Ghostly defense creates several opportunities for the Patriots

Coming off an embarrassing loss to the Bears last week, the Patriots needed a big win over their division rival on Sunday. As the offense continued to work through their struggles, the defense was able to wreak havoc nearly all game, even if the stat sheet makes it appear otherwise.

The Jets entered week eight on a four-game win streak stemming from the return of their quarterback Zach Wilson. Throughout the week, New York players proclaimed this game was a revenge game of sorts after suffering a blowout loss at the hands of the Patriots last season. The intention and hope was to even the score in the first matchup of the year with New England.

But that added motivation appeared to help through the first half only.

Much like the rest of the season thus far, the Patriots remain within reach of winning games because of the success of their defense. Despite not performing their best in this game, the adjustments they made from just six days ago were on full display. They were able to take advantage of Wilson’s weaknesses and turnovers to create opportunities for their offense.

Other than a garbage time touchdown scored late in the fourth quarter, the Patriots defense kept the Jets from scoring in the second half. The consistent bringing of pressure created a hostile environment for Wilson, leading the quarterback to morph back into the player the Patriots have seen in the past.

Although it’s said a win is a win, New England had to really work and make the needed adjustments to leave the Meadowlands with the W. The overall defensive effort was impressive, particularly in the game’s latter half. Still, a few players managed to stand out and significantly contributed to a Jets offensive shutdown.

The best of the Patriots’ defense on Sunday

Devin McCourty

The Patriots offense came out of halftime, ready to set the tone. In just six plays for 62 yards, Mac Jones helped lead the team down the field and capped it off with a touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers. As New England finally took the lead for the first time in the game, the defense was needed to keep the momentum from leaving their hands.

That’s when Devin McCourty came in.

On their third possession of the third quarter, Matthew Judon brought the pressure and forced Wilson to throw under duress. McCourty picked off what looked like a throw-away pass near the sideline, giving the Patriots offense the football at New York’s 40-yard line.

Unable to make anything of the turnover, the Jets offense quickly returned to the field as the Patriots went three-and-out. Although they could slowly move the ball down the field, the pressure became too much for Wilson again as he quickly became Sam Darnold circa 2019. Seeing ghosts on the field, Wilson forced another throw right in McCourty’s direction once again.

With two picks on the day, McCourty now totals 33 interceptions in his career, the most of any active cornerback in the league. It also puts him behind only Ty Law and Raymond Clayborn for most in franchise history, each totaling 36 picks in their careers.

Jabrill Peppers

With Kyle Dugger missing this game due to injury, Peppers took the field in his place. The day didn’t start the best for the safety, however, with a penalty for unnecessary roughness on what led to the Jets’ first score of the game. But when the team needed him the most, Peppers showed up in a big way.

After scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, the Jets were within a score of winning the game. Knowing an onside kick was coming, there was a lot of pressure on the team to either recover the football or not make a mistake and hand the Jets a chance to win the game. If successful, the Jets had no remaining timeouts, allowing the Patriots to run the clock and take knees to win the game.

Despite his limited time on the field this season and the numerous ways onside kicks can be disastrous, Peppers kept his eye on the football and immediately jumped on it and secured the win.

https://twitter.com/FTBeard7/status/1586810832230359040?s=20&t=Y9dZsZYS0vpv_QiBxJeNNQ

Pass rushers

The pressure put on Wilson throughout the game forced the quarterback to scramble and throw the football away several times, some of which ended in interceptions.

The first sack of the day came more than halfway through the fourth quarter. Judon applied the pressure allowing Lawrence Guy to take Wilson down for -12 yards. Josh Uche got the second and final sack of the day on New York’s next drive, bringing the quarterback down for -7 yards.

Dealing with a less mobile quarterback allowed the defense to show dominance in this game. Knowing how to rattle Wilson easily made this a much more productive day for the unit overall. The combination of pass rushers accounted for 24 hurries, with Deatrich Wise earning the most of them all with eight. It was an actual collaborative effort from all, which is reassuring given how much of the production from last week’s game came from Judon himself.

Matthew Judon

The stat sheet will tell you that Judon didn’t have his best performance of the day, but the box score can only provide so much of the story.

Despite not earning a sack in this game, he was all over the field once again. From rushing Wilson to make bad throws to defending passes and ending plays before they began. It demonstrated how to play the defensive end position in the NFL, proving the job entails much more than just getting to the quarterback.

Through eight weeks of the 2022 season, Judon has totaled 8.5 sacks and 39 quarterback pressures. He is currently tied in both categories for the lead in the NFL and has plenty of time to add to it even more.

Ja’Whaun Bentley

Another performance that may slide under the radar from this week, Bentley had quite a solid day in New York.

With the Jets’ recent pick up of James Robinson via trade, and given how much they’ve relied on the running backs this season, defending the run was a point of emphasis needed this week. Although it’s consistently been a weaker point for the Patriots’ defense, Bentley’s performance in that area was certainly notable.

His most memorable play of the day came on the Jets’ last drive before halftime. Courtesy of pressure from Judon and Peppers, Wilson panicked and overthrew a pass to Ty Johnson. Bentley tracked the ball perfectly and put himself in position to come up with the interception. The play gave the Patriots offense the start at New York’s 40-yard line, allowing them to get a field goal before halftime.