was sloppy ... It wasn’t football that we felt like (was) complementary.”
He also gave credit to the line, “Those guys are playing through injuries, we had three go down today. They’re fighting their butts off, and it goes through them.”
In the receiver room, DeMario Douglas led the way again with seven catches, 86 yards and a touchdown although he did lose a fumble. Hunter Henry and Romeo Doubs caught the other two touchdowns. A.J. Brown, in his highly anticipated return, had an underwhelming performance with only three receptions for 27 yards and three drops on his 10 targets.
In Vrabel’s postgame press conference, he echoed Maye's lack of satisfaction, stating they “just didn’t play very well” and “tried to beat ourselves, but we made enough plays in critical situations to help us get through today.” In addition, on WEEI Vrabel voiced his concerns once again about ball security issues after more fumbles and dropped passes week in and week out stating, “We turn the ball over at a historic rate, it’s ridiculous, it’s an embarrassment.”
To the satisfaction of the team and Patriots fans, the defense had CB Christian Gonzalez return from his shoulder injury. The defense was efficient on third and fourth downs allowing only 3-10 and 0-2 respectively, while also holding the Jets to 0-3 on touchdowns in redzone trips. Elijah Ponder continues his streak now of five games with at least a sack and a half, proving to be a force off the edge now being inside the top five league wide for sacks. Outside of Charles Woods’ first career interception, which was also Geno Smith’s first thrown this season, the game was rather lackluster, but a win is a win.
The Patriots have another challenging game ahead of them on Thursday in Soldier Field vs. the Bears. Both teams are 4-2 coming into Week 7 with the 5th and 7th ranked total offense. This game will truly be a battle of which defense can make big turnovers and stops on 3rd and 4th downs, along with containing the other team's dual threat QB. Bears’ QB, Caleb Williams, in his first game back from injury last week completed 30/36 passes for 305 yards with one touchdown. He will pose a challenge for the New England defense containing him in Ben Johnson’s scheme.
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This matchup should have the same primary game plan as last week offensively, keeping Maye clean in the pocket long enough for him to make MVP plays against a Chicago defense allowing 24.3 (23rd) points per game and 363.7 yards per game (29th). Since Maye’s turning point in the last three games, he has 11 touchdowns and one interception, compared to one touchdown and 6 interceptions in the first three. The task of protecting Maye falls upon Will Campbell (playing through injury), Walter Rouse, Jared Wilson, Caleb Lomu, Matt Pryor and Demetrious Crownover, being the only “healthy” linemen.
My Take:
The main concern I have for the Pats in this game is the offensive line holding up against a strong Bears run defense. The offense has to establish the run and once again keep the pocket clean for Maye. Many fans last week were quick to call out Brown’s catching issues, but a bounce back game could be in the cards for him. Doubs being added to IR leaves many targets and opportunities on the field in his absence. DeMario Douglas will also be looking to add to his back-to-back touchdown scoring performances, with possible increased usage in the slot. BetMGM has the Bears as –3 point favorites coming into this Thursday Night Football showdown in Chicago, I have the Patriots winning their 4th straight game in a shootout with a final score of 31-28.
My Record: 2-2
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