What experts are predicting for Monday’s Patriots-Jets game
Maybe we’ll find out just committed the Patriots are on Monday night.
As in, can Bill Belichick stomach a loss to the $%&#@*& Jets in order to help his franchise, long-term?
Laying down against the AFC East rivals would go a long way toward improving the Patriots’ positioning in next year’s NFL Draft. New England, currently sitting with the ninth pick, is only 2 1/2 games behind the 0-8 Jets for the rights to presumed No. 1 pick, quarterback Trevor Lawrence. A loss could throttle the Patriots into the top five, possibly putting them in the running for Ohio State’s Justin Fields or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance to become the quarterback of the future in Foxborough.
A win, as close as it might come to a slam-dunk for the 2-5 Pats this season, might drop them back into double-digit order.
Either way, it is one stinker of a game for Monday Night Football.
Having Patriots fans feel like they should be rooting for the Jets makes it even worse.
This week’s predictions:
Benjamin Hoffman, New York Times: Patriots (-7)
. “New England has been bad enough that a spread of 7 points seems outlandish, but opponents thus far have seemed to enjoy beating up on the Jets. If Cam Newton wants to prove a point about his health, it is hard to see Gang Green stopping him.”
Joe Giglio, NJ.com: Patriots (-7). “Come up with all the conspiracy theories you want on Bill Belichick, tanking and resetting for the 2021 season. I’ve never seen any coach detest losing more. Belichick won’t lose to Adam Gase.”
Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Patriots 23, Jets 13. “Used to be, this matchup held about as much intrigue as a game of Yahtzee. The winner was always a foregone conclusion. The Patriots have won eight in a row and 16 of the past 18, but these aren’t the same Patriots. These are the same Jets, though.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: Patriots 19, Jets 10. “The Monday night stage welcomes in a real stinker — but yet a rather delicious one! Granted, it takes a bit of Schadenfreude to fully maximize one’s viewing pleasure. Normally, Dead Man Coaching Adam Gase of the Jets would be plenty to enjoy as he pratfalls through what could be an 0-16 season. Ah, but Bill Belichick! Now we shall probe and dissect, in prime time, the public disintegration of the Patriots Dynasty in a sort of living autopsy of Belichick’s suddenly mortal facade. NYJ has lost all eight, but the Pats’ four-game losing streak seems oh so much worse. Alas, somebody gotta win.”
MMQB staff: Patriots across the board.
ESPN staff: All Pats.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: Patriots 23, Jets 21. “What a bad Monday night game this is for us. The Patriots have lost four straight, while the Jets haven’t won yet. They won’t win here either, but it will be close. The Patriots aren’t a good team either. Take the points.”
CBS Sports staff: All eight pick Patriots straight up. Six of eight pick Patriots -7
Jimmy Kempski, Philly Voice: Patriots (-7). “In my view, this matchup against the Patri*ts is the Jets’ best chance of winning a game. The Patri*ts are a bad football team now, so let’s all get used to that, but they should be able to handle the worst team in the NFL.”
Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: Patriots (-7). “The biggest indictment of the 2020 Patriots might be that they’re only laying a touchdown against one of the worst teams in modern NFL history.”
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: Patriots 23, Jets 10. “The Patriots don’t get the double-digit treatment against the Jets, as they have now lost four consecutive games since a 2-1 start. The Jets haven’t won anything this season and even when their efforts look better, they are not competitive. The Patriots are still playing hard for Bill Belichick and Cam Newton finally gets a defensive break here. New England is much more talented and disciplined defensively. It will simply run as much as it can with Newton and the running backs to shorten this game and end a skid in methodical, uninteresting fashion.”
Bill Bender, Sporting News: Patriots 20, Jets 10. “The Patriots have lost four in a row, and they have failed to score more than 21 points in a single game in that losing stretch. The Jets, meanwhile, haven’t scored more than 10 points in a single game in their last four losses. New England and New York quarterbacks have combined for seven TD passes and 18 interceptions this season.”
Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: Patriots 28, Jets 17. “Bill Belichick’s non-excuse excuse-making will not coax better performance from an overmatched roster. But it won’t matter on Monday night.”
Michael David Smith, Pro Football Talk: Patriots 24, Jets 20. “This Monday night game will not be a good one. The Patriots have their worst team in two decades, but they should still beat the Jets.”
Michael Hurley, CBS Boston: New England (-7). “How bad are the Jets? Let’s look at the scoreboard. The Jets have been outscored by 144 points this season. That is, obviously, worst in the NFL. The second-worst team? That would be the Cowboys, who have been outscored by … 81 points this year. The Jets are more than 75 percent worse than the second-worst team. Third-worst? Jaguars, at minus-66. The Giants (minus-54) and Texans (minus-51) round out the bottom five. The Jets aren’t even in the same stratosphere of the rest of the league’s bums. Truly incredible stuff from Adam Gase and Co.
Five Thirty-Eight: Patriots, 70 percent (-6).
Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com: Patriots 20, Jets 11. “This might be the Jets’ best opportunity for a win all season and their best chance to beat the Patriots since Ryan Fitzpatrick and Todd Bowles roamed the Meadowlands. The Patriots’ rush defense can’t stop anyone, but can Frank Gore or La’Mical Perine take advantage? The Jets’ pass defense, meanwhile, gambles way too much with way too little talent, but can Cam Newton and his merry band of undrafted receivers make the Jets pay deep? Both teams are dreadful in the first quarter and invite low-scoring games with their style of play, which makes this matchup the honorary NFC East prime-time game of the week, at least in spirit.”
NFL PickWatch: A whopping 99 percent are going with the Patriots.
It says here: Patriots 13, Jets 6. It’s going to take a lot of effort to lose to the Jets. Frankly, Bill Belichick just doesn’t have it in him.
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