The New York Jets tucked their tail between their legs and limped into the offseason after getting stomped by the New England Patriots.
- New York Jets: 6 (5-11)
- New England Patriots: 26 (13-3)
- NFL Week 17, Final, Box Score
- Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
The New York Jets ended the year 2017 the same way they ended the year 2016: by getting pulverized by the New England Patriots.
This game started with perhaps the greatest epitome of this Jets season to date:
Inspiring start for Bryce Petty and the Jets pic.twitter.com/3t9LvfGCxb
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 31, 2017
Despite Bryce Petty’s struggles getting his helmet on, the Jets tried to come out guns a’ blazing in this game.
Sadly, the Patriots found a way to do it better with fewer guys in the backfield. It was a 13-play, 75-yard drive that featured a ton of Dion Lewis. The Patriots only brought two healthy running backs for this game which emphasizes just how hurt this team is.
The Jets scouting report should’ve predicted a lot of Lewis and Lewis punctuated the first touchdown and lone touchdown of the first quarter.
.@DionLewisRB ➡ END ZONE. #GoPats pic.twitter.com/luxR4Pvn8z
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 31, 2017
He’s just so dynamic and can do so many different things with the ball. Lewis is the straw that stirs the drink for this team, especially in these cold weather games.
While the Jets struggled offensively for a big portion of that first quarter, they were able to muster a 48-yard field goal to get on the board. At the end of one, the Patriots led 7-3.
Although, the Jets got a spark at the top of the second quarter thanks to mystery man Neil Sterling. The Jets lead man Austin Seferian-Jenkins was out so Gang Green had to go with a different option at tight end.
The Jets tried some trickery after a big play and what originally looked like a fumble was saved because it was ruled a forward pass. But we saw wash, rinse, and repeat.
Bryce Petty isn’t accurate. He had a wide open touchdown to Elijah McGuire but he overthrew him. So the Jets had to settle for a long field-goal attempt that sailed wide left.
Fast forward to some more poor offensive production and miscues and the Patriots would eventually come to life offensively.
But they were helped by some opportune penalties by the Jets for no apparent reason. Juston Burris just grabbed Danny Amendola, giving the Pats second life. Which led to the Pats using their bread and butter pick/rub route for an easy score.
#ShootYourArrows, @brandincooks! #GoPats pic.twitter.com/SgcaupBI2V
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 31, 2017
A quick three-and-out by the Jets led to another long scoring drive. Guess who? Dion Lewis with both a rushing and now a receiving touchdown in this game for the second straight contest.
A rushing TD and a receiving TD for @DionLewisRB.
For the second straight game. #NYJvsNE pic.twitter.com/4mpruRB5qo
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 31, 2017
With that score, the Patriots continued another impressive streak. That Dion Lewis score was the 11th time they scored right before the end of the first half THIS SEASON.
The Patriots haven’t been operating at 100 percent but despite that, the Pats went into the half with a commanding 21-3 lead.
The third quarter was filled with offensive ineptitude for the Jets. The Jets had five straight three-and-outs while the Patriots padded the lead with a field goal.
The question running through my head through three quarters is how the hell have the Jets not converted a third down, yet we still haven’t seen Christian Hackenberg in the game yet?
The Jets continued their conservative gameplan through the fourth quarter until Robby Anderson got knocked to the ground and was taken out of the game. Apparently Jets offensive coordinator John Morton thought that was the ideal time to go deep to ArDarius Stewart. Go figure.
But instead of going for a touchdown when they were down 21 points, they went for the field goal to remain down three scores.
The last time a Jets team went an entire game without converting a third-down conversation was back in December of 1996 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Until now.
We won’t know what pick the Jets will end up with until the rest of the Sunday slate works itself out, but the Jets have done their part to get the best pick possible with their fourth straight loss and losers of nine out of their last 11 games.
