New England Patriots GameDay: Five biggest X-factors vs. New York Jets
The New England Patriots (2-0) have moved on from Antonio Brown and are moving on to the New York Jets (0-2) in a Week 3 AFC East matchup at Gillette Stadium.
Coming off a 43-0 beatdown of the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, the New England Patriots defense hopes to continue its dominant ways against a New York Jets team already on their third starting quarterback this season.
With Sam Darnold and backup quarterback Trevor Siemian both injured, the Jets enter the game with second-year quarterback Luke Falk as their starter.
This looks like a mismatch on paper with Falk going up against Tom Brady on the other side, the genius of Bill Belichick and a Patriots defense that has only given up 6 points in their last three games dating back to Super Bowl LIII.
However, with Le’Veon Bell running the rock and wide receivers Robby Anderson, Jamison Crowder and Demaryius Thomas as options, Jets head coach Adam Gase could find a formula to put some points on the board to keep the game a game with the talent on defense the team possess.
If the Patriots defense can’t contain Bell, the Jets can turn this into a physical slugfest as the defense will look to get after Tom Brady by testing his weakened offensive line that is now without left tackle Isaiah Wynn till later in the season.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Bill Belichick lauded the physical nature of that Jets defense:
"“That’s a very aggressive defense, they have a lot of good players. They’re a very physical group. They put a lot of pressure on you, so we’ll have to deal with that. Of course, Coach [Brant] Boyer in the kicking game – same thing there. That’s a group that has good speed, they have good size, they play very aggressively, good schemes, they do a lot of things in terms of the overall scheme that can cause you problems.”"
How to watch New York Jets vs. New England Patriots
Location: Gillette Stadium Foxborough, MA
Kickoff: Sunday, September 22, 2019 1:00 p.m. ET
TV: CBS (Check local listings)
Streaming: fuboTV
With the New England Patriots being heavy favorites in this game, the team must avoid letting the New York Jets hang around too long. Here are five X factors to defuel the AFC East rivals in this Week 3 showdown.