Patriots Showcased Identity In Loss To Jets — And It’s Not Good

The New England Patriots were dealt a reality check in their Week 3 loss to the New York Jets.

After starting the season with a pair of competitive games, including a season-opening win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Patriots were dominated at MetLife Stadium on Thursday night.

The offensive line allowed seven sacks and 15 (!) quarterback hits with a pressure rate that eclipsed 60%. Meanwhile, the defense allowed Aaron Rodgers to put on a vintage performance, missed 14 tackles and gifted Gang Green an additional 100 yards of offense.

Injuries continue to pile up for the depth-lacking Patriots, too. New England started the game on its third left tackle (Caedan Wallace) and third left guard (Michael Jordan), and sorely missed defensive captain Ja’Whaun Bentley.

On the latest episode of NESN’s “Foxboro Rush” podcast, George Balekji and Sean McGuire weighed in on what the loss to the Jets told Patriots fans about the team’s identity.

“I think they’re a bad football team that needs pretty much everything to go right for them to be competitive,” McGuire said. “The offensive line obviously can’t block so the offense is completely hindered and handcuffed by all the troubles that are going on on the offensive line. Then you go to the defense, and it’s a lot of the same. They’ve had a few injuries at key positions.”

Balekji added: “This is a bad football team. This is a roster that is one of the worst in the NFL.”

You can watch the full episode of NESN’s “Foxboro Rush” on YouTube and Spotify.