New England Patriots: 3 keys to striking down the New York Jets
New England Patriots 3 keys to victory
No. 3: Pressure Wilson early and often
It’s no secret that the Jets offense is relying purely on Wilson for production at this point. Their ground game was basically nonexistent this past Sunday, as they picked up just 45 yards total yards on 17 carries as a unit, good for a paltry 2.6 yards per carry.
Part of their struggles can be attributed to the Jets offensive line, which was just awful against Carolina. Not only did they fail to open up any holes for their running backs, but Wilson was also under duress all day long from the Panthers pass rushers. He was sacked six times in Week 1, and those six sacks ended up costing the Jets 51 yards.
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Wilson still managed to put together a pretty solid debut (20/37, 258 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT), but he struggled at dealing with the constant pressure Carolina was sending his way. It would be wise for the Patriots to attempt to implement the same strategy in their first meeting with Wilson.
Head coach Bill Belichick has become notorious for torturing rookie quarterbacks throughout his career, and you can bet he will throw a number of different looks Wilson’s way to try to throw off the rookie gunslinger. The Patriots only sacked Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa two times in Week 1, but they generally did a good job at collapsing the pocket on the second year QB.
A big difference between Tagovailoa and Wilson is that Tagovailoa is a much bigger threat to run than Wilson, and that will heavily impact the Patriots defensive gameplan. The Patriots didn’t really blitz Tagovailoa a lot on Sunday because of his threat to run, but that should be set to change against Wilson.
Expect Belichick to blitz Wilson throughout the day and challenge the rookie quarterback to make his progressions quick enough to get the ball out on time. This is something Wilson struggled with against Carolina, and you can bet the Patriots coaching staff took note of that. I’m not saying they will end up with six sacks, but expect the Patriots pass rush to have another good day going up the Jets and their weak offensive line.