3 Keys to a Patriots victory in Week 3 vs. Jets
It’s Jets week in New England. That means rehashes of Bill Parcells, “HC of the NYJ”, SpyGate, and Rex Ryan. That’s all off the field and in the past and as we all know the only thing that matters is what happens in between the lines. Let's get to what I think are the New England Patriots' three keys to victory against the New York Jets.
1) Get strong play out of depleted offensive line
This pretty much goes without saying, but obviously protecting Tom Brady is always the number one key for the Patriots.
The Patriots could be without both their starting Week One tackles in Marcus Cannon and Isaiah Wynn and are already missing their starting center for the year in David Andrews. Cannon missed Week 2 vs the Dolphins after suffering a shoulder injury in the season opener. It remains to be seen if Cannon will play this Sunday. Wynn was recently placed on injured reserve with a toe injury and he will be out for at least eight weeks. Wynn missed all of last year with an injury and now will miss a chunk of time this season which will hurt his development as a franchise left tackle.
New England is no stranger to revolving doors on the offensive line. But they have two key factors in covering up any potential holes 1) They have arguably the best offensive line coach in history in Dante Scarnecchia 2) The mind of Tom Brady. Brady, with his ability to read defenses and get the ball out quick to Julian Edelman and the running backs, can help mitigate any issues the offensive line might have.
2) Another elite outing for the defense
I know it's only been two weeks and they haven't really played any top flight offenses with top flight quarterbacks yet but the New England defense looks scary good. They have only given up three points all year and haven’t given up a touchdown since the last few minutes of the last AFC Championship vs Kansas City.
The linebackers, led by Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins, have been a force. The secondary sticks to receivers like glue and Stephon Gilmore looks to be one of Bill Belichick’s best free agent pick ups ever. The Jets are down to their third string quarterback in Luke Falk after losing Sam Darnold to mono and Trevor Siemian to a gruesome ankle injury Monday night vs the Browns. New England is on a roll defensively and I look for it to continue Sunday.
3) Antonio Brown, Antonio Brown...Antonio Brown
For better or worse, Antiono Brown has been the talk of New England and the football world in general. Now, I’m not saying the Patriots need a big game from AB to beat the Jets, but it will be key for Tom Brady and Brown to continue to build the chemistry. They had the touchdown on a beautiful back shoulder throw from Brady but they also missed a few connections that I expect will be figured out very soon.
It's Brown’s first home game as a member of the Patriots, so it will be interesting to see the crowd’s reaction when he steps onto the field. I have a feeling he will get a big applause since it seemed like he got one down in Miami when it became Gillette South vs the Dolphins.
