As mentioned, Brissett was under pressure on 13 of his 23 drop-backs (56.5%). Four of those were quick pressures in under 2.5 seconds, and there were several plays where multiple Jets were credited with causing pressure on a single drop-back. Even when there were open receivers downfield, Brissett didn’t have the time to find them consistently.
There were also instances where the blitz protection plans didn’t make much sense. The Jets blitzed at the highest rate they have in a game since 2021, with HC Robert Saleh bucking a trend. One example RT Mike Onwenu took responsibility for, telling Patriots.com he should’ve pinched down on a first-half blitz with the rest of the line sliding left, allowing LB Quincy Williams to come through the middle of the line unblocked.
According to NextGen Stats, here were the allowed pressures: RG Layden Robinson (2.5 sacks, five pressures), C David Andrews (1.5 sacks, four pressures), LT Caedan Wallace (0.5 sack, three pressures), RT Mike Onwenu (0.5 sack, three pressures), and LG Mike Jordan (two pressures).
If the Patriots want to make their offense viable, they have to improve in pass protection. There are way too many “no chance” plays on tape.
3. How Much Blame Goes to QB Jacoby Brissett?
There’s always a debate when it comes to a passing offense’s struggles: is it the quarterback, receivers, or the offensive line?
Although it’s not a sexy answer, the bottom line is it’s a combination of everything. Still, the quarterback has the ball in his hands every play, and there are plays that Brissett is leaving out there. Granted, any passer would struggle and start developing bad habits under this kind of pressure.
There were two plays Brissett would likely want back. First, a missed throw to TE Austin Hooper on a “sail” route where Hooper was open breaking into the sideline. There was also an instance where Brissett got stuck on his initial read and didn’t progress to Pop Douglas matched up on a linebacker, leading to a sack. Brissett was doing well avoiding sacks while under pressure. But the dam broke with five sacks on 13 pressured drop-backs on Thursday night, which wasn’t only on Brissett.
After a game like this, the outside noise will grow louder for the Patriots to make the switch to rookie QB Drake Maye. However, the organization must assess whether this is an environment they want to put the third-overall pick into right now. From this perspective, it doesn’t seem wise.
4. Patriots Defense Misses 14 Tackles in Uncharacteristically Sloppy Performance
During his post-game press conference, Coach Mayo said he was most disappointed in the defense missing 14 tackles in Thursday night’s loss. Over the years, the Patriots defense has been one of the best tackling units in the league, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday night.
Two notable misses were when LB Raekwon McMillan had rookie RB Braelon Allen in the hole for a run stuff, but couldn’t bring the Jets back down. The other was CB Alex Austin missing a tackle on WR Allen Lazard, which led to a touchdown. One troubling remark was captain Jabrill Peppers saying there was a “lack of hustle” in certain instances. Those things need to be cleaned up, and the tackling must improve.
6. Patriots Abandon the Run Game, But Why?
Whenever you get down multiple scores, teams have to throw to get back into the game; that’s just math. However, the Pats came out throwing the ball against a dominant Jets pass defense, which was surprising.
Speaking to several players and Coach Mayo post-game, the Jets defense did some things to get the Patriots out of certain runs. Mayo noted that some run calls in the huddle were changed to passes at the line of scrimmage due to the structures the Jets were running. The other thing some players pointed to was the Jets having an overhang defender outside the tackle. The overhang was responsible for eliminating cutback lanes on outside zone and defending against bootlegs. With that player sitting there, that’s why the Pats bootleg concepts were met with immediate pressure.
We’ll have to review the tape to see what exactly the Jets did to take away the run, but it sounded like the Jets built some things into their game plan to eliminate the outside zone/bootleg plays.
7. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez Shadows Jets Star WR Garrett Wilson on 30 Routes
Although it wasn’t perfect, the Patriots trusted second-year CB Christian Gonzalez to shadow Wilson on Thursday night. Gonzo lined up over Wilson on 30 routes, allowing four catches for 25 yards and a touchdown into his coverage. Gonzalez was in man coverage on Wilson for 16 plays, with 50% of those coverage snaps being press-man coverage.
Wilson caught a third-down pass on Gonzalez and a low red zone touchdown, but the Pats CB limited the explosive plays to the Jets wideout. The only nitpick was one play where Gonzo fell down on a vertical route, but the pass was off-target, and Wilson was called for an illegal motion on the play. Overall, Gonzalez’s coverage on Wilson was the least of the Patriots concerns.
8. Other Silver Linings for the Patriots in Disappointing Loss
– Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye got his first regular-season game action in garbage time on Thursday night. Maye took two sacks but also drove the offense into scoring territory with a nice fourth-down completion to DeMario Douglas. We’ll see what the film looks like for Maye.
– Patriots WR DeMario Douglas got going a little bit. Douglas had a nine-yard rush on a nifty play design by AVP and caught seven catches for 69 yards. Douglas got the offense moving with a 22-yard completion on a crossing route off play-action. More of that, please,
– Patriots EDGE Keion White had a team-high four quarterback pressures, adding to his terrific start to the season. Joshua Uche also logged his first sack of 2024 and another QB pressure.