Hurley: At least the Patriots are still better than the Jets
BOSTON -- That could have been bad. Very bad.
Coming off an embarrassing showing on Monday night, some things were lined up for the Patriots this week that did not appear to be very good. Not only were there question marks hovering over the head of quarterback Mac Jones, but the Patriots would also be heading on the road without their captain in the middle of their offense in David Andrews. They'd also be without Christian Barmore in the front of their defense and without Kyle Dugger on the back end, while facing the 5-2 Jets, in front of 82,000 fired-up fans who were eager and ready to see their team beat Bill Belichick for the first time in seven years.
Throughout the short week, things looked dicey. And through a quarter and a half on Sunday in New Jersey, things were dicey.
Fortunately for the Patriots, though, they're still better than the Jets.
Fortunately for the Patriots, their second-year quarterback is not the disaster that the Jets' second-year quarterback is. And fortunately for the Patriots, they employ a man named Nick Folk, who dialed things back to 2020 and essentially put the team on his back in the Patriots' 22-17 victory over the Jets.
The win allows the Patriots to take a deep breath, and it keeps their season above water. A loss would've sent them to 3-5, deep in the AFC East cellar, left to wonder what use the rest of the season would be. While the Patriots still may be on the outside of the playoff picture, they at least still have their playoff viability intact through eight weeks of the season.
And -- just as importantly -- they know that at the very least, they're still better than the Jets.
To be fair, the Jets' injury situation this week was worse than the Patriots. They just lost Breece Hall, who had accounted for nearly a third of the Jets' yardage from scrimmage. They also lost their starting guard, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and they lost Cory Davis, their leading receiver. The Jets may have been playing over their skis a bit while building up that 5-2 record, and losses of that significance shouldn't have been overlooked.
Yet, despite those losses, the Jets certainly could have won Sunday's game. Zach Wilson did his part to make sure that wouldn't happen.
With the Jets leading 10-3 late in the second quarter, all Wilson needed to do on a third-and-2 to almost guarantee that lead would stay intact through halftime was to not throw an interception. But he couldn't do it.
Mac Jones -- who didn't exactly silence any doubters or prove a whole lot in this game -- almost gave that gift right back, throwing an 84-yard pick-six that would have and should have put the Patriots behind by 14 points at halftime.
Alas, the new Jets looked a lot like the old Jets, with John Franklin-Myers unnecessarily delivering a late shot to the back of Jones' neck area, resulting in a roughing the passer penalty that negated the pick-six and allowed the Patriots to kick a field goal to cut the lead to four points at halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Patriots had their best drive of the game, gaining 62 yards on six plays and converting a fourth-and-1 at the Jets' 5-yard line for a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead.
From there, Wilson locked in on Devin McCourty as his top target, essentially killing the Jets' chances of coming back. A late completion to Denzel Mims for 63 yards helped fill the stat sheet for Wilson, but his interceptions were indicative of a young quarterback who does not know what he's doing.
In that sense, the Patriots -- despite a so-so performance out of Mac Jones behind a shaky offensive line -- have reason to feel OK about their young quarterback. And despite an unwise play by DaMarcus Mitchell on special teams and an overeager mistake by Josh Uche jumping offside on a fourth-and-10, the Patriots can feel better than their opponent when it comes to execution level.
Had the Patriots lost this game, the rough week in New England would have stretched into next week. Questions about their overall strategic vision, about their coaching staff, about their defense, about their quarterback, they would have increased tenfold. Taking a loss to the Jets to drop to 3-5 on the year tends to have that effect. (Or so we'd have to assume.) But a solid second-half showing made sure that at least for one more week, the heat will be turned down a bit.
And, really, above all else, despite only being 4-4 on the season and despite facing plenty of questions going forward, the Patriots can rest well for at least a night or two knowing this: At least they're still better than the New York Jets.
