The Patriots and Jets kicked off last night in MetLife, in a game that every assumed would be a good, low-scoring physical matchup. The low-scoring was right for the Patriots. The Jets completely outmatched them on both sides of the ball. On offense, Aaron Rodgers was able to find a rhythm early and keep that rhythm because the Patriots had no answer on defense. Running the ball, passing the ball, did not matter because the Patriots were not able to get any push up front and their secondary could not tackle. Also, their zone coverage was getting exploited all night and they always had way too many holes to slow down Aaron Rodgers. The Jets offense finally woke up and is now looking to be in business for the rest of the season.
Now for the other side of the football. The Jet's defense was able to put constant pressure on Jacoby Brissett and not allow him any time to push the ball downfield. Rhomandre Stevenson was not able to get anything going through the ground either. It was a terrible offensive performance from the Patriots. More on the Patriots offense in a second. The Jets defense though deserves flowers. This game was going to be won in the trenches and they won the line of scrimmage. For a unit that was not able to get that much pass rush and penetration the first two weeks, they looked like the unit they were supposed to be coming into the year. That has to excite Jets fan a lot. To be able to pair a very good defense with an Aaron Rodgers-led offense, the Jets look poised for good things this year.
Now back to the Patriots offense. After this game, the talk is to start Drake Maye. Anyone who watched that game and their takeaway is to start Drake Maye should stop watching football because they don’t know what they are talking about. The offense line and play calling are so bad that if you put Drake Maye under center you are going to completely ruin that kids confidence and are most likely going to get him hurt. Rookie quarterbacks should not play in the NFL. Especially 1st round quarterbacks. Just look at Bryce Young in Carolina. He gets drafted to a terrible team with no weapons and no offense line and the team got him killed last and are going the same this year and now his confidence is completely shot. Drake Maye is not alone in this. Caleb Williams, Bo Nix., Michael Penix, Jayden Daniels. All these rookies should sit this season because to be honest, none of them are ready for the NFL. It would be better for them to sit and learn instead of getting their confidence completely ruined. Tieing this back to the Patriots, they need to keep Brissett in at QB.
Best Matchups of Week 3
1). The battle of undefeated teams in Pittsburgh is a really interesting matchup between the Steelers and the Chargers. It looks like Justin Fields will be starting his third straight game for the injured Russell Wilson. If Fields can perform really well, the starting quarterback job in Pittsburgh might just be his. You cannot bench a quarterback that is 3-0. The Chargers on the other hand have looked really good this season under Jim Harbaugh. The team is a lot more disciplined and is taking care of the football so far this season. This matchup will be really physical and will be decided in the trenches. Rookie offensive tackle for the Chargers, Joe Alt has been shut down so far this season. Now he is getting his toughest test, TJ Watt, who is the best defender in the league. If the Steelers win this game and start 3-0, they have to start feeling really good about their playoff chances.
2). Another battle of the undefeated is taking place in Minnesota. The Vikings are hosting the Texans which should be a really fun and high-scoring game. Both teams have looked really good on offense and defense so far this season. But great offense always beats good defense. I am going to assume that Justin Jefferson will be playing. The matchup between him and Derek Stingley Jr. for the Texans on the outside will define this game. If the Texans are able to shut down Jefferson it will take away most of what Minnesota wants to do offensively. In the reverse, Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator for the Vikings called a brilliant game against the 49ers last weekend. He will need another good game plan against CJ Stroud’s passing attack. Whatever defense gets the key stop will win this game.
3). Cowboys-Ravens is the battle of two teams coming off of embarrassing losses. Both are way better than they showed last weekend. For the Ravens, they have to win this game on the road. You cannot start your season 0-3 before you even get into AFC North play. Starting 0-3 would virtually eliminate them from the playoffs and make it very hard to make up ground. This week it will be interesting to see the cohesion of Lamar and Henry in the backfield. The styles of the two clash. Lamar needs to be in shotgun and Henry needs the offensive to be under center so he gains momentum in order to get downhill. We will see if it works this weekend, but so far it seems like it was a really bad pairing. Now the Cowboy's defense gave up a score on every single drive last weekend. If you expect to win this game they cannot do that again this weekend. The offense also needs to find a good balance. It seems at times the offense gets way too pass-heavy. They need to be able to win the point of attack in the trenches and get a push to run the ball, or else the Ravens are going to be able to do the same thing the Saints did to them last weekend.
This weekend the NFL has some really good games scheduled. There should not be a single blowout on the card. This is also make it or break it time for some teams. So Sunday, let’s kick our feet up and watch some great football.
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