EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New England Patriots aren’t required to hit the road anytime soon after Sunday’s win.
The Patriots clinched a first-round playoff bye with a 17-16 hard-fought victory over the New York Jets, which means the earliest New England might have to travel again would be in the AFC Championship Game.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though.
The Jets always play the Patriots close — especially in New York — but the 3-12 squad exposed some possibly fatal flaws in the New England machine. Tom Brady was under siege behind a leaky offensive line, and the Patriots’ defense was gashed early by the Jets’ rushing attack.
New England’s offensive line issues might be the most frightening flaw. Brady was sacked four times and hit seven more. The quarterback said he was content with the blocking, but it was obvious from the press box that the offense had a difficult time delegating responsibility on blitzers.
“I think they’re giving good protection,” Brady said about his offensive line, which was missing captain and starting left guard Dan Connolly. “I just think our communication wasn’t great. We all just weren’t on the same page.
“When you do that, especially against a team who moves a lot of guys in and out of their defensive front — and they blitz linebackers and safeties — they have a lot of guys coming. Our communication needs to be on point, and it just kind of sputtered. We need to do a better job of that, especially here down the stretch.”
Brady was 22-of-35 passing for just 182 yards and one touchdown with one interception. He was pressured on his turnover, but ultimately, it was a poor decision by Brady to target wideout Brandon LaFell while throwing off his back foot.
Before we trend too negatively, the Patriots were missing three starters in Connolly, wide receiver Julian Edelman and running back LeGarrette Blount. Receiver Danny Amendola filled in admirably for Edelman, but the Patriots’ receiver depth was exposed when No. 3 wideout Brian Tyms wasn’t targeted all game. The Jets knew what was coming — 31 of Brady’s 35 throws went to Amendola, LaFell and tight end Rob Gronkowski — and they were prepared to stop it.
The biggest issue is that the Patriots’ offense hasn’t looked as consistently high-powered since losing to the Green Bay Packers in Week 13. Sure, they’ve beaten the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins and now the Jets, but they haven’t dominated. This doesn’t look like the team that definitely will make the Super Bowl if all goes according to plan with health and home-field advantage.
Perhaps the Patriots will use their time in Foxboro and their first-round bye to figure out what changed over the last few weeks. Their offense was bailed out by their defense Sunday on Jamie Collins’ interception, Dont’a Hightower’s sack and Vince Wilfork’s blocked field goal, but the defense might need to rely on its offense during the playoffs, and it’s unclear if it will be able to after Sunday’s win.
Thumbnail photo via Bill Kostroun/Associated Press
