Ups & Downs: Patriots did nothing right against Jets

BOSTON — That was one U-G-L-Y loss by the Patriots to the J-E-T-S. After decades of embarrassing the Jets on their home turf, the Patriots were on the other side of the embarrassment Thursday night in New Jersey. 
The Patriots put up an absolute dud in their only appearance in primetime this season, losing 24-3. And it wasn’t even that close. Aaron Rodgers carved up the Patriots’ defense and the New England offense continued to be as frustrating as being stuck in rush hour traffic. 
At least rush hour traffic tends to go somewhere. The Patriots offense went nowhere, getting outgained 400-139 by New York. The Jets picked up 27 first downs on the night, while New England only moved the chains 11 times. Four of those came in garbage time when Drake Maye made his NFL debut and the Jets defense was just playing out the clock.  
The Patriots didn’t do anything right on Thursday night. They couldn’t move the ball, with six of their eight drives (not counting a quick possession before halftime) ending after six plays or fewer. They couldn’t tackle, which let the Jets rack up some serious YAC. Third down was a disaster on both sides of the ball. 
At least we got to finally see Maye, right? Not really. The rookie was fine in his NFL debut, though he looked a little jumpy. He also took some big hits, but such is life as a quarterback of the New England Patriots these days.
Usually this space passes along Ups and Downs from a game. There were no real Ups from this one. And what could be considered an “Up” was really a “Down” in the grand scheme of things.
If that doesn’t hook you to read more about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad football game … well I don’t blame you. The game was that bad. Here’s all that went wrong for the Patriots on Thursday night in New Jersey.
Somehow, the man keeps getting up despite taking an absolute beating behind this New England offensive line.
Brissett was sacked five times by the Jets and hit 10 times overall. He was under pressure on 13 of his 23 drop backs and couldn’t really do anything, throwing for just 98 yards.
Yes, Drake Maye is more athletic than Brissett. But do you really want the future of the franchise playing behind this offensive line??? Overall, the Jets had seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits against the Patriots.
No quarterback can function with that severe lack of protection.  
The Patriots missed 14 tackles on Thursday, with most of them coming in the first half. Alex Austin missed badly on Allen Lazard’s first-quarter touchdown, and Lazard picked up 27 yards on a third down thanks to another whiff by the New England defense.
“Very uncharacteristic,” Jerod Mayo said after the game. “It’s one of the things I’m very disappointed in.”
The Patriots are really going to miss Ja’Whaun Bentley the rest of the season. His replacements were not good at all on Thursday.
On New York’s first scoring drive, Raekwon McMillan missed a tackle that led to an 11-yard gain by Braelon Allen. A few plays later, Jahlani Tavai was a little too eager to set the tone with a tackle on Breece Hall and was flagged for unnecessary roughness after initially bringing the back down for a one-yard loss. (It was a soft call, with the whistle coming while Tavai was finishing the tackle, but we digress.) 
McMillan was benched in the second half for Joe Giles-Harris, who was elevated off the practice squad ahead of the game. 
At one point in the game the Patriots had 46 yards of offense… and 45 yards in penalties. They finished with five penalties for 70 yards.
Tavai’s 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct negated a nice takedown of Hall (one of the team’s few actual tackles on the night) and led to a Jets touchdown. Rhamondre Stevenson’s best run of the night — a 19-yarder — was called back when his pinky got stuck in a facemask, costing the Patriots’ offense 15 yards.
The Patriots got into Jets territory late in the third quarter, but a rookie Caedan Wallace — New England’s third starting at left tackle of the season — was nailed with a holding penalty that took a 21-yard reception by Austin Hooper off the board. That would have set the Patriots up at the Jets two-yard. Wallace was flagged for a hold on the next play, but Brissett was sacked anyways and the Jets declined.
The Patriots converted just two of their 11 third-down tries on Thursday. Brissett was sacked three times on third down, and pressured on most of them.
The Jets, meanwhile, went 10-for-15 in those gotta-have-it third down situations. Brutal.
The Patriots got down to the New York 23… and eventually had to punt the ball away. 
After that Wallace hold took a big gain off the board, Brissett was sacked for a 12-yard loss. It knocked the Patriots out of field goal range and sent Bryce Baringer onto the field for one of his five punts on the night. 
After going target-less last week, DeMario Douglas had a team-high nine targets on Thursday night. He caught seven of them for 69 yards.
It was nice to see him get involved, but it came at the expense of New England’s run game. The offense was forcing passes instead of giving it to Stevenson and letting him take it to a suspect Jets run defense.
Stevenson had just six carries for 23 yards. He would have had a better night if it weren’t for his stray pinky, but he also fumbled the ball early in the fourth quarter. The Patriots had just 78 yards on the ground in Thursday night’s loss. 
They are a team that has to dominate on the ground and win the game with defense. The Patriots did neither against the Jets.