Last week NFL experts around the country were virtually unanimous in their selection of the New England Patriots, almost nine-point favorites, at home, to defeat if not cover against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. By evening’s end the Patriots were left with a crushing 33-14 defeat that delivered more questions than answers, not to mention a full-blown quarterback controversy and sole possession of last place in the AFC East.
Shows you what the experts know.
Or it shows you what a wild and wonky season 2022 has been, both nationally and locally. On the national scene we have all-timers like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers enduring their potentially worst seasons to date. Game-play is inconsistent league-wide, with injuries to star players as far as the eye can see. Perhaps the parity that is born of this mediocrity is what the NFL always had envisioned in the salary cap era. The experience, however, hasn’t been quite as satisfying for the fans to date.
As for the Patriots…we can’t imagine this is how coach Bill Belichick and his staff lieutenants wanted to see things play out thus far. Who’d have thought they’d have a losing record seven games in, with a question as to whether or not their supposed second year franchise QB can right the ship and keep his job, as in Game Eight they face a surging New York Jets team out for payback, revenge, blood and all those other lustful narrative elements.
The 2022 season! It’s a hell of a drug.
But here the Pats are. The QB controversy seems to be in sleep mode, for the time being, with coach Belichick naming Mac Jones the starter for Sunday. He did so midweek as opposed to waiting until a few hours before kickoff to name Mac the starter, possibly against his own better judgment, only to then pull Jones after three series for fan favorite and hot hand Bailey Zappe, who led touchdown drives on consecutive series, and then turned into a pumpkin before a nation’s eyes. Now Jones gets to try and prove once again that his coach should have left him in to knock rust off and lead the team rally the troops, entrenching himself as the starter after a messy start to the season and a high ankle sprain. And for Jones, when he’s right, and the wins follow, it’s even simpler than which QB is getting what plays called for them…
That is easier said than done every week while adjusting to new coordinators, an altered scheme and the ever-changing landscape of the NFL. Not to mention injuries (some key Pats on both sides of the ball are very questionable for this Sunday) and the vultures of the NFL looking to poach some pieces from the Pats as well. Could the 2022 Patriots really be sellers at the deadline? Just a few weeks after they dismantled the Browns and optimism was flush throughout Pats Nation? Mac Jones would like to have a say in this.
And Jones will get his chance, and it won’t be so easy, against a New York Jets team that has won four straight and is playing excellent complimentary football based off of tenacious defense and a power running game. Yes, those words were typed purposefully. And they should sound very familiar to Pats fans as those are the tenets of winning football in Foxboro. The Jets have put the clamps on recent opponents with a ferocious defensive line led by Quinnen Williams and Carl Lawson, and a lockdown secondary led by star-in-the-making Sauce Gardner. This is likely what second year coach Robert Saleh had envisioned when taking over, something akin to the defenses he led in San Francisco. And they’re winning without major contributions from their second year first round pick QB, Zach Wilson, selected second overall in 2021. Wilson has been in game-manager mode mostly, limiting the kinds of downfield risky passes that Mac Jones has attempted this season. And the Jets are winning. Though they carry a hefty injury toll into Sunday, with rookie RB sensation Breece Hall out for the year and replaced by James Robinson, among others, they aren’t looking to make excuses. Just impressions. And maybe turn the tides in their favor after losing 12 straight to the Pats and letting them, and the rest of the NFL know, things have changed in the AFC East.
All this laid out for a pivotal showdown Sunday at MetLife, let’s see what the experts are saying. The latest line surprisingly, is Patriots favored by two and a half.
A small majority (four out of seven) at ESPN chose the Pats.
It’s a dead heat among the experts at Bleacher Report.
A legit majority (six out of eight) at CBS Sports picked the Pats.
SB Nation is ALL in on the Jets.
The Ringer likes the Patriots (trusting Mac a little more than Zach).
The Sporting News sees a low scoring affair, with Pats winning and the cover!
And the same for Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com.
The Pro Football Talk guys are split.
The 538 Machine gives the Jets a 56% chance to win.
The LA Times has the Pats winning, Jets covering.
On the local front, the Boston Globe staff is split down the middle.
In enemy territory, NJ.com is all over the Jets
And The NY Times likes the J-E-T-S!
However the war to settle many AFC East scores plays out, make sure you tune into the SIX RINGS Postgame Show Sunday on WEEI immediately after Pats @ Jets for instant reaction, analysis, sound, fury and more.
