There’s really no other way to put it: the New York Jets were outclassed Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
A fully healthy New York squad would have been hard-pressed to claim a road win against the New England Patriots, but the hobbled Jets, quite frankly, never stood a chance against the reigning Super Bowl champs. With third-string quarterback Luke Falk under center, Gang Green just barely amassed 100 yards of total offense as the Patriots cruised to a 30-14 win.
Colin Cowherd on Monday highlighted the gap between the Pats and Jets while playing the “3-Word Game” following Week 3. “The Herd” host, however, seems to believe the divisional matchup might have been a bit tighter if New York’s franchise QB was on the field.
“Jets-Patriots: Varsity vs. JV. First of all, they beat the Jets seven straight times, six have not been competitive,” Cowherd said Monday on FOX Sports 1. “Jets had 105 total yards. Listen, for all of those that don’t like Sam Darnold, you can say what you want last year, they were in the last month and a half — outside of one game — they were competitive. They were competitive when they lost to Green Bay last year. By the way, the Patriots are the first team since 1951 to shut out five straight opponents in the first half. I mean, New England’s defense is just all sorts of no fun.”
The Patriots will have their work cut out for them as they try to maintain that streak this Sunday. New England will pay a visit to upstate New York for a matchup with the undefeated Buffalo Bills, who will be hungry to take down their AFC East division rival. Josh Allen isn’t a world-beater by any means, but he should pose a bigger challenge for New England’s defense than Falk, Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick did.
As for the Jets, their struggles soon could turn into more than just a slow start. Following a Week 4 bye, New York will travel to Philadelphia before hosting the Dallas Cowboys and Patriots in Weeks 6 and 7, respectively.
Yikes.
