Instant Observations Following Patriots' Blowout Win over Jets in Week 7

The Patriots dominated the Jets on Monday Night Football. In case you missed it, here is what happened and what you need to know.

Author:
Max McAuliffe
Updated:
Oct 22, 2019 12:32 AM EDT
Original:
Oct 21, 2019

The New England Patriots keep their undefeated streak alive in Week 7, defeating the New Yorks Jets by a score of 33-0.

Lots of defense and some well-balanced offensive play helped New England come out with their 7th win in as many weeks. Let's go over some observations from the Monday night victory at MetLife Stadium.

Patriots came roaring out the gates

Fans could not ask for a better start to this game. The first half of football was complete and utter domination by the Patriots on both sides of the ball. Darnold looked like he did not belong on the field with the Patriots defense anticipating his every move. He would give the ball away three times in this half and the Patriots offense would be set up with several golden opportunities. The other quarterback, Tom Brady looked fabulous in the first half and tossed for nearly 200 yards in the first two quarters.

Good to have Watson back

Brady clearly remembers his old friend Ben Watson and must be happy to have him back. He served as a security blanket and a chain mover on key downs. Watson clearly is a trusted weapon to Brady and those are the kind of guys you need going into a deep playoff run.

John Simon can play Michael Bennett's role, if he were to be traded

John Simon had another good game tonight. He has been an underrated part of the defense this season and can give the team Rob Ninkovich-like production. If Michael Bennett were to be traded for philosophical differences with the coaching staff, John Simon would make sure this pass rush did not miss a beat.

An article this week discusses a possible Bennett trade for Falcons receiver Mohammad Sanu.

Running game and offensive line start strong; both lose effectiveness as game progresses

The game started with several nice running plays for good gains and the offensive line doing their job in run and pass protection. Unfortunately, as the game progressed the running game got back to their traditional one yard gains and the pass coverage for Brady became less than satisfactory. The interior line really struggled later in the game and Joe Thuney allowed Leonard Williams to swat at Brady's pass from behind. The ball landed in the hands of Trumaine Johnson, which was one of the only highlights the Jets had tonight.

The only plus from this group was the three rushing touchdowns at the goal line by Sony Michel. Ben Watson, Elandon Roberts, and James Ferentz all did good jobs blocking on those touchdowns. Both Roberts and Ferentz played fullback on those plays.

It's only a two man race in the AFC East

The Jets looked horrendous tonight. Bill Belichick could have registered a sack against this offensive line. The secondary looked helpless. Adam Gase and Sam Darnold looked as if they had no clue or answers for this defense. Even if they were to somehow win out, they would still have five loses under their belt. This team, that spent a lot of money during free agency, will have a seat on the couch come January. The only team the Patriots should worry about in their division are the 5-1 Buffalo Bills, who they already beat in their house.

Defense continues to roll

The Patriots pitched a shoutout tonight and created a laughable amount of takeaways. After the Terrence Brooks interception in the endzone, some fans started to question if this was really happening. Darnold threw four interceptions, three in the redzone, he also fumbled, and was under constant duress. The defense forced a safety off a bad snap while Darnold was backed up against his own endzone. Darnold finished with a 3.6 QBR and only 86 passing yards.

Jakobi Meyers continues to build chemistry with Brady

During parts of the preseason and beginning of the regular season, Brady and Meyers had limited reps together. They looked out of sync at times. Meyers went one way and Brady threw to a spot, with Meyers no where to be found.

Now, they are building chemistry and the undrafted free agent is taking full advantage of his increased workload through all the receiver injuries. He seems to be improving each game and has now had two back to back games where he has been a good target for his quarterback. He now has eight catches in the last two games and 97 combined receiving yards. That is pretty solid for an undrafted free agent, ideally playing as the fifth guy on the depth chart upon N'Keal Harry's return. Be excited for him.