No One Will Disagree With Patriots Vet’s Blunt Assessment Of Jets Loss

The Patriots looked woefully overmatched and underprepared Thursday night against the Jets, and the result was an undeniable low point of the young season.

New England didn’t belong on the same field as the Jets, who steamrolled the Pats 24-3 in a game that wasn’t even as close as the three-touchdown deficit indicated.

Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers had a straightforward way of explaining what happened.

“Divisional game, primetime, we came out and got our asses kicked. Plain and simple,” he told reporters after the game.

Jahlani Tavai, thrust into a bigger role in the first game since the Patriots lost linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley for the season, had a similar review of the evening.

“There’s no excuse. This is a performance-based game, we are professionals and we have to show up and play regardless,” he told reporters. “There’s no excuse for what we did, right now, it’s another one we got to take and we’re onto the next.”

Perhaps the most disheartening aspect of Thursday night’s loss is that it comes after New England looked competent through two weeks of the season. An upset win in Cincinnati seems fluky in hindsight, while a Week 2 overtime loss might have been the Patriots’ last good chance to build any sort of momentum. It might also signal the 2024 Patriots are who we thought they were.

The Jets outgained the Patriots 400-139 on Thursday, in large part due to Patriots quarterbacks getting sacked seven times for 59 yards. The defense wasn’t much better, allowing Aaron Rodgers to carve them up while missing tackles left and right all night.