NY Jets: Scouting the New England Patriots ahead of Week 7

The NY Jets are back from their bye week, searching for their second win of the season against the New England Patriots, who just recently went toe-to-toe with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Jets return from their break with high aspirations, especially on the offensive side of the football, where the team has yet to record any points on five opening possessions thus far this season.

The coaching staff surely had to head back to the drawing board to apply an adhesive to some of these first-half woes, and it’ll be important to see if the glue can stick against a Patriots team that lives off of taking the early lead.

The Jets, much like the previous four weeks, weren’t particularly efficient in the first half versus Atlanta. New York was down by a score of 17-0 before notching on a field goal that would later help propel the Jets to score 20 points before losing by only a touchdown.

The score doesn’t indicate the Jets’ struggles on offense, but the team is hoping an early bye week helped mend some of the issues the Jets were facing with such young players around them.

The Patriots, led by first-year quarterback Mac Jones, will look to record their first home victory of the season against a Jets team that hasn’t won a regular season contest at Gillette Stadium since the 2008 season.

Yes, that statistic is correct.

Of course, the Jets would come out victorious in the 2011 AFC Divisional game. You could say that many fans of the green and white “Can’t Wait!” for Sunday’s matchup.

The NY Jets will look to bounce back against the Patriots in Week 7

The Jets will certainly look to continue to apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks, as they couldn’t record a sack against Matt Ryan in Week 4, although the pressure was still present for the majority of the morning.

If Week 2 proved anything, it’s that the Jets can be successful against a Patriots offensive line that surrendered three sacks, providing little to no help of keeping their rookie upright.

The Patriots’ run game, led by third-year running back Damien Harris, was certainly an issue for the Jets in Week 2.

Despite the Jets’ manpower in the trenches, they’ve ultimately struggled against the run for the majority of the season. This would be an ideal week to correct the mistakes and limit Harris to minimal gains on the ground.

Mac Jones isn’t one to air out the football all too often, but we saw a glimpse of his arm strength this past weekend against Dallas.

Trailing by a score of 26-21 with just two minutes left in the fourth quarter, directly after Jones lofted a pick-six right into the waiting arms of Cowboys’ standout defensive back Trevon Diggs, Jones let one rip for 40-some-odd yards down the field to wide receiver Kendrick Bourne.

Bourne then turned on the afterburners to make it a 75-yard touchdown after a devastating six points that went the other way. The Patriots ultimately ended up falling to Dallas by a final score of 35-29 in overtime, but not due to a lack of effort from Jones and the offense.

One key for the Jets that can likely help generate points on offense would be the emergence of first-year wide receiver Elijah Moore. Moore, who has just eight receptions for 66 yards through five games, needs to be more involved moving forward.

The bye week should have been enough time for the offensive coaching staff to look themselves in the mirror and reevaluate their usage of the all-purpose offensive weapon. Using Moore out of the backfield would be a nice start for a receiver who has been getting open time-and-time again.

Quarterback Zach Wilson, who has certainly had his ups-and-downs throughout these first five games, will look to improve post-bye as the Jets need him to be a bit more consistent on short-to-intermediate passing patterns.

The Patriots will look to take advantage of New York’s struggle to push the ball downfield through the air, so the Jets should come ready to prove Bill Belichick and their coaching staff wrong.

Wilson spent the bye week across the country, back in his home state of Utah, where he trained with his long-time quarterbacks coach John Beck.

This week gave players a chance to step away from the game, and as Robert Saleh reiterated in Monday’s press conference, “heck yeah” it’s important to have a moment to yourself.

It’s important for these players to spend time with their families and cherish the few moments they have with loved ones before heading back to the demanding grind of the NFL.