EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Patriots were skunked in the swamps of New Jersey on national television.
The Jets punished both Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye in a 24-3 laugher at MetLife Stadium, as the rookie made his NFL debut in garbage time. All told, the Patriots were out-gained 400 yards to 133 and the Jets held a 40:04 to 19:56 advantage in time of possession; it didn’t even feel as close as the final score indicated.
“We came out and got our ass kicked,” Jabrill Peppers said. “Plain and simple.”
Here are seven takeaways from a one-sided evening in Jersey:
1. Abysmal showing from the offense
All week, the Patriots talked about how they needed to push the ball downfield in the passing game. They proceeded to finish the first half with 11 net passing yards and eventually finished the game with three points on nine possessions.
“I don’t think we really did anything well to be honest with you,” Brissett said. “Hats off to the (Jets) defense. Their defense had a hell of a plan for us.”
New England’s offensive ineptitude on Thursday night could best be summarized by one drive in the third quarter. Facing a third-and-4 at the Jets 23 yard-line, New England’s offensive line was whistled for three straight holding penalties and none of them were ticky-tack. The first offset defensive pass interference, the second pushed them back to third-and-14, and the third was declined as they’d also given up a sack. After having the ball at the edge of the red zone, the Patriots wound up punting.
It was a mess.
2. Brissett takes a beating
Brissett’s toughness is undeniable. The veteran quarterback absorbed 10 hits and was sacked five times in 23 dropbacks, but still kept peeling himself up off the MetLife Stadium turf.
“I’m big man, I can take it,” Brissett said. “I’m always going to get back up. You know, that’s one thing about me. I’m always going to get back up, you know, and find ways to make plays, man, that’s what it comes down to.”
Though Maye made the garbage time cameo, it’s easy to see why Brissett has been running the show to start the season with the rookie watching from safe harbor on the sideline. David Andrews dubbed the quarterback hits the offensive line has been allowing “not sustainable.”
3. Maye’s debut is up-and-down
In his first action, Maye looked very much like the high-ceiling, low-floor prospect he was billed as.
The rookie’s first snap was an ill-advised throw that almost wound up a pick-six, but ultimately fell harmlessly incomplete. He had a couple quality throws to Pop Douglas — one was dropped — and converted a fourth down by fleeing the pocket and scrambling past the sticks. Maye was sacked twice, and the second was the final play of the game, stalling a drive on the Jets 7-yard line.
“I can’t take stupid sacks,” Maye said. “We were trying to get the quick game, trying to get the ball out, and I can’t take sacks in that situation. But at the same time, we got some first downs, moved the chains, I made a play with my feet and hit Pop over the middle, so got some good things to look at, at the same time.”
All told, Maye went 4-of-8 for 22 yards and carried the ball twice for 12 yards.
4. No QB certainty from here
Jerod Mayo, who had been firm in saying Brissett was the starter prior to Thursday night, was noncommittal when asked about the Patriots’ quarterback situation moving forward.
“I don’t know,” Mayo said. “We talk about it every single week. You’re competing for a job. So, we’ll get together as a coaching staff and see where it goes.”
5. Another bad week in the secondary
Four days after allowing Geno Smith to dice them up for 327 passing yards, Aaron Rodgers picked the Patriots apart once again. The 40-year-old Jets quarterback went 27-of-35 for 281 yards, throwing a pair of touchdown passes. Rodgers’ passer rating was 118.9 and his QBR came in at 81.8; it was too easy for the veteran.
“We just didn’t play well at all,” Peppers said. “Too many missed tackles. Missed assignments. Lack of hustle at times. Just super uncharacteristic of us… They had a good game plan and A-Rod was A-Rod tonight.”
6. Tackling is amiss
Normally one of the surest tackling teams in the league, the Patriots whiffed on 14 tackles on Thursday night. Raekwon McMillan missed an early tackle for loss that set the tone for the poor showing to come, and it was obvious the Patriots defense was missing captain Ja’Whaun Bentley.
“Very uncharacteristic,” Mayo said. “It’s one of the things I’m very disappointed in as a defensive-minded coach. Especially the second level we struggled all day as far as tackling. Once again, even when we tackled, we hit them in the backfield, just the lack of fundamentals, the lack discipline and the lack of just execution definitely continued to show up. That was very uncharacteristic for us, but once again you only get one opportunity to go out there and perform.”
7. Stevenson finally loses one
Rhamondre Stevenson has been playing with fire with his ball security this season, and in the Meadowlands, he finally got burned. New England’s best back put the ball on the ground for the third week in a row, and this time the offense couldn’t recover it. The fourth quarter fumble extinguished any chance of a Patriots comeback — slim as it may have been.
