As you might imagine, New York Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins didn’t enjoy his time in Foxboro. His defense allowed 54 points to the New England Patriots, and his offense couldn’t keep pace as the Jets went home on the wrong side of a 54-13 blowout.
And as much as he probably would like to, it doesn’t seem like Rankins will be forgetting what went down any time soon. Speaking to reporters after the loss, he gave a pretty honest response when asked about the differential.
“I can’t recall ever being on the end of giving up that many points, but at the end of the day getting punched in the mouth like that, it’s never a good feeling,” Rankins said, via a team-provided transcript. “It’s not something we want to experience again. It’s not something we’re proud of.”
He’s not wrong. Looking back at Rankins’ career game log, he was involved in a pair of losses in which the opposing team scored 48 points, in 2018 and 2019 with the New Orleans Saints. But the Saints were able to keep up, scoring 40-plus points themselves in both instances.
The Patriots have dropped 50 points on teams plenty of times, with Sunday being the 14th time in team history and the first since a 51-17 beatdown of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sept. 2015. Of those games with at least 50 points, three now have come against the Jets, with the others in 1978 and 1979.
Rankins certainly isn’t alone in his misery — head coach Robert Saleh spoke at length with reporters about the beatdown.
They’re probably thankful that the two teams won’t meet again during the regular season.
