NFL Thoughts; Can the Pats Stop the Jets Running Game

Week Eight Thoughts…

• We are getting closer to having more backup quarterbacks starting than starters starting. Some of that is due to poor play, but most are due to injury.
• Welcome aboard, James Robinson!
• They were already etching the name Breece Hall on the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year trophy.
• Hey, didn’t you used to be Mac Jones?
• I love that they had a segment where great coaches talked about Mumbles Belichick passing George Halas on the NFL’s all-time win list, and he promptly went out and got his ass kicked by the Bears.

• If I had to pick which team is more likely to turn things around and make a run – the Bucs or the Packers, I’d ask for a none-of-the-above option.
• If the Jets defense left the field, the Broncos
  would score a touchdown two plays later.

• Mahomes is scary good.
• There should be an impressive number of high-profile retirements after this season.
• Not even Jet fans can understand what life is like as a Detroit Lions fan.
• If the playoffs started today, the Giants and Jets would be the five seeds in each conference.
• Somebody on the Yankees just swung and missed at strike three.
• Not in love with this thing where the ball carrier gets stopped and the rest of the team gets behind him and pushes him forward for more yards. It’s hard enough to play defense in this league without piggy back rides being legal.

• Christian McCaffrey is going put up some video game numbers in the Niners system.

Our Heroes in Green

There you have the highs and lows of the NFL season in one game. Winning a second straight road game in a tough building should feel great. The season ending injuries to Breece Hall and Alijah Vera-Tucker take the wind right out of the sails of victory.  Hall was on his way to rookie of the year. Hall is 10^th in the league in rushing, and if he didn’t get injured, he would probably would have moved up the 7^th on the league’s leading rusher list. Trading for James Robinson helps take some of the sting out Hall’s loss, but neither Robinson nor Michael Carter can do what Breece Hall can.

On the bright side, the Jets are 5-2.  It’s their best start since 2010 and they are a playoff team if the season ended today.  The defense was stellar once again.  The Jets haven’t given up more than 20 points in their last four games and have held their last two opponents to ten points or fewer.

This week the Jets return home to host the Patriots.  The Pats were steamrolled on national television by the lowly Bears on Monday night. The Jets would love to copy the Bears blueprint for success in New England. The Bears only needed 147 yards passing to get the win. That will fit the Jets just fine as Gang Green continues to struggle in the passing game. The Jets only managed 105 yards through the air in Denver. We can assume the Pats will spend this week trying to patch the holes in their rushing defense, which was embarrassed by Chicago to the tune of 243 yards. The Pats figure to fill the box against the Jets and make Zach Wilson win the game. The scheme will be the same for the Jets who will want to put the pressure on either struggling Mac Jones or rookie Bailey Zappe to make enough plays to win. The Jets should find running room against New England even if Belichick stacks defenders near the line of scrimmage. The Pats just aren’t good enough to throttle the Jet running game. It should make life easier for Wilson who should be able to use the play action pass to find success in the air. The team with more balance will win Sunday. It should be the Jets who have more on both sides of the ball right now.