Seven Takeaways From Patriots’ Ugly Primetime Loss To Jets

Thursday night was the only scheduled primetime game for the New England Patriots this season and it’s clear they didn’t belong in the bright lights.

The Patriots turned in an all-around lackluster performance as the New York Jets had their way to hand New England a 24-3 loss at MetLife Stadium.

Here are seven takeaways from the Patriots’ defeat, which dropped them to 1-2 on the young season:

Patriots need tackling lesson
Tackling was a strong suit from New England’s defense in the first two games, but not against the Jets. Patriots defenders routinely missed chances to bring down Jets playmakers, which allowed them to turn modest gains into chunk plays.

New England’s inept tackling was glaring on New York’s first scoring drive in the opening quarter. Raekwon McMillan had a point-blank shot in the backfield on Jets running back Braelon Allen on the first play of the series, but instead of McMillian dropping him for a loss, Allen blew past the linebacker for an 11-yard gain. Allen Lazard made a fool out of Patriots cornerback Alex Austin when the Jets wideout took a quick pass from Aaron Rodgers, made a little move past Austin and went into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown. Jonathan Jones also had a poor tackling performance.

Patriots need new defensive car with Bentley in the shop
Ja’Whaun Bentley’s absence can’t go understated in New England’s rough defensive showing. Bentley is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a torn pectoral in a Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, and it’s clear the Patriots missed him.

Jahlani Tavai and McMillan tried to fill the void and while they were the top two tacklers for the Patriots, they were overmatched. The Jets tore them apart as they played outside their role. Tavai and McMillan are nice complementary pieces, but not players to center a defense around. McMillan made just one start in three seasons coming into this year. Tavai also picked up a foolish unnecessary roughness penalty on New York’s first scoring drive of the game.

Patriots offensive line looking like matadors
The Patriots offensive line continued to be a sieve and it didn’t help matters that the unit isn’t at 100%. Caedan Wallace got his first start at left tackle with Vederian Lowe out and the rookie got a rude welcoming from the Jets front seven. Wallace got burned in the first half for a sack on Jacoby Brissett and was called for holding that denied a pass to Austin Hooper, who would have set up the Patriots inside New York’s 5-yard line midway through the third quarter.

Brissett took a beating as he was sacked five times and hit a total of 10 times. Who knows how much longer Brissett can withstand this type of punishment and New England’s offense won’t flourish even a little bit until its offensive line is fixed.

Patriots bring out the best in Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers didn’t exactly look like a four-time MVP in his first two games back from an Achilles tear. But the Patriots defense helped change that.

Rodgers was surgical, picking apart New England’s defense over and over again with the Patriots having no response. Rodgers completed 27-for-35 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns. The 40-year-old quarterback found the matchups he wanted and exploited them, especially finding tight end Tyler Conklin five times for 93 yards. Rodgers also was strong throwing off-platform and was critical to the Jets by helping them cover 10-of-15 third downs to keep drives alive.

Patriots give Drake Maye a shot
Drake Maye got his first NFL action as he relieved Brissett with 4:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and the game out of hand. It was a little bit of a puzzling decision to put Maye in, especially due to New England’s offensive line woes.

Regardless, Maye threw the ball on his first snap and nearly got it picked off. He took a good shot from a Jets defender on a 1-yard scramble a couple plays later and completed his first pass to Antonio Gibson on a screen, but it went for no yards. Maye ended up completing 4-for-8 passes for 22 yards and also had two rushes for 12 yards. He was sacked twice, too.

DeMario Douglas gets what he wants
DeMario Douglas was non-existent in the Patriots’ loss to the Seahawks as he didn’t receive a target. The Patriots did a better job of getting him involved against the Jets as the diminutive 5-foot-8 slot receiver flashed what he can provide to the offense.

Douglas tallied seven receptions on nine targets for 69 yards and also had one rush go for nine yards. His longest reception went for 22 yards. It’s a performance Douglas certainly can build off of and he showed continue to see increased targets because he feels like the only receiver who can create separation one-on-one.

Patriots offense needs new recipe
The Patriots offense, one which wants to establish the run, never got on track as evidenced by Rhamondre Stevenson only taking six carries for 23 yards in the game.

At halftime, the Patriots only accumulated four first downs and 40 yards compared to the 17 first downs and 252 yards the Jets collected. New England’s big-play potential just isn’t there and the Patriots can’t sustain long drives either, making it a slog to put points on the scoreboard. The Patriots averaged just 2.9 yards per play, which as you could have guessed, paled in comparison to the Jets 5.7 yards per play.