New England Patriots vs New York Jets: 5 Biggest Takeaways
By Hal Bent
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Bringing the Heat:
As part of the secondary’s strong play, the Patriots got a strong performance against the Jets from their defensive line. With Malcom Brown benched in the first half for being late for a meeting during the week, the Patriots were already down one pass rusher early in the game. Add in linebacker Dont’a Hightower–one of the best blitzing inside linebackers in the league–held out of the game with a knee injury and getting pressure was a question mark.
Whoops. Forget about that being a problem.
The Patriots’ defensive line and linebackers controlled the game from the first snap. After defensive end Trey Flowers on first down and defensive tackle Alan Branch on second down stuffed Bilal Powell to bring up a third and long, defensive end Chris Long burst into the backfield to notch his fourth sack of the season.
On drive number two, the Jets saw quarterback Bryce Petty under heavy pressure and sacked on first down with defensive end Jabaal Sheard (five sacks in 2016) and Branch split the sack. After an incompletion, cornerback Malcolm Butler had his first interception of the game and the pressure from up front had set the tone for the day.
A quick caveat: Brandon Shell, Dakota Dozier, Brent Qvale, Wesley Johnson, James Carpenter, and Ben Ijalana. Other than Carpenter, there is not an NFL caliber player in that group of Jets offensive linemen.
That said, the Patriots’ defensive front took advantage of what was in front of them on Saturday and dominated. This may not have been a playoff team, but the Patriots’ defense kept their opponents from reaching the end zone for two straight games.
The defense will have a stout test against a strong Miami offense on Sunday, but once again the defense was strong having only allowed three touchdowns in four games in December.