The Jets defense had a less-than-stellar Week 2 as they gave up 30 points in the 20-point loss to the Cowboys.
Gang Green’s unit will try to shake off a subpar performance on Sunday when they play against a New England offense that has had issues of its own the first two weeks of the season.
“They really don’t have a complex offense, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner said about the Patriots offense. “It’s pretty simple for the quarterbacks to get.
“The gap scheme, everything is pretty simple, but they excel at it. What they try to do is get other people to mess up and make mistakes. They just do everything right.”
New England’s offense has struggled early in their losses against Philadelphia and Miami. The Patriots scored a combined zero first-quarter points as they fell behind 16-0 and 10-0 in both games.
During the offseason, the Patriots hired former Texans coach Bill O’Brien as their offensive coordinator. The team hired him to improve a unit that finished 26th in the NFL in yards [314.6] and 17th in points per game [21.4]. So far, through two games, the Patriots are 14th in yards per game. However, New England is only averaging 18.5 points per game.
Part of the Patriots’ issues offensively relates to their offensive line. Miami registered four sacks against Mac Jones and New England’s offensive line in its 24-17 loss at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots should receive a boost this week as left tackle Trent Brown has returned to practice after missing the game against the Dolphins due to a concussion he suffered in Week 1 against the Eagles.
Against the Cowboys, the Jets defense couldn’t get off the field. Dallas converted 9 of 18 third downs and ran 87 plays in the 30-10 victory against the Jets.
It also didn’t help that Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was only sacked once and completed his first 13 passes of the game.
“Same that you always see, very disciplined football team,” head coach Robert Saleh said about the Patriots. “Offensively speaking, they’re doing a really nice job of methodically moving the ball and playing good, sound ahead of the chains football, if you will, getting the ball in and out of the quarterback’s hands very quickly, they’re effective in the run game, so they’re doing a really nice job.
“They’ve played two really good defenses and felt like they were able to move the ball very well and then defensively, it’s the same, they’re very, very disciplined in coverage, they’re big up front, they play their style of football and they play it well.”
Despite the effort of their defense, the Jets were swept by the Patriots last season. Gang Green lost its first meeting against New England 22-17 after three Zach Wilson interceptions. The Jets defense limited the Patriots to just 161 yards through the air and sacked Mac Jones six times, but couldn’t overcome all the miscues.
The Jets lost their second meeting with the Patriots, 10-3, as New England rookie returner Marcus Jones ran an 84-yard punt back for the game’s only touchdown with five seconds left in regulation.
In their Week 1 victory against the Bills, Josh Allen turned the ball over four times against the Jets defense (three interceptions and one lost fumble).
“I’ve had a chance to play against this defense a lot, but they’ve done a great job,” Jones said about the Jets defense. “They affect the quarterback. They push the pocket.
“They’re relentless, they run to the ball, they do everything right. So, it’s a big challenge. For me, like I said, I’m going to focus on each play, regardless of the situation. I’m going to go out there and execute my job and hopefully bring everybody with me. I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen on film, definitely long, athletic guys across the defense.
“Definitely one of the — probably the most impressive team I’ve seen on film.”
Antwan Staley
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