New York Jets: No moral victories this Monday night

After a very ugly 0-4 start, the New York Jets captured some excitement by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 24-22. Can this newly-found excitement last?

The New York Jets will be taking on the New England Patriots in the Week 7 finale. The Patriots are one of two undefeated teams remaining. Being 6-0 is obviously impressive, but we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the combined record of the Patriots opponents is just 10-23.

Additionally, the Patriots are currently first in the entire NFL in both yards and points allowed, but they have only gone up against very poor offensive units since their Week 1 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Perhaps the Jets’ biggest weakness is at the cornerback position. At the start of the season, the Patriots had Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon, and Julian Edelman. That trio would be hard for any team to stop, especially for a team like the Jets that has a slew of unreliable cornerbacks.

However, Brown is no longer on the Patriots roster, Gordon likely won’t play Monday Night and Edelman is currently dealing with a chest injury and likely won’t be 100% if he does play Monday. Because of all that, the Patriots may not be able to expose a big Jets weakness.

Additionally, perhaps the Patriots’ best defensive lineman, Michael Bennett, will not be active on Monday night following an argument with a member of the Patriots coaching staff.

This is very significant because the Jets offensive line has struggled all season and they can definitely use all the breaks they can get.

More from The Jet Press

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• NY Jets: 3 non-quarterback trade targets on offense
• NY Jets expected to be ‘much more aggressive’ in free agency this year
• NY Jets: Patriots will not use the franchise tag on Joe Thuney
• NY Jets officially place the franchise tag on safety Marcus Maye

Two key players on both sides of the ball for the Jets are Robby Anderson and C.J. Mosley. In seven career games against the Patriots, Anderson has averaged just 24 receiving yards per game while failing to score a touchdown.

Things won’t be getting easier for Anderson as arguably the best cornerback in all of football, Stephon Gilmore, will be lining up across from Anderson on Monday night. Is Anderson due for a big game against the Patriots?

As for the previously mentioned Mosley, he will be making his highly anticipated return this Monday night. Mosley has only played in one game this season, and his impact in that game was gigantic before leaving with an injury.

Undoubtedly, the biggest reason for this newly-found excitement surrounding the Jets is Sam Darnold. After missing three games with mononucleosis, Darnold played well in his return during the Jets win over the Dallas Cowboys.

The excitement Darnold has brought to the New York Jets is not supposed to be temporary, it’s supposed to last for the next 10-15 years.

There’s a reason why the Jets selected Darnold with the 3rd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. With a narrow-defeat this Monday night, many will take pride in challenging the defending Super Bowl champions who would also be undefeated.

However, at the end of the day in that scenario, the Jets would be 1-5 on and the Patriots would be 7-0. But, with a win on Monday night, the excitement around the Jets would only grow larger.