Patriots win ugly, take down Jets in crucial week eight

The New England Patriots got back on track with their win against the Zach Wilson led New York Jets in week eight in an up and down fashion.  A win is a win, even for Bill Belichick and the Patriots.  After a rough start, the Patriots settled in a bit and the defense made life difficult for the New York offense.

In week eight, the Patriots took down the Jets by a score of 22-17.  Nick Folk added a whopping five field goals, and without Folks’ accuracy, the Patriots lose this game.  Early on, the game looked to be getting out of hand.  Long passes and bad penalties helped the Jets take an early lead.  However, as the game progressed, the Jets’ offense collapse and the Patriots’ offense ended up doing just enough.

Mac Jones had another iffy game, going 24/35 for one touchdown and one interception.  Rhamondre Stevenson continues to cement himself as the true RB1 in New England, rushing for 71 yards on 16 carries and adding 72 receiving yards on seven catches.

Damien Harris had just 37 rushing yards on 11 carries for a rough 3.4 YPC.  Jakobi Meyers continued to be Mr. Reliable, adding 60 receiving yards on nine catches.  Other than Stevenson and Meyers, no other pass catcher caught more than three passes, which came from Jonnu Smith who finished with just 10 yards.

The defense got better as the day went on, picking off Zach Wilson three times, and two by Devin McCourty.  Ja’Whaun Bentley also added a pick.  Two sacks on the game were added by Josh Uche and Lawrence Guy.  Jake Bailey punted four times for 163 yards, average of just 40.8 yards.

The Patriots have clear issues with their team on both sides of the ball, but the defense bent but didn’t break, and the offense just barely did enough.  Now at 4-4, the Patriots are still in the playoff hunt and get a game back on the Jets, who fall to 5-3.

With the Miami Dolphins winning, they also advanced to 5-3, but the division did get a bit tighter.