It’s Thursday September 19 and we have a play in the National Football League tonight! We head out to the Meadowlands as the New York Jets play host to the New England Patriots in an AFC East clash. Below I will breakdown the matchup and who or what I have my money on tonight. So let’s dive in… see you in the DEEP WATERS!!!
Both of these teams are 1-1 to start the season. The Patriots came into the year with a new head coach in Jerod Mayo replacing the legendary Bill Belichick. Expectations were not high for this team coming into the season, but in week 1 they went into Cincinnati and shocked the Bengals for an undefeated start to the season. In week 2 they hosted the Seahawks and were handed the first loss of the season. As far as the Jets, they came into this season with high expectations and a lot of media picking them to win the AFC East. However in game 1 they got smacked on the road in San Francisco and rebounded with a nice win at Tennessee last week. They have their home opener tonight against a division rival and it should be an interesting one.
New England has performed better than expected by many in their first two games. Coming into this year with a new head coach, a Top 5 rookie quarterback and not a ton of skilled guys on offense, they were looked at as a bottom five AFC team. Well so far, the defense has been good like the past few seasons and the offense has been adequate. They elected to start Jacoby Brissett as QB1 over rookie Drake Maye. He hasn’t been good but he has not been terrible either, allowing New England to establish the run and let Rhamondre Stevenson carry the ball, control the clock, and do his thing. The interesting thing for tonights game is the injury report for this team on offense. Starting Left Tackle Vederian Lowe is out, Starting Left Guard Sidy Sow is out, Center David Andrew’s is questionable, and the starting Right Tackle Mike Onwenu is questionable. When 4 of your 5 offensive lineman are either out and or questionable, it is already a HUGE issue. When 4 of your 5 offensive lineman are out or questionable and your only way to attack another team is control the line of scrimmage and run the ball, it is a DISASTER. I really do not see against this Jets front 7 how this offensive line holds up, and if David Andrew’s doesn’t go at center this could get ugly.
The Jets came into this year with huge expectation’s and the media is to blame for this. For whatever reason a very popular pick was the Jets to win the AFC East over the Buffalo Bills and even leaping the Dolphins. This of course, was all dependent on Aaron Rodgers staying healthy this year. I personally was not buying the hype, although I definitely think they can make the playoffs if Rodger’s stays healthy and is just consistent, but to dethrone the Bills all because of a 40 year old QB off an Achilles injury staying healthy was the only domino, not buying it. The defense is still very solid and I’ve been a big fan the past few years. Like, can you imagine how bad this franchise would’ve been these past 3 to 4 seasons without a great defense… yikes! Most of those pieces are still in place and I expect them to fly around tonight against a less skilled Patriots offensive unit and a beat up offensive line. Offensively I still see that offensive line as a problem, but it is not a glaring issue like the years past. They have a very strong run game with Breece Hall, who can also catch out of the backfield and an absolute stud at wideout in Garret Wilson. This unit has been inconsistent the first two games but that was expected. Let’s not forget, Rodgers had 4 snaps last year with the first team offense and no preseason snaps this year. It will take some time to not only gel in game but for him to get the rust off. Overtime, I think this unit will be fine, never elite, but definitely above average.
For tonight’s game, I have to put my money on the Jets giving 6. I’m backing the Jets -6 because not only do I think they are the better team on both sides of the ball, but with those injuries to the offensive line of the Patriots, I do not see how they consistently move the ball. The Jets have their home opener with a 1-1 record in a year with huge expectations. This is a franchise statement game for them to move forward. You struggle at home against a Patriots team that is not as talented as you but also beat up, then the narrative of the same old Jets continues. You blast an injured AFC East foe and then all of a sudden you pick up momentum and the buzz goes towards this might be a good year. I’ll take the Jets to handle business and if the Patriots stick around with an injured offensive line, then I’ll tip my hat and take the L.
OFFICIAL PLAY: New York Jets -6 1.1 units to win 1 unit
