The New York Jets try to bring holiday cheer to their fans with a Christmas Eve victory over the division rival New England Patriots.
- New York Jets (4-10)
- New England Patriots (12-2)
- NFL, Week 16, Saturday 1:00 P.M. ET, CBS
- Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Now that the stockings have been hung by the chimney with care, the New York Jets aim to deliver their fans an early Christmas gift.
A victory against the New England Patriots.
Although the Jets are long out of contention, there is no love lost in this division rivalry. The Jets would love nothing more than to steal a victory from the Patriots. A win by the New York Jets over the Patriots could throw a wrench into the Patriots plan of having the path to Super Bowl LI run through Foxborough.
Last week, the Jets were embarrassed by the Miami Dolphins 34-13. Bryce Petty faced an immense amount of pressure from the Dolphins defensive line all afternoon, taking a couple of rough hits in the process.
Although Petty appears poised to be under center for the Saturday tilt with the Patriots, the offensive line needs to find a way to protect better for him. If history repeats itself and Petty continues to get whacked behind the makeshift offensive line the Jets are throwing out, his NFL career will be a short one.
New England had their way with the defending champion Denver Broncos last week. The underrated Patriots defense shut down the Broncos offense in route to a 16-3 victory. the win clinched the AFC East crown for the Pats for the eighth straight season.
Injury report
It looks like Matt Forte will not be playing this week, after adding a shoulder injury to his knee ailment earlier this week. Forte should skip the next two games and let his body heal for next season.
Bilal Powell has played excellent in place of the injured Forte the last few weeks. In fact, he is playing well enough to where there should be a true running back competition in training camp for the starting gig.
Brandon Marshall and Muhammad Wilkerson have been frequent flyers on the injury report, but always seem to play when tagged as questionable.
Even with Danny Amendola sitting this contest out, the Jets secondary that has struggled most of this season will have their hands full. Tom Brady is still pretty good in case you haven’t heard, and is more than capable of shredding the Jets secondary without Amendola.
History
The New York Jets and New England Patriots are now strangers to each other. This will be the 113th time these two teams will tango on the gridiron, and the Patriots own a 58-53-1 all-time record against the Jets.
This will be the second edition of the New York Jets vs the New England Patriots in 2016. The Jets gave New England all they could handle in the first contest, but Malcolm Mitchell‘s game-winning touchdown catch with under two minutes left in the game gave the Pats the 22-17 victory.
Four out of the last five games in this rivalry have been won by New England, which is pretty much the story of the recent history between these squads.
The Patriots have dominated the Jets under the Bill Belichick era. Belichick owns a 24-11 record against the Jets. Only five of the eleven victories the Jets have over Belichick have come in Foxborough.
Top storylines
Todd Bowles is questionable after Friday hospital scare
After being taken to the hospital on Friday for what was first thought to be a heart attack, Bowles status for the matchup against New England is up in the air.
If Bowles has his way he will be on the sideline on Saturday. The plan is for him to spend Friday night in the hospital for observation, then hop a flight to Massachusetts to coach in the game.
If it is determined that Bowles is not well enough to be on the sidelines Christmas Eve, assistant coach Mike Caldwell will assume the head coaching duties.
Patriots can clinch a home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a victory on Saturday
With the victory of the Denver Broncos last week, the Patriots not only secured the AFC East crown, but also clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. This week they can ensure a trip to Super Bowl LI rides through Foxborough.
A Patriots victory or tie over the New York Jets accompanied with an Oakland Raiders loss would clinch home field advantage. The Oakland Raiders are playing the suddenly red-hot Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are fighting for their playoff lives and could give the Raiders more than they can handle.
Jets keys to victory
- Hit Tom Brady early and often- This is absolute key. The defensive line will single handedly dictate the New York Jets chance at an upset. If the Jets defensive line doesn’t rattle Brady’s head early and often, Brady will shred the Jets secondary. It’s plain and simple.
- Find a way to keep Bryce Petty vertical- Last week was an ugly loss to the Dolphins. Even with Bryce Petty’s two interceptions and the Jets secondary giving up four touchdowns to Miami’s backup quarterback, the offensive line was the unit that seemed to struggle the most. The Jets offensive line needs to give Petty the chance to grow, not help him make rookie mistakes.
- Petty needs to use all of his weapons- Before Petty started to get abused last week against Miami, Petty did a good job connecting with Bilal Powell and Robby Anderson. That great and all, but the more you stare down a certain guy, the more likely you are to create a mistake. Petty needs to find a way to build a chemistry with Brandon Marshall as well to prove he can handle the Jets quarterbacking gig in the future.
Prediction
The offense is going to want to prove against their biggest rivals that they can be competitive. Bilal Powell will be the offensive star and have over 125 total yards from scrimmage. the offensive line will have a bounceback game, and allow Petty to throw two touchdowns on Saturday.
The problem is that won’t be enough.
The Jets should find mild success against the run, but it will be Tom Brady that once again pains the hearts of the New York Jets’ fans. Look for Brady to break the 300-yard mark and toss three scores.