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This streak needs to end, and fast . . .
The New England Patriots have won the AFC East 10 years in a row. That is certainly embarrassing for the three other clubs.
The only way you are going to overtake the Patriots is to have your own elite QB who can keep up on the scoreboard with Thomas Edward Brady.
And the QB play for the other teams in this division, over this decade, has been pedestrian or below par.
So that has been a big problem for the Patriots three divisions foes.
Jets think they are finally solved that position. There is a good chance they have, but I still haven’t taken the anointing oil out for Darnold. He showed a lot of promise as a rookie, but he still has a ways to go.
I was saying to another beat-writer before, “How did the Jets not even score a touchdown against New England on Sunday?”
I’m not saying I expected them to win the game, but to not score a TD?
The Patriots have an okay defense, but it’s not great.
I wrote the other day that the Patriots game would be a better litmus test for Danrold than the Packers and Texans games, because Green Bay and Houston had awful pass defense, ravaged by injuries. New England’s group is pretty solid, the lineup is intact, and they are very well coached by Bill Belichick. Darnold was okay, but not overly impressive in this game.
The problem is he will make some terrific plays, and he had some big-time throws in this game, but mixed in were a lot of missed plays, and it’s hard to sustain drives this way.
I think the Jets forced too many passes to Robby Anderson in this game. He’s not a true #1 receiver and he isn’t good on contested passes. To me, he’s not a guy you force the rock to, like Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins. He’s a guy that you throw to when he has a favorable match-up, where he gets a lot of separation with his 4.34 speed, and is clearly open. He’s not great on 50-50 balls.
But I do think Darnold will be fine in time, so let’s just say, for arguments sake, the Jets have a top-shelf QB who can help them keep up with Brady on the scoreboard.
This takes me to the other thing that needs to change if the Jets are going to compete with the Patriots in head-to-head match-ups and for the division crown.
On defense, they need to improve their edge rush. I know I’m a broken record on this one. On most plays Brady had too much time to throw on Sunday. Kansas City has a good chance against New England if they face off in the playoffs because of Justin Houston, Dee Ford and Chris Jones, their talented pass rushing trio.
But here is the other thing that needs to change if the Jets want to compete with the Patriots – you can’t blown as many coverage assignments as the Jets do and beat Brady. Won’t happen. He will find that hole in the coverage every time and destroy you. The Jets only win late in the season was over Buffalo, a team that has a QB who doesn’t see the field well yet.
I understand the Trumaine Johnson and Mo Claiborne were out on Sunday, but #41 had a really rough game in coverage, as did #30.
Here is the deal – the Jets need more instinctive corners. It’s great if you can run 4.3 and jump out of gym, but if you consistently a tick late reacting, in coverage, what difference does it make?
So the three pronged approach for the Jets to get to the Patriots level – elite QB play, a better pass rush and load up on instinctive, assignment-savvy defensive backs.
January 3, 2019
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