The narrative was set. The New York Jets were coming off an upset win with their starting quarterback in his second week back from injury. The New England Patriots looked like an overconfident team coming off a ten-day break and looking like a very average 6-0 team considering their competition.
The Jets, unexpected winners against Dallas last weekend, were poised to shock the visiting Patriots, who would be vulnerable without several injured starters. Sam Darnold, after an efficient and impressive game against the Cowboys, would show his newfound maturity as a second-year starter. It looked like the Jets could sneak away with a victory from an unprepared Pats team.
The narrative was destroyed quickly. The Pats scored 17 points in the first quarter and never looked back on the way to a 33-0 victory.
Darnold completed just 11 of his 32 passes for 86 yards and a passing rating of 3.6. He threw four interceptions and lost a fumble. Darnold, who talked in the week before Monday’s game about finding the Patriots’ defensive weaknesses, repeatedly threw passes not only into coverage but to spots on the field where there were no Jets receivers within 15 yards.
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After one of his thrown picks, Darnold said on the sideline “I’m seeing ghosts.” When head coach was Adam Gase asked what he meant, he explained to reporters what his young quarterback was trying to say.
“He probably was feeling like guys were coming free when they might not have been,” Gase said. “It’s tough playing these guys. If you don’t pick some of this stuff up early, they’re going to keep bringing it, and in different ways, and then it’s just going to get bad from there. Which it did.”
For the Patriots, it’s just another week, as the defense dominated and the offense did their part. They’ve looked great all season en route to a currently undefeated record.
The Pats will look to keep their winning streak intact against the 2-4 Cleveland Browns next week. The 1-5 Jets look to take on the 3-4 Jacksonville Jaguars in Florida.
