FOXBOROUGH – The cracks are showing in the foundation. We’ll soon find out if the Patriots are going to break.
Jerod Mayo’s team enters this weekend’s divisional matchup with the Patriots in turmoil. After their disaster in London, people outside of Gillette Stadium were upset after the head coach called his team “soft.”
It remains to be seen how Mayo’s players will react to the challenge. If they respond well, the Patriots should have a better showing this weekend against the New York Jets. The last time these two teams played, the Patriots were blown out on Thursday night football.
Mayo’s comments, however, aren’t the only issue in New England. This week, multiple receivers said they were frustrated with their roles on the team’s offense. K.J. Osborn alluded to wanting to be traded for not playing many snaps. Kayshon Boutte is leading receivers in snaps played but is frustrated over his amount of target.
On top of that, Kendrick Bourne said players were staying out too late before the Patriots game in London.
All of these issues came to a head this week when captain Ja’Whaun Bentley addressed the Patriots, staff, and players, in a team meeting where he told them to look in the mirror. Bentley addressed “the elephant in the room” trying to help his teammates get back on track.
We’ll see if that’s possible this weekend. Here are five things to watch when the Patriots play the Jets:
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Toughness
Mayo said his players were “soft across the board” in London. His reasoning was easy to understand. For Mayo, a tough football team runs the ball well, stops the run, and covers kicks. The Patriots didn’t do any of those three things well against Jacksonville.
Will players use Mayo’s words as motivation or crumble?
We’re about to find out how ‘tough’ this Patriots team is. If players use Mayo’s words as a rallying cry and play a tougher and better branch of football then the coach’s message worked. If it gets even worse, it’s a clear signal that Mayo’s not getting through to his young team.
Drake Maye
This will be the toughest matchup for Drake Maye. He played well in his first NFL start against another tough defense in Houston, but the Jets are a different story. New York enters this game with the No. 2 ranked passing defense in the NFL. They’re allowing 164.7 passing yards per game. They also have one of the best pass rushes in the NFL. The Jets are sacking quarterbacks on 10.82% of their pass attempts. That’s the third-best mark in the league.
This would also be a good game for the Patriots receivers to step up. Several players have voiced their frustration this season. A good way to get back on track is to play well against a tough secondary.
The Patriots offense has been better with Maye under center. They’ll need to be better to upset the Jets inside Gillette Stadium.
Stop the run
As Mayo said, if the Patriots want to be tough, they must stop the run. This is a good week to try to do it. For the defense, that means trying to stop Jets running back Breece Hall. In Week 3, Hall ran for 54 yards, averaging 3.4 yards per carry against the Patriots defense.
However, since then, a lot has changed. Two weeks ago, Hall ran for 113 yards against Buffalo. Last week, he only ran for 38 yards against Pittsburgh but added six catches for 103 receiving yards. Since that Jets matchup, the Patriots run defense has allowed 148, 193, 192, and 171 total rushing yards.
We’ll see if they’re up for the challenge on Sunday. The Jets are currently ranked 31st in the NFL in rushing.
Running the ball
As Mayo said, if the Patriots want to show toughness, they need to run the ball. This season, the run game was supposed to be the Patriots strength. Well, in the last two weeks, Maye has led the team in rushing – and that’s not a good sign. Against Houston, the Patriots ran for 82 total rushing yards. Against Jacksonville, they ran for a season-low 38 total rushing yards.
This week, they go up against a tough run defense. The Jets are ranked 16th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (127.7). New York is also ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per carry (4.28). If the Patriots don’t want to be viewed as ‘soft’ they need to run the ball.
Covering kicks
The final piece of the Patriots toughness puzzle is special teams. As Mayo noted, tough teams cover kicks.
The returner, Xavier Gipson is one of the best in the NFL. This season, he’s fourth in the league in kickoff return average (26.1). His 140 punt return yards are the fifth most in the NFL. This season, the Patriots punt return coverage team is ranked 26th in the NFL, allowing an average of 12.7 yards per return. That number is inflated after Jacksonville’s P.J. Washington scored on a 96-yard punt return touchdown in London.
If the Patriots are going to show they’re tough, they need to prove it on special teams. We’ll see if that happens on Sunday.
Prediction: Jets 27, Patriots 17
