Bye Week Thoughts; Jets vs Pats Up Next

Our Heroes in Green

Please place your tray table in the upright and locked position.  How sweet was that! A big defense and a power running game gave the Jets their biggest win in recent memory.  After falling behind 14-3 before the midpoint of the second quarter, the Jets allowed the high-powered Bill’s offense just 3 more points for the rest of the game.  MVP front-runner Josh Allen was picked off twice by the Jets, and the Bills were held to just 183 yards passing, easily their lowest output of the season.  The league’s leading offense was held to just 317 total yards on the day, over 100 yards below their average on the year.  Offensively, the Jets plowed through what was the NFL’s third-ranked defense for 174 rushing yards. The Jets have now won five of their last six games.

The Jets go into their bye week with an extra week to prepare to avenge their most disappointing effort of the season.  The trip to Foxborough on November 20^th comes just three weeks after the Jets laid an egg at home against the Patriots. In that matchup, the first without Breece Hall in the lineup, the Pats held the Jets to just 51 yards on the ground and intercepted Zach Wilson three times. Those numbers clearly can’t be repeated if the Jets want to avoid a season sweep by New England.

The Jet’s offense needs to have its best game in several weeks in New England. With both teams stout against the ground game, the team that finds more yards in the passing game will have a distinct advantage. The Jets need to spend the bye week focusing on getting more from their passing game. The Jets have more talent at receiver than the Pats, but New York has struggled to be productive through the air. In their next game, the Jets will need Zach Wilson to play his best game of the year.  The Jet defense sacked Mac Jones six times in the last meeting. The Pats will surely spend a good amount of time in the week leading up to the game adjusting their protections. Coach Saleh and the defense will need to have a few new wrinkles in the game plan.

With Miami and Buffalo favored in their upcoming matchups, a loss in New England off the bye would likely drop the Jets from second to last place in the division. Such is life in the ultra-competitive AFC East. The highs of Sunday’s win would be a distant memory if the Jets fall flat in New England and land in the cellar in the division. On the bright side, the New York Jets have a meaningful game in November…a meaningful game in week eleven of the season.  How long has it been since that were true?

The pressure to play well is a welcome change.

Nick Ferraro

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