Very little about this Patriots-Jets matchup is following the script
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 6 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious-but-lighthearted, often nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup that runs right here every weekend.
Or, welcome to Week 6, and what qualifies as the Jets’ Super Bowl. I wonder who they got to play the halftime show.
I’d apologize for the snark, but I wouldn’t mean it. It’s pretty much irresistible when it comes to the Patriots and Jets. Not just based on the lopsided rivalry of the last two decades, but on the perception of who they were supposed to be coming into the season.
The Patriots, defending Super Bowl champions and perceived winners of the offseason with the high-profile acquisitions of receiver Brandin Cooks and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, were supposed to be so rich with talent that a 16-0 season seemed closer to a possibility than a pipe dream.
The Jets? They were supposed to be the peasants of the AFC East, again. An 0-16 season seemed a plausible nightmare, though it at least would presumably allow them to spend the No. 1 pick in the draft on a hotshot college quarterback. Naturally, Hotshot QB would flop because that’s how things go for the Jets. Where have you gone, Richard Todd?
But none of this has quite gone according to plan. The Patriots, plagued by a defensive backfield with a collectively faulty GPS, have already lost two games. The Jets, inexplicably competent behind perennial replacement-level quarterback Josh McCown, have already won three games. And so they enter Jets Super Bowl week tied in the AFC East standings at 3-2.
It’s tempting to say that this is where the Patriots will begin to separate themselves from the Jets and the rest of the AFC East. And it probably is. But it’s worth remembering that the Patriots, no matter how superior they are to the Jets in a given season, often struggle against them in New Jersey.
On their home turf, the Jets have beaten the Patriots twice in their last four meetings, a 26-20 overtime win in December 2015 and another OT victory, 30-27, in October 2013. And the other two games have been tight. Last year, the Patriots won 22-17 in November, and in December 2014 squeaked out a 17-16 win. It’s rarely easy on the road against the Jets, even if it almost always seems like it will be.
Kick it off Gostkowski, and let’s get this one started …
Three players I’ll be watching not named Tom Brady
Jermaine Kearse
: The sixth-year wide receiver has never played for the Patriots, but as I’m sure you recall, he is a featured player in one of the most satisfying sequences in their history. Kearse was the Seahawks receiver who was poised to be the David Tyree of Super Bowl XLIX after his improbable catch, which seemed to ricochet off every one of his limbs before he secured it, put Seattle on the edge of a last-minute victory. Then fate and Malcolm Butler intervened, and Kearse went from being the fortunate potential hero to an afterthought. The guy is a pretty good receiver, though. The Jets acquired him from the Seahawks in the Sheldon Richardson trade in early September, and he has played well (22 catches, 220 yards, 3 touchdowns).
Jermaine Kearse has at least three receptions in each of the Jets’ five games this season.
Kony Ealy: Here’s Jets coach Todd Bowles on the defensive end: “’’He’s still adjusting, but he finds a way to make his plays and understand the defense with the little things he does. He has some nuances that, from an intelligence standpoint playing football, you just can’t teach that he already had. … And he’s fitting in quite well with all the guys.’’ Sounds like someone who would fit in perfectly with the Patriots, doesn’t it? It’s remains mystifying why Ealy, who was acquired from the Panthers in March and so unimpressive in training camp that he was waived in August, didn’t fit in here.
He had the opportunity, with Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long having moved on from last year’s roster, and yet it became apparent early in camp that he was not going to seize it. The Jets were quick to claim him when the Patriots waived him well before cutdown day, and as his coach said, he’s fit in very well, with the high point being four batted-down passes against the Jaguars two weeks ago. He’s dealing with a shoulder injury, but he’s expected to play. I’ll be curious to see if he plays well against the Patriots and their leaky offensive line after playing poorly during his brief time as a Patriot.
Dion Lewis: We’re getting there. The weekly plea in this space to utilize the dynamic if injury-prone running back more often in the running game has coincided with incrementally more usage in recent weeks. Two weeks ago against the Panthers, Lewis scored his first rushing touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter, when the game was tight and they were desperate to move the ball on the ground. Last Thursday against the Bucs, he had a season-high 53 rushing yards on seven carries. The seven carries were actually a season-high as well – his previous high had been four, which is just ridiculous given that he is easily the Patriots’ most complete back.
I suspect the Patriots are just trying to keep him healthy for when the stakes are highest. But is it too much to ask for, oh, a dozen touches this week? Give him that many and he might get you 100 total yards.
Grievance of the week
Great job by the Wall Street Journal uncovering Jane Skinner Goodell’s secret Twitter account (@forargument) that she used to anonymously defend her husband Roger, who you may know as the powerless assistant commissioner of the NFL to Jerry Jones. But given the grace in which she handled getting busted, she seems like a decent person with a sense of humor. And that’s my beef. You know any decent person with a sense of humor who somehow finds herself married to Roger Goodell must have at least another half-dozen secret accounts anonymously trashing him. (“UR right, he’s not even a lawyer! And I bet his hands are cold as ice!’’) You know, just to cope. We need to find those, people. Those are the ones with the real truths.
Josh McCown has passed for five touchdowns and thrown four interceptions.
Prediction, or which McCown brother is this again?
The Patriots seemed to get their communications issues straight against the Bucs two weeks ago, and with a few extra days for Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia to tinker since that Thursday night game, you’d hope that problem is fully resolved by now. The Jets, with 38-year-old Josh (Don’t Call Me Luke) McCown at quarterback, probably isn’t going to send them regressing. The Jets aren’t especially skilled offensively – if Curtis Martin announced a comeback Saturday, he might be their best running back Sunday – but their defense has the potential to be a nuisance. Rookie safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye have impressed, and while the defense has just seven sacks in total, it has been able to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. This one looked easier on paper when the schedule came out than it will prove on the field.
Patriots, 24-20.
