Guregian: Patriots’ life-and-death struggle with Jets still not encouraging

Even as a two-win team, this was going to be a telltale game for the Patriots.

The Jets were the worst team in the league. No wins, no hope. Adam Gase’s team had absolutely nothing going for them.

That is, until the Patriots showed up.

Losing to the Seahawks, Chiefs, Broncos, 49ers and Bills is one thing. Losing to the Jets would have been another.

It didn’t happen.

The Patriots finally won a game on the final drive, with Nick Folk kicking a 51-yarder as time expired to give the Patriots a 30-27 win.

They finally got over the hump, overcoming a 10-point fourth quarter deficit. Cam Newton delivered like Superman, and Jakobi Meyers was his fellow superhero with 12 catches for 169 yards. Meyers’ final catch set up the game-winning field goal.

“Just shows the character of the team. Just battling. Fighting,” said Rex Burkhead. “It shows the strength we have. We’re not going to quit. We’re not going to lay down.”

No, they didn’t roll over, and that part was certainly encouraging.

But even though they escaped, even though Newton was an absolute stud finally delivering in the clutch, it’s still hard to feel good about this team going forward.

Sure, it was a great win. But the opponent really takes away most of the style points. But this is who they are, a team that struggles to beat the bad teams.

The performance of the defense was most troubling, the secondary in particular.

Joe Flacco picked them apart, piece by piece. The Jets’ backup quarterback completed 18 of 25 passes for 262 yards. The most passing yards the Jets had in a game previously was 156 yards.

“Defensively, we didn’t play well in the passing game. Just wasn’t one of our better performances,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said after the game. “Fortunately in the fourth quarter, we had the interception, had a stop, got the ball back, so we kind of salvaged it a bit, but we gave up too many yards, too many points in the passing game.”

Because of the defense, the Patriots were almost on to 2021. They almost completely kissed the season goodbye. But they still have life, even if remote with a 3-5 record.

Yes, the Patriots were missing players. Julian Edelman and N’Keal Harry once again weren’t part of the offense. And Lawrence Guy, Stephon Gilmore, and Ja’Whaun Bentley were missing from a defense that was completely torched.

There’s just no excuse for going down to the wire, with the worst offense in the league wreaking havoc the whole game.

None. And again, it doesn’t bode well against the good teams, starting next week with the Ravens.

For much of the game, there wasn’t a pass Flacco couldn’t make, or a third down attempt he didn’t convert, as he went six for ten on third down.

The so-called strength of the Patriot’s defense, their secondary, was a sieve.

And for that reason, Belichick almost fell to Adam Gase of all coaches.

All the Jets did to help the Patriots get back into the game was have a 12-man on the field penalty late in the fourth quarter to keep the Patriots in it with a field goal. Then Flacco tossed up an interception, which the beleaguered J.C. Jackson pulled in to give the Pats another chance.

But Newton ultimately came to the rescue. Once again, he was terrific in this game. He completed 27 of 35 passes for 274 yards, rushed for two touchdowns, and kept the chains moving. He kept them in the game. He did look like Superman.

For most of the game, though, even with Newton putting up points, it looked like the Patriots were going to put a serious wrench into the Jets’ plans of Tanking for Trevor Lawrence.

It looked like they were going to join them in the hunt.

It had been all downhill since Week 3. Four straight losses. A 2-5 mark that was headed nowhere.

The Patriots still don’t have the best outlook for the post-season. They’re still flawed, and still have a lack of talent on both sides of the ball. They have no depth, no playmakers. It’s been an issue all year.

It just turned out the Jets are more flawed, and more pathetic.

It was an exciting game, but really, nothing to get excited about in the big picture.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3n6WXoI