Throughout the offseason, NewYorkJets.com reporters Eric Allen, Randy Lange, Jack Bell and Amanda Vogt will give their responses to a series of questions regarding the Jets.
Today's question: What's the Recipe for a Jets Win in New England?
EA: One of the biggest discrepancies between the Jets and the Patriots is in the turnover department. Through five games, the Jets are plus-3 in turnover differential, which ranks tied for sixth in the NFL. The Patriots are tied for 27th, with a - minus-5 differential entering Week 6. Each clubs have 6 takeaways, but the Jets have given the ball away 3 times while the Pats have turned it over 11 times. Geno Smith is one of three starting QBs (Jared Goff and C.J. Stroud are the others) who have 0 INTs and Pats QB Drake Maye is tied for a league high with 7 INTs. If the Jets are winning that battle Sunday in Foxborough, they will be in position to pull out a divisional win on the road. After racking up 8 sacks against the Browns, the Jets will take aim at an offensive line that will miss two starters in LT Will Campbell and RG Mike Onwenu. QB Drake Maye is a dual threat and he's been productive against the blitz, but I think the Jets can cause some problems by winning one-on-one matchups and with simulated pressures. I'm highlighting the individual matchup between Maye and Jets S Minkah Fitzpatrick, who's back to his ball-hawking ways. The Pats have a strong defense, but the Jets have moved the ball on the ground the past two games with Braelon Allen. Smith, no stranger to the Pats, will look for a road win in New England for a third consecutive season with a third team.
AV: The Jets will need to rely on a strong secondary against the Patriots and QB Drake Maye. The Green & White have the NFL's fourth-ranked passing defense allowing 175 yards through the air per game on average. According to Next Gen Stats, the Jets have allowed 430 downfield passing yards this season, the seventh lowest among all other defenses in the league. Over the past three weeks, Maye was 24-of-43 passing for 525 yards in his downfield pass attempts (10-plus air yards) and last week against the Raiders, he threw 2 TD passes over 30 yards. The Jets have remained formidable in the backfield, limiting opponents' explosive plays and CB Azareye'h Thomas leads the team with 5 PD. He has made a play on the ball on 23.8% of targets faced, the 11th-highest mark among outside corners in the NFL with a minimum of 100 coverage snaps and has allowed just 0.5 yards per snap this season, the ninth fewest (NGS). Despite starting the season 1-2 with losses to the Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars, the Patriots have won their past two games. The Jets turned things around against the Browns in the rain and will need to continue relying on their defense, especially on the road. Getting New England off the field efficiently will be pivotal if the Jets want to defeat their AFC East rival.
RL: Don't use many of the ingredients the Raiders did in their 45-17 loss to the Patriots at Gillette last week. For instance, on defense, don't allow Drake Maye and the offense to get a head of steam en route to 6 TDs and 536 yards on offense. Stay with the formula that worked vs. Deshaun Watson and Cleveland: a large helping of rookie David Bailey off the edge and pressure coming at the pocket from multiple directions and positions. Offensively, don't run the ball like Vegas (2.1 yards/carry), which means more Braelon Allen, while Breece Hall remains sidelined, to soften the Patriots' defense. Then find Garrett Wilson as always and toss with throws to TEs Mason Taylor and Kenyon Sadiq (Brock Bowers had 8-110-1 last week). But like the Silver and Black, do take care to protect Geno Smith so he can protect the ball (still no INTs) and move the chains. Take advantage of the TO margin if possible (Jets are still plus-3, Pats minus-5). And add some dashes of Isaiah Williams, off a strong punt-return outing vs. the Browns, and Kene Nwangwu, getting his feet back under him after his injury, in the return game. Believe in the recipe, which is complex, and the results could be tasty.
JB: A way for the Jets to conjure a win at Gillette Stadium and thwart the Patriots home cooking is for HC Aaron Glenn, the play-caller on defense, to again dial up an innovative, flexible and unpredictable scheme on to counteract a resurgent New England (3-2) offense. It's the first AFC East tilt of the season for the Jets (2-3), to be followed by another one -- Miami on Oct. 25. "We're five games in, six games in," WR Garrett Wilson said. "There's a premium on this one because it is our first one, and I don't know how to exactly put it, but it's a big-ass game." Pats' QB Drake Maye has snapped out of his early-season funk in the past two games, hitting on 11-of-18 passes (61%) on deep balls with 3 TDs and zero picks. The Green & White defense, No. 4 overall (293 yards per game) and No. 2 in yards allowed per play (4.62) in the NFL through 5 games, has successfully limited the explosive plays (430 passing yards downfield) as the D-line has turned up the pressure -- the unit, led by rookie David Bailey's 3 sacks, had 8 total in the win over the Browns. Glenn called 22 blitzes on 44 pass attempts, which resulted in 4 sacks and kept a third opponent to fewer than 200 total yards. The Jets' DBs were the beneficiaries to the D-line's tenacious play last week as slot CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr., and CBs Brandon Stephensand Azareye'h Thomas (5 PDs), along with veteran safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Dane Belton limited Cleveland to 155 passing yards. Plus, New England's offensive line that will be missing two starters in LT Will Campbell and RG Mike Onwenu. An extra pinch of aggression up front is the recipe to limit Maye and for the Jets to climb back to .500.
