3 Matchups To Watch in Patriots' Week 17 Game vs. Jets
2021 is finally here, but the New England Patriots still have to resolve their 2020 season.
New England has been complete strangers to the concept of a meaningless game for the past 20 years, at least in terms of standings. But the Patriots will play their second in a row when the New York Jets come to town Sunday.
PatriotMaven is breaking down the three most important matchups before every game all season long, with Sunday’s season-finale against the Jets next up on the slate.
Marcus Maye vs. Jakobi Meyers
Maye spent the first few years of his career as the second-best safety on his team.
With Jamal Adams gone, he's the main man in town, and he's a big-time disrupter who could cause problems for New England.
Maye has logged career highs in every major statistical category this season with 78 tackles, 11 passes defended, 3.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
Maye is a pure free safety who has the range of a center fielder and a true nose for the ball. He'll typically line up deep and disrupt any long ball thrown his way, but he has good vision and can contribute in the run game and on screen coverage as well.
Due to his position, he likely won't draw a one-on-one matchup with any single Patriot come kickoff. With Devin Asiasi not getting very many targets at tight end and without a true threat outside the numbers, it's difficult to predict who Maye will be tasked with neutralizing.
The only player resembling a deep threat on New England's active roster is Jakobi Meyers, who has averaged double-digit yards per reception in eight of his last 10 games. While Maye likely won't cover Meyers a lot in man-to-man situations, he'll certainly make it difficult for quarterback Cam Newton to find him downfield.
Breshad Perriman vs. J.C. Jackson
The last time these two faced off, Jackson got cooked.
The young cornerback still managed to pick up a key interception in the fourth quarter, but that came on an ill-advised deep shot to Denzel Mims. For most of the night, Jackson was getting torched by Perriman.
It started with a 50-yard touchdown that put the Jets up early, when Perriman simply turned on the Jets and left Jackson in the dust. Joe Flacco – who was playing in place of the then-injured Sam Darnold – found Perriman for the score.
Late in the third quarter, Perriman shook Jackson at the line and broke his ankles, getting wide open for a 15-yard touchdown that made it a two-score game.
Jackson is fresh off another beating at the hands of Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs, so he'll certainly be looking for a bounce-back performance. It just so happens to be coming against a wideout who torched him almost two months ago, so Sunday's game will show whether or not Jackson has grown as a defender in the ensuing weeks.
Cam Newton vs. Jarrett Stidham
The quarterback controversy has been simmering for months, but it might finally reach a boiling point in Foxboro come Sunday afternoon.
Newton is averaging 103 passing yards per game over his last five appearances, tossing just one score in that span compared to his three interceptions. On the season, Newton has twice as many picks as passing touchdowns, and he has gotten the hook in multiple games this season because of that.
The former MVP's struggles could certainly continue against a Jets defense that forced Baker Mayfield into three fumbles and 5.4 yards per attempt last week in an upset win.
Stidham's 52.4 percent completion percentage in his last three games is even worse than Newton's, but his 87.8 passer rating is better than anything Newton has produced since mid-November.
He hasn't shown to be a world-breaker, but a meaningless game and struggling starter could open the door for Stidham to get more than a few drives of garbage time this time around.
