Patriots ‘running up the score’ against Jets was awesome

Fresh off a gut-wrenching loss at home to the Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots needed to demolish the New York Jets on Sunday.

While the Pats were desperate to improve to 3-4 on the season and any win would’ve sufficed, you kind of got the feeling that Bill Belichick told his players to go out and beat their division rivals to a pulp.

That’s … exactly what happened. When the fourth quarter clock showed zeroes, the Patriots hung 54 points on the Jets’ defense.

Typically, when a team puts up that many points, there’s generally a defensive and special teams touchdown thrown in there to make the scoreline look much more lopsided. Not in this case.

All of the Patriots’ 54 points came from their offense, which was still taking deep shots up 41-13 with less than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter!

The Patriots ‘running up the score’ against the Jets on Sunday was a sight to behold.

Look, anytime you have a chance to sweep a division rival for the sixth-straight season, you simply have to embarrass them in doing so. And let’s get this straight: there’s no such thing as “running up the score” in the NFL. You do whatever you have to do to win, and you give your young players every opportunity to take shots.

The Jets, coming off a bye, looked as though they were partaking in their first full-padded practice of training camp. Zach Wilson had no time to throw (and eventually left the game with a knee injury) and their overachieving defense had no answers for Josh McDaniels, who finally realized that it’s OK not to coach scared.

Mac Jones completed nearly 67% of his passes and threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his career. The rookie tossed two touchdowns, and could’ve had more, but the Patriots scored four rushing scores from inside the five. Those were shared amongst Damien Harris and JJ Taylor, who notched two apiece.

For the first time this season, New England got all of their playmakers going in one game. Five pass-catchers finished with over 40 receiving yards. Brandon Bolden (!) led the way in that regard with 79 yards and a score.

Literally the only thing missing from this game was a defensive or special teams TD, though it was nice to see JC Jackson and Kyle Dugger nab interceptions.

The Patriots needed a win like this, folks. The offense needed to be reminded (or taught) that they can score points in bunches. And to do it against the hapless Jets made it all the more sweet.

Belichick will surely deny any mention of “running up the score,” but the Patriots could have easily taken their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter after they went up 41-13. On a different day, Belichick probably would’ve called off the dogs.

Given the magnitude of this game (and the opponent), though, it’s easy to see why he didn’t tell his offense to let up.

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