New York Jets halftime thoughts reveal a familiar story. The New England Patriots are dominating the trenches in a 20-0 game.
“Throw downfield, take chances and pull off trick plays.” This is the world that’s dominating the New York Jets fan at the moment.
A 20-0 score at halftime has fans frustrated and bitter. They can’t understand why head coach Adam Gase would dial up a wide receiver screen on 3rd-and-9 or a swing pass on 3rd-and-short.
It’s simple: the New England Patriots are dominating the trenches.
It’s not even close. What the Pats front is doing to the Jets offensive line is a football clinic. What the Pats O-line is doing to the Jets defensive front is allowing Tom Brady to enjoy a cup of tea while standing in the pocket.
Play-calling means nothing when the trenches are won to such an incredible degree.
On top of that, with Luke Falk running for his life, New England’s coverage, led by all-world Stephon Gilmore, is blanketing the Jets weapons.
There is nowhere to go, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Yet, that’s not stopping Jets fans from losing their minds on the play-calling.
With 7:47 to go in the third quarter, the Jets rushing attack has mustered 1.9 yards-per-carry on 15 attempts. Le’Veon Bell’s box score has him at a cool 28 yards on 13 carries.
Falk’s stat-line is just as bad. The kid’s 7-for-13 for 59 yards and an interception actually looks better than what’s transpired.
Defensively, Brady and the Pats calmly drove the field for touchdowns on their first three possessions. Since the last touchdown, Gregg Williams’s unit has settled down a bit, but without an offensive presence, not much can be done.
It’s the same story in Jet land: the offensive line and four-man conventional pass rush ruin any shot of a successful program.