After getting their first win against the Dallas Cowboys last week, the New York Jets will look to gain some momentum as they will be taking on the undefeated New England Patriots. This will be the second meeting between the two teams, this time the Jets will be the home team on Monday night football. In the first meeting it was practically over before it even started, the Patriots scored 21 points in their first 3 drives of the game as they went up against a banged up Jets team that had half of their starters on the injury report. This time will be different as this team is getting healthier and will be getting back majority of their players back this week, including middle linebacker CJ Mosley who hasn't played since week 1. A healthy Jets team with an offense that has finally shown some life, could be in the making of a competitive game and maybe an upset.
Sam Darnold's return last week helped light a spark for the offense as everything seemed to click against the Cowboys defense. So much so that even the offensive line looked good, which says a lot since they haven't had a good game all season long. However, they have their work cut out for them as they will be going up against a Patriots defense that is ranked second in sacks and the Jets are ranked 30th in giving up the most sacks. It's fair to say that Darnold may not put up the same stats as last week, but as long as he doesn't turn the ball over and have sustaining drives they should be in good shape.
To be fair the Patriots defense has yet to play against an offense that was ranked in the top 15, and I'm not saying that the Jets are in that consideration after one week. But if this team can replicate what they did last week, that puts them in a position to win the game. What I expect from Adam Gase is to establish some pick or crossing routes to help get these receivers open as well as having Darnold get the ball out of his hands quickly.
As I mentioned before, middle linebacker CJ Mosley will be making his return tomorrow night after sitting out the last month with a hamstring injury. This is huge for the Jets defense who is already 8th in the league in passer rating and 10th in completion percentage, and this is with majority of their starters out due to injuries. Mosley was the Jets quarterback on the defense and was arguably the difference as to why the Jets lost against the Bills in week 1. This is a good defense that could get even better once everyone is fully healthy, so who knows how good they will be tomorrow night. But one thing is for sure is that they will have to get to Tom Brady and make him uncomfortable in the pocket, pretty much how the Buffalo Bills did in their matchup.
It's time for the Jets to show their fans and the rest of the world what we know that they're capable of. If they can pull off a huge upset against their division rival and with how the rest of their schedule shapes up, the Jets could be in a great position for themselves. But they have to take care of business tomorrow night.