New England Patriots vs New York Jets: 5 Matchups to Watch
By Hal Bent
Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan vs Brandon Marshall and Quincy Enunwa
Last week the Patriots’ secondary once again stepped up after a strong performance slowing down the deep passing attack of Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens. After facing the feisty Steve Smith the previous week, Malcolm Butler had another tough test against the shifty, strong, and explosive Emmanuel Sanders.
Butler shut him down throughout the game (although other cornerbacks would find themselves in coverage of him as well–particularly late in the game as New England backed off and played more of a prevent defense). Per NESN stats, Butler allowed just one completion on three passes his way in coverage for just 21 yards.
Actually, all the New England cornerbacks had strong outings against the Broncos including third cornerback Eric Rowe. Rowe started slow but played better as the game went on and had a key pass breakup in coverage of Demaryius Thomas.
The biggest play of the game was by cornerback Logan Ryan. As Denver was driving early to take the lead, Ryan stepped in front of a pass intended for Sanders and returned it 46 yards into Denver territory. The interception set-up the only touchdown of the game.
The New England secondary has a different match-up this week as the Jets’ wide receivers are a group in transition. The Jets clearly miss injured wide receiver Eric Decker who gave them a solid one-two punch at the position. Quincy Enunwa–a solid third option–has had to move up the depth chart and simply does not bring the same consistency.
Enunwa was the biggest threat in the first matchup between these teams burning New England for 5 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Marshall added a touchdown as well early in the game but he was kept from making too many big plays against the Patriots’ secondary.
Beyond those two, the Jets struggled to incorporate any other receivers: running backs Matt Forte and Bilal Powell were bottled-up in the passing game and youngsters Robby Anderson (huge fumble in the game) and Jalin Marshall (two receptions for six yards) did little. New York had to go outside the box targeting tight ends four times and a deep pass to C.J. Spiller (who was wide open, dropped the pass, and was cut shortly after the game).
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With Ryan Fitzpatrick on the bench as New York sees what they have in Bryce Petty at quarterback, Marshall has clearly been effected on the stat sheet with the lack of targets his way as Petty has fed the ball to the second-string receivers. Marshall–after a quiet game versus San Francisco–was targeted 11 times versus Miami and had just one reception for the game.
A shutdown performance on the bigger receivers (Marshall and Enunwa) with Eric Rowe and Logan Ryan could free up Malcolm Butler to bully the younger receivers of the Jets and create some key turnovers. This is a key match-up to watch on Saturday as the Bill Belichick defense again attempts to befuddle an inexperienced passing attack.