New England Patriots: 5 observations from defueling of New York Jets

The New England Patriots suffered some injuries but extended their record to 3-0 with a 30-14 victory over the New York Jets Sunday afternoon.

It wasn’t 60 minutes of beautiful football, but the New England Patriots did what they had to do in defeating the New York Jets 30-14 Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

While Tom Brady and the offense did their thing in the first half by jumping out to a quick 20-0 lead, the Patriots defense continued to be the story of the game.

With Jamie Collins flying all over the place, the defending Super Bowl champions kept second-year quarterback Luke Falk and the Jets offense at bay the entire afternoon.

In fact, if not for a muffed punt off the hands of Gunner Olszewski and a pick-six off of Jarrett Stidham late in the game, leading both Jets scores, the New England Patriots defense would’ve held back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1982.

Still, a good win in the division, but Belichick has some things to get on his team about leading up to the Week 4 AFC East showdown against the Buffalo Bills:

"“I thought we did a lot of good things out there today. Obviously, there’s some mistakes we made, things we need to improve on so we’ll work on that and just get ready to grind it out here and head up to Buffalo. I thought we played competitively. We’ve just got to do a few things better and that’ll help us a lot. So, we’ll get back to work.”"

Here are five observations from the 30-14 defueling of the New York Jets.

5. Edelman will be okay

As one of the X-factors in Sunday’s matchup against the New York Jets, Julian Edelman was having himself a game.

With 7 receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown in the first half, the New England Patriots wide receiver was well on his way to a big game until he went down with an injury late in the second quarter after taking a big shot to the chest area from a Jets defender.

Edelman got up slowly from the hit and appeared to be pointing to his chest area.  After releasing Antonio Brown, this was the last thing Patriots fans wanted to see, but it appears he dodged a bullet as X-Rays taken after the game were negative according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

As tough as Julian Edelman is, it was concerning to see him exit the game.  More concerning is the New England Patriots wide receiver depth moving forward if the 33-year-old wide receiver misses any time due to the injury.  Josh Gordon, who we will talk about in the next side, also played through the game with injury.

Suddenly, that great depth the Patriots had just a week ago is a couple injuries away from having Phillip Dorsett as the No. 1 option for Tom Brady.

4. Josh Gordon is one tough receiver

As mentioned previously, with Julian Edelman exiting the game in the first half, Tom Brady had no choice but to rely on his big target Josh Gordon.

After suffering a couple of injuries, Gordon really showed off his toughness in the second half by hauling in two highlight worthy catches, including this catch deep along the sideline which really showcases why he is such a tough player to defend:

Josh Gordon finished the game with 6 receptions for 83 yards, a few bruises and some praise from his head coach, Bill Belichick.

"“Yeah, Josh has worked really hard since he’s come back,” Belichick said following the game. “He’s shown a lot of toughness. You’re right – he’s taken some hits over the middle. He’s a big, strong kid but he’s resilient and he’s shown a lot of mental toughness holding onto the ball and took a couple of tough hits.”"

That is one thing that is really standing out about Gordon.  We all know about his flash, but his toughness catching the ball in traffic is really impressive and will really be a value to the New England Patriots offense as long as he is healthy.

3. Running game still hasn’t gotten going

Perhaps it is the makeshift offensive line, but the New England Patriots running game really hasn’t taken off so far this season.

Entering the game with both fullback James Develin and versatile running back James White both inactive, it was predictable that the running game would struggle a bit against a physical New York Jets front.

Again, Sony Michel couldn’t get anything going gaining just 11 yards on 9 attempts.  He did score the first touchdown of the game, but the one flaw in the Patriots offense is the lack of production in the first three games of the season out of a player projected to be a top 10 running back in the league.

Certainly, something to watch with 2019 third-round pick Damien Harris waiting in the wings.

Michel’s lack of production is getting Rex Burkhead some more touches.  On Sunday, the versatile Burkhead (another predicted X-factor in the game) rushed for 47 yards on 11 attempts and a touchdown.  He also had 6 receptions in the game.

While Sony Michel struggles, it appears Rex Burkhead is becoming that player the New England Patriots thought he’d be when they signed him as a free agent.

Of course, health is playing a large role in that.

2. All hail to Jamie Collins

Could it get any better for Jamie Collins than Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins?

Last week, the New England Patriots linebacker combined for six tackles along with two interceptions, one going for a pick-six.

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Against the New York Jets, he combined for 7 tackles and 2.0 sacks.  He was also key to slowing down Le’Veon Bell, who only rushed for 35 yards Sunday.  Jamie Collins also nearly had another interception late in the second half showcasing his athleticism and overall awareness on the field.

With the way he has been playing since rejoining the team, it’s pretty safe to say that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is very happy to have him on this defense.

"“Jamie’s a good football player,” Belichick said in his postgame conference.   “We have a lot of good players on defense, but yeah, Jamie’s been a very productive player for us. He’s very smart, very instinctive, sees things extremely well. Can take the practice and preparation reps in the film room to the field and do the right thing and do it very quickly and decisively out there. Yeah, I’m glad we have him. He’s done a great job for us.”"

Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about extending Jamie Collins who is just on a one-year deal.  They do have some extra cap space after releasing Antonio Brown.

1.  Overall defense is still a work in progress?

Yes, the New England Patriots have only played the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, but what they have been doing on defense is still impressive.

In all, they have yet to give up a touchdown this season and have only allowed a total of 3 points in three games.

Both scores in Sunday’s game did not involve the offense.  A muff punt lead to one touchdown while a pick-six led to another.

Despite the play out of Jamie Collins, Chase Winovich, Adam Butler, Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty and basically the entire unit, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick still feels they aren’t where they need to be.

Pretty scary right?

But, it’s also a way for Belichick to keep his players humble and alert.  Here’s what he had to say following the 30-14 win:

"“I think we’ve played good team defense at times. There’s still things we need to work on and be a little more consistent at, things we can definitely coach better, but our players have prepared well, the communication has been good. We’ve tackled well which is key against a team like the Jets with a great back like [Le’Veon] Bell and some elusive receivers like [Braxton] Berrios and [Jamison] Crowder. Those guys are hard to tackle. The tackling’s been good. That’s been a plus.”"

It’s hard to imagine what the New England Patriots defense still needs to work on, but they also haven’t faced a real elite quarterback with viable weapons on the field.  The game against Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers was a test, but it’s starting to look like they weren’t the offense experts thought they were heading into the season.

Still, the Pats defense has been impressive.  In previous years, a quarterback like Luke Falk would’ve found a way to look like Dan Marino against the Patriots.

Yes, we’re nitpicking a bit.