The New England Patriots travel to MetLife Stadium to take on divisional foes, the New York Jets. The Patriots return from their bye week after an ugly, ugly loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 10. The bye week allowed them to regroup, rehab and return to form ahead of their matchup with one of the worst teams in the league this year.
New England Patriots vs New York Jets, Part One Bold Predictions: Closer Than We Think?
A One-Score Game
The Patriots have not beaten the Jets in their first meeting of the season by more than seven points since 2011 when they won 30-21 at home.
Yes, the Patriots are nine-point favorites against the Jets this week. But history tells us that the Patriots beat the Jets by a less-than-satisfying margin in their first meeting, have a bizarre game against the Buffalo Bills and then struggle against the Miami Dolphins on the road. It’s AFC East science.
Rookie savior-to-be Sam Darnold has been ruled out for this week’s game against the Patriots with a foot injury. That means that the Patriots are taking on the aging journeyman Josh McCown. While that, frankly, does not make a lot of difference in terms of how effective the Jets offense will be, the Patriots also have some questions on the offensive front.
Rob Gronkowski will finally make his return to the field after missing the last few games, but another important weapon, Sony Michel, was limited all week with his nagging knee injury and had a questionable designation on Friday. On the pass-protection front, Marcus Cannon is also questionable to start this week, and the primary blocking tight end Dwayne Allen has been ruled out against the Jets.
Consider betting the under.
But Gordon Goes Over 100
This one is less of a bold prediction and more of an actuality. Robert Foster hit 100 yards against the Jets with Matt Barkley under center for the Bills.
Josh Gordon has been a magician after the catch this season, despite his struggles to actually catch the ball. Tom Brady has been strangely reliant on Josh Gordon in recent weeks. Perhaps, inappropriately reliant. Saying that Gordon will lead the team in targets is a hard prediction to rest on, especially given the fact that Julian Edelman and Gronkowski will both be on the field with James White this week.
But the presence of these established Brady-favorites on the field will be a boon for Gordon. Do the Jets double-cover Gronk? Do they double-cover Gordon? Do they keep eyes on both Edelman and White? Brady will have a handful of options at his disposal, and Gordon’s skills after the catch will put him up over a buck for the third time this season.
Unfortunately, Gordon’s inability to catch the ball consistently is going to contribute to several stalled drives that result in a much closer game than we would expect from the Patriots at this point in the season.
Brady Gets Further from the 1,000-Yard Rushing Mark
The Patriots will not trail after the first quarter in this game. Despite the Jets making this a relatively close game, New England will have the game well in hand when the fourth quarter begins to wane.
It will be too close of a game to bring in Brian Hoyer to take the final snaps, so Brady will do the honors himself, taking the final knees to end the game. Instead of being four yards from his career 1,000 yards rushing mark, Brady will end the game five or six yards away from the benchmark. Fans will have to wait until Week 14 or 15 to celebrate the milestone.
