A disappointing 2020 NFL season concluded with a fun finish in Foxborough on the first weekend of 2021 as the Patriots exploded with big plays in the second half to beat the Jets 28-14 Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
New England snapped a three-game losing streak to build some minor momentum heading into the offseason following a 7-9 campaign.
Cam Newton led a scoring drive on the first possession of the game, but the Patriots offense sputtered the rest of the first half.
Conversely, Sam Darnold led his team down the field on the first drive of the second half to take at 14-7 that would be short-lived.
Newton, Jakobi Meyers, J.C. Jackson, Sony Michel, Devin Asiasi (you read that right!) and Jonathan Jones then started making big plays to jumpstart the comeback win.
Before diving headfirst into an offseason filled with opportunity and hope, here are some of the personnel highs and lows from what ended up being some fun season-finale action against the Jets.
Thumbs up
Sony Michel – The running back got off to a great start with 17 yards on a screen pass on his first touch of the day. He then picked up 13 yards on his first run of the game. But he was far from done. Michel added a 31-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the fourth quarter, the first touchdown reception of his career. With Damien Harris on IR, Michel closed out his third season with a couple nice games. In the finale that included 16 rushes for 76 yards as well as three catches for a career-high 60 receiving yards.
Cam Newton – Newton gets credit here for finishing what he started under tough circumstances and making a few big plays in the finale. He was far from perfect in what will reportedly be his final game for the Patriots. He still held onto the ball too long and missed open targets. But Newton also had a Patriots QB-record 49-yard run on the opening drive, one that he capped with his 6th passing score of the year. He also caught a 19-yard touchdown on a trick play from Jakobi Meyers. He later hit the rookie tight end hit Asiasi and Michel for touchdown pass, his first game with multiple touchdown passes this season. Overall Newton ran for 79 yards, setting a new New England quarterback record with 592 yards on the ground for the season. He completed 21 of 30 passes against New York for 242 yards with the three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 127.4 rating, by far his highest of the season. Newton’s first and likely only season in New England didn’t go as well as he would have wanted, but he certainly made some plays in the finale to secure his spot in the Patriots record book at the very least.
Jakobi Meyers – The second-year receiver closed out the season the way he played all year – as the Patriots top target. The former converted college QB also threw his second TD pass of the season on a third-quarter trick play to Newton. Meyers led Patriots receivers on the afternoon with six catches for 68 yards and finished the season as New England’s leading receiver with 59 catches for 729 yards.
Chase Winovich – The Patriots defense has struggled in recent weeks and that continued at times against the Jets. But the second-year edge defender Winovich was a thorn in the side of Darnold and New York most of the day. Winovich had an early batted pass to force an incompletion. He also had a pair of first-half sacks. Winovich finished the game with six tackles, three QB hits, two tackles for a loss and a pass defense. For the season led he New England with 5.5 sacks on the year.
Thumbs down
Adrian Phillips – The veteran newcomer has been one of the key cogs on the Patriots defense, the former Charger thrust into a role in the front seven as essentially a safety playing linebacker all year long. Phillips left the finale with a hip injury in the first quarter and did not return. It’s a tough way for his first season in New England to end after leading the Patriots and ranking 28th in the NFL with 106 tackles in his 16 games played. The soon-to-be 29-year-old Phillips could be a key contributor in New England once again in 2021.
Damiere Byrd – Like Phillips, the first-year Patriot had a larger-than-expected role in New England before seeing his season end in injury against the Jets. Byrd left the game in third quarter against New York after taking a big hit on a reverse that may have left the undersized playmaker knocked out. Byrd had one catch for 7 yards and the one run for 5 yards before the injury. He finished the season third on New England with 47 receptions and second on the team with 604 receiving yards.
Penalties – The Patriots were the least penalized team in the NFL coming into the finale, but the flags flew a bit more often against the Jets. New England had 6 penalties, tied for the second most in a game this season, for 47 yards in the finale. It’s probably not surprising given the lineup changes and young players that saw increased playing time against New York, but it’s also not what coaches are looking for. Flags like Myles Bryant’s helmet to helmet hit on a Jets touchdown are one thing, but false start (Devin Asiasi) and illegal formation penalties are another. Even in a so-called meaningless game, penalties are less than ideal.
