Week 1 - Jets dominated by Pats

Week 1 – Jets at home vs. Pats

This game was a blowout, and it wasn’t even that close. The Patriots totally dominated all phases of this game - offense, defense, and special teams. The Pats offense put up 431 yards and seemed to move at will against a Jets defense that was weak between the tackles and ineffective in the pass rush despite various blitz packages. The Pats defense controlled the line of scrimmage disrupting the rushing attack and consistently pressuring the QB. The Pats special teams opened the 2nd half with a NFL record 108 yard kickoff return, but even more impressively they completely shut down the Jets punt and kickoff returns with exceptional coverage.

There are those in the media that will remind us that this is only 1 game, and they will be right. But this game is also part of a pattern. In 2006 the Jets had one of the weakest schedules in the NFL and finished a deceptive 10-6. Despite making the playoffs team had major weaknesses (see the Jacksonville 41-0 loss). During the offseason changes were made, but positive results were not seen in the preseason as the starters struggled in run-defense, pass rush, and offensive line play. In Sunday's game the same pattern continued -- poor run-defense, no pass rush, and terrible offensive line play. The season is still young and the coaches are excellent, but Jets will need to break this ugly pattern before there can be any real hope for the season.

The Offensive Line

The defense will get a lot of the blame for the loss, but the Jets offensive line play was worse! The unit was unable to open holes for the running game and Pennington was consistently under pressure. LG A. Clarke is an obvious weakness as he is a stop-gap replacement as the rookie J. Bender develops. But a less obvious, and far more concerning weakness is the hole at LT. The #4 overall pick from 2006 looked like a rookie against the Pats D-line (even without R. Seymour). He was unable to get a push on running plays and was regularly beaten in pass protection -- if this guy becomes the Jets version of Robert Gallery the team could struggle for years!

RB T. Jones

He looked good on a few plays, but was limited by the terrible performance of the offensive line.

No Pass Rush

The Jets base defense was not able to get pressure last year and needed to use a a variety of blitzes to hurry the QB. This year looks like more of the same. On Sunday the Pats countered by using max protect packages trusting that the limited array of receivers would get open. They were right, and the Pats moved the ball at will. The biggest stop for the Jets came in the 1st half on an unforced error when Wes Welker dropped an easy 4 yard pass on 3rd and 3.

QB C. Pennington

Let's be clear, Pennington's return from his injury was heroic and showed his warrior spirit, but he did not play well in the 1st half when he was healthy. If the Pats LB did not have stone hands he would have been intercepted on the 1st drive, and later in the 1st half he made some very inaccurate throws. The guy will be a great coach and an excellent role model, but he is NOT an NFL QB. The Jets offense will struggle even more if Pennington's injury requires them to work in 2nd year QB as the starter. But in the long-run the development of a QB other than Pennington will be critical for the Jets to one day compete with the elite teams in the NFL.

The Division
Miami and Buffalo both were beaten late by FGs, so the Jets are not alone at the bottom. Miami looked bad in their loss to Washington, but the Bills looked good in losing to Denver.

Next Game
The Ravens lack the explosive firepower of the Pats offense, which means the game could be close enough for the Jets to squeak out a victory. But if the offensive line problems are not fixed the Ravens may not have to score many points. If the Jets some how pull out a victory next week and the Chargers beat the Pats the opening week will be a distant memory.