Keys to Success for the Jets on Thursday Night Football
The New York Jets are coming off a win in Tennessee against the Titans, and now head to MetLife Stadium to play their first home game of the season. The Jets took a major step forward in Week Two, scoring three touchdowns and getting more players involved. However, they dealt with some major injuries, as D.J. Reed did not play, Jermaine Johnson suffered a season-ending injury, and C.J. Mosley left the game after getting banged up again. On a short week of rest, the Jets need to come out firing against their first-division opponent of the year in the Patriots.
The Jets finally broke the losing streak against the Patriots at the end of last season, and now look to start a winning streak against them with a much more talented roster. It will take a collective effort with many key players playing through injury and a major hole in the defense losing a Pro-Bowler in Johnson. The main players who need to step up are Will McDonald IV and Jamien Sherwood. Both had career days once Johnson and Mosley went down and need to repeat their success to maintain an elite-level defense that the Jets depend on. With Reed back in the mix, the secondary looks strong once again after allowing big plays last week, but the front seven will need to do their part to halt the Patriots’ offense.
The Patriots have been running almost solely through Rhamondre Stevenson, as he sits in the top five for rushing attempts. Stevenson has been brilliant, and the Patriots will likely try and exploit the Jets’ lackluster run-stuffing thus far to control the tempo of the game. With a weaker defensive line than usual, it may be in the cards for the Jets to mix up looks in the defensive front, similar to the end of the game in Tennessee where the Jets used a higher blitz rate than typically seen. If they can put a stop to the run game, they can successfully challenge Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots to beat them in the air, a strategy that has not been so easy against the Jets in the past couple of seasons.
Keeping the defense as fresh as possible is the Jets’ key to winning. The offense looked much better in Week Two, however, they still will need some time to get going with Aaron Rodgers settling back in and newly acquired talent finding their place in the offense. The use of Braelon Allen was key in the last game, as he had two explosive touchdown plays. Getting guys like Mike Williams, who caught his first ball of the season last game, and Allen more involved will create more opportunities and make the offense flow. A divisional matchup on primetime is never an easy task, but if the Jets can manage to stay fresh off the short week and have their playmakers step up, they should be looking at a 2-1 record by the weekend.
