Patriots 2014 Opponents, 5 First Impressions of the Jets
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The Patriots and Jets meet for the 111th time on Thursday Night Football. (USA Today photo)[/caption]
The New England Patriots return home for another primetime matchup against their heated rivals, the New York Jets on Thursday night. Kickoff is slated for 8:25 p.m. The game will be broadcast by CBS with their top announcing crew of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms on the call. The Patriots will honor former CB Ty Law at half-time, Law was inducted in the Patriots team Hall of Fame on August 1.
The Patriots (4-2) won for the second time in a row with a satisfying but costly victory on the road against the Buffalo Bills 37-22 on Sunday. Tom Brady had a nearly flawless second half completing 15-17 for 274 yards and three touchdowns, finishing with 362 yards and four TDs on the day. The defense forced three turnovers and sacked QB Kyle Orton five times.
But the team lost MLB Jerod Mayo and RB Stevan Ridley to season ending injuries, each going down with serious knee injuries. Mayo especially is a tough loss as he’s a defensive leader that called the signals and was among an already thin group of linebackers.
The Jets (1-5) lost for the fifth game in a row at home against the Denver Broncos 31-17 on Sunday and now most of the New York tabloids are calling for coach Rex Ryan’s head. The Jets offense was stagnant as they could only must 31 yards rushing against the Denver defense and put the onus on struggling QB Geno Smith.
An aggressive defensive game plan held Denver to 24 points, giving the Jets one final opportunity to tie the game in the waning moments. But Smith was picked off by Aqib Talib who returned the pick for a touchdown to seal the game.
The Jets also lost two players to IR on Sunday, as CB Dee Milliner and G Brian Winters were both lost for the season. Milliner like Mayo is a particularly tough loss as the Jets were already thin at the cornerback position.
Series History: The two teams renew unpleasantries for 111th time on Thursday night and the first of two meetings between the teams in 2014. They will meet in the Meadowlands in December. The teams split their meetings in 2013 with each holding serve at home.
The series has been remarkably close since 1960 with the Patriots holding a slim 56-53-1 advantage all time. The Patriots hold a 30-25-1 edge at home over the Jets and since Bill Belichick took over in 2000, the Patriots hold a 20-10 edge overall.
As part of the lead-up to the game on Sunday night, we’ll have a detailed breakdown of the matchups later in the week, but here are Five First Impressions of the Jets:
Ryan Under The Gun: After arriving with much fanfare and bluster in 2009, coach Rex Ryan is now in danger of losing his job. Ryan got the Jets to the AFC title game in his first two seasons but after missing the playoffs for three years straight and now starting off 1-5, many in the New York media are calling for his head.
The sad fact of the matter is, Ryan has been undermined by GM John Idzik with a flawed team that is short on cornerbacks and especially at quarterback. And while sitting on over $21 million in salary cap space, it has to be particularly galling to Ryan.
Ryan did on Sunday what he always has done; he pulled out all the stops to slow down Peyton Manning and the high-powered Broncos offense. Dropping eight into coverage, rotating linebackers to the outside, all the while daring Denver to run and keep the ball out of Manning’s hands. But it wasn’t enough and now on a short week, he has to take his team on the road in a desperate game for him.
Jace Amaro Emerging As A Big Target: Lost in the flotsam of the Jets loss on Sunday was the performance of TE Jace Amaro. Amaro, taken in the 2nd round of the 2014 NFL Draft gives the Jets a viable TE threat that can be moved all over the field.
Amaro caught 10 passes on 12 targets Sunday, for 68 yards and a touchdown. The Jets moved him all over the formations against the Broncos searching for mismatches. And the 6’5 Amaro easily out-jumped the 5’10 T.J. Ward for his first NFL touchdown.
After watching Scott Chandler have a big game against New England on Sunday, look for the Jets to try to get Amaro involved early against the Patriots.
Geno Smith Struggling/Calling Out Media: On a conference call with Boston beat writers on Monday, QB Geno Smith called out the media for making things out to be worse than the situation appears in New York. Smith said, “obviously we haven't executed as well as we'd like. Those things are tougher than I guess what can be said and what is portrayed out there in the media."
With the offense struggling and Smith being under fire, the pressure is beginning to mount on the young QB as the 1-5 Jets are searching for answers. Smith cursed a fan a few weeks ago after a Jets loss and was fined $12,000 by the league. He then missed a team meeting in San Diego before a bad 31-0 loss, that was chalked up to just losing track of time due to the time change between East and West Coasts.
Like his coach, Smith is under the gun entering this week’s contest with the Patriots. He was replaced at half-time by Michael Vick recently due to the Jets offense being stagnant. Unlike Ryan however, he may not get another shot if he’s let go by the Jets. This will be a big week for him as well to turn the season around.
Jets Quickly Fill Holes on Roster, Sign G/Corner: With the injuries to Dee Milliner and Brian Winters forcing them to IR, it left the Jets with two big holes in their roster. But the team moved quickly and signed G Wesley Johnson off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers and CB Josh Thomas.
Johnson, a 5th round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, can play anywhere along the offensive line, was released to make room for Ross Ventrone. Ventrone was signed to fill in for injured STs player Shamarko Thomas. The thought was the Steelers would try to bring back Johnson but the Jets plucked him off the waiver wire.
Thomas was originally drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 5th round of the 2011 draft. He played for 10 games over two seasons for the Carolina Panthers before being released by them and the Seahawks this summer. He’s expected to play and back up CBs Darrin Walls and Philip Adams on Thursday.
Run Defense Looking To Rebound: The Jets have traditionally under Ryan been a tough defense to run upon. Last season the Jets finished third in the NFL in rushing yardage and were the top unit in terms of yards per attempt.
This season started off similarly, with the Jets only allowing an average of 63.25 yards per game thru the first four games. No opponent rushed for more than 88 yards in the first month of the season.
But the past two games, the Jets have allowed an alarming 162 and 138 yards on the ground against San Diego and Denver respectively. With a depleted secondary, allowing the running game to get untracked makes the play action pass game much more effective, something the Patriots have excelled in the past two games.
The Jets are looking for linebackers David Harris and Demario Davis to do a better job at filling the gaps this week facing a New England team that just lost its big, most physical back in Stevan Ridley.
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