With Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season officially in the books, it’s time to flip the page to Week 2. For the New England Patriots, that means it’s time to move on from a tough loss against the Miami Dolphins, and begin preparations for their upcoming game against the New York Jets.
This will be the first time the Patriots hit the road this season, meaning it will be rookie quarterback Mac Jones first time playing in a hostile environment in the NFL. For the most part, Jones had a solid first outing, and even graded out as the best rookie quarterback in Week 1 by Pro Football Focus.
On paper, the Jets offer much less of a challenge than the Dolphins did. The Dolphins have tons of talent up and down their roster, and were a borderline playoff team last season. The Jets on the other hand are starting from scratch again after trading Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers this past offseason. Their latest project is 2021 second overall pick, Zach Wilson.
Even then, the Jets cannot simply be ignored. Wilson and the Jets had an up-and-down outing in Week 1, but showed the potential to be able to put together a solid offense that can move up and down the field. Their defense remains a work in progress, but then again, so does New England’s offense. Let’s take a look at three keys for the New England Patriots if they want to pick up a win over 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.
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.
No. 2: Establish the aerial attack
Mac Jones was a bigger part of the offense than anticipated against the Dolphins. Miami’s secondary is lethal, and the Patriots ground game was well equipped to have a big day against their front seven. But Rhamondre Stevenson was benched for most the opener after losing a fumble in the first quarter, and they found themselves trailing for most of the second half, meaning Jones was forced to air it out more than expected.
That won’t be the case this time around. Aside from safety Marcus Maye, the Jets secondary is quite inexperienced, and depending on how Jones plays, they could be in for a long Sunday afternoon this weekend. After a successful debut against Miami, the offensive gameplan against New York will revolve around Jones.
For reference, Jets outcast Sam Darnold spent his first start with Carolina picking apart the Jets secondary. He finished 24/35 for 279 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, although he did lose a fumble. This being the same Darnold that was caught on video claiming the Patriots defense was causing him to “see ghosts”. If he can cook the Jets secondary, anyone can.
The only player in the Jets secondary that has been in the league for more than two seasons in their free safety Maye. Their most experienced player after Maye is starting cornerback Bryce Hall, who in fairness, had a pretty solid debut against the Panthers. But even then, there isn’t much experience to go around in the Jets secondary, and you can bet offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is salivating over this matchup.
Jones should have the green light to air it out in this one. He was able to get Nelson Agholor and Jakobi Meyers pretty involved against a much tougher Dolphins secondary, and that trend should continue in this one.
Two tight end sets could also give New York trouble in this one too. They weren’t as effective as expected against Miami, but it was clear the Dolphins defense prepared for them in the week leading up to the game. Aside from Maye and maybe linebacker C.J. Mosley, they don’t really have anyone that can matchup with either of Jonnu Smith or Hunter Henry.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jones post his first career 300 yard outing against the Jets this week. If he can hit his targets like he did against the Miami, the Pats will have success moving the ball up and down the field all day on offense in this one.
No. 1: Limit the Jets passing game
As important it is for Mac Jones to succeed in this one, it’s just as important for the New England Patriots defense to slow down Zach Wilson too. Wilson showed that he has the ability to make some big throws when called upon in Week 1, and although he ended up falling short, he was on the cusp of leading a comeback for the Jets.
Wilson also did this without his full arsenal of receiving targets. Both Jamison Crowder and Keelan Cole were missing in action for Week 1, but it sounds like they will be ready to suit up for Week 2, presenting the Patriots secondary with a formidable challenge. Combine these two guys with Corey Davis, who exploded for two touchdowns in his Jets debut, and the Jets have a pretty decent group of receivers, assuming Wilson can find them.
The secondary had an inconsistent Week 1 performance against Miami. They covered well for the most part, but allowed too many chunk plays for DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle, and it ended up costing them. They will have to do a better job against the Jets top receivers if they want to come up on top.
Davis will most likely see a lot of J.C. Jackson in this one after his highlight performance in Week 1. Crowder is a renowned slot receiver, meaning Jonathan Jones will probably be tasked with shutting him down. That leaves Jalen Mills to lockdown the former Jacksonville Jaguars wideout in Cole.
For the most part the Patriots matchup with the Jets quite well on paper. Then again, we said the same thing for the Dolphins, and that ended up not going their way. The Patriots secondary will need to slow these guys down if they want to come out on top.
Something they can work on fixing is how they line up pre-snap. Their were multiple times where the corners were lining up a good seven or eight yards off the line against Miami, and Tagovailoa would just audible to a quick slant and pick up an easy 10 yards every time. That’s just a dead giveaway that you are running zone coverage, and before they could even get set the ball was out of Tagovailoa’s hands.
Obviously playing closer to the line won’t change everything, but it’s indicative of the lack of situational awareness the group displayed in Week 1. They cannot fall into those same habits against the Jets if they want to come away with a win. It’s widely assumed Jones will have a good day against the Jets, but if the New England Patriots secondary locks up Wilson and the Jets passing game, they should be able to win this game comfortably.