`D’ nowhere near fixed
Juggernaut Jets roll up yards
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The big play reared its ugly head once again yesterday, only Stephon Gilmore, the man who has been blamed for most of the team’s defensive woes, was nowhere to be found in the Patriots secondary.
While Gilmore stayed home nursing a concussion, the rest of his secondary mates still couldn’t stop the Jets from adding to the list of lengthy plays that have plagued the unit all season.
There were plenty of blown coverages, with Jets receivers gobbling up yards by the droves. Jets quarterback Josh McCown looked like Brett Favre out there, as he became the sixth straight quarterback to throw for over 300 yards on the Patriots defense.
“Trust me, we’re going to hear it (today),” said safety Duron Harmon, referring to Bill Belichick, and the likely wrath of the Patriots coach after watching film of the 24-17 win.
Sure, the Patriots defense eventually rose to the challenge, and made a stand at the end to seal the victory over the division rivals. But once again, it was hard to walk away thinking this defense was good enough to help bring back another championship.
If they’re letting a journeyman run roughshod over them with limited weapons, what will Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan do next week with a stacked arsenal?
Let’s also remember Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia had 10 days to prepare for this juggernaut offense, which was ranked 22nd in the NFL entering the game.
So how did the Jets manage to be so effective moving the ball? By doing what other teams have done to beat the Patriots. They used their tight end and running back to move the chains.
Tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins caught eight balls for 46 yards and a touchdown. He probably had a second touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the controversial play was deemed a fumble/touchback or else the Jets might have tied the game.
“I’ll take it,” said safety Patrick Chung. “I don’t make the rules. It benefitted us, so I’ll take it.”
As for running back Matt Forte, he wasn’t quite Kareem Hunt, but he was pretty good with eight catches for 59 yards. And these two weren’t even the big play guys. Jermaine Kearse (44-yard grab), Robby Anderson (32, 23) and Jeremy Kerley (31, 30) were the big chain movers.
Several of those plays came on third down. And worse, the 32-yard play to Anderson came on a fourthand-12 from the Jets 25 with 1:12 to play. He was wide open. That’s inexcusable.
“There were some big plays, stuff that we can’t have. It’s just some small details we’re having trouble with,” Harmon said. “We’ve gotta stop that. It’s hard for teams to just drive the ball 80 yards every drive. We can’t make it easier for them, giving up 25-yard plays, 30-yard plays. It’s just something we have to take ownership of as a team. We have to hone in a little more on our responsibility and our jobs.”
Johnson Bademosi, who is more noted for his special teams prowess, played in place of Gilmore at cornerback, and didn’t do all that poorly playing out on the boundary. Malcolm Butler, meanwhile, was beaten a few times by Kerley on the other corner, one time in the end zone as he gambled and lost. He made up for it with key interception before the half that led to a touchdown.
“It’s not the same issues. It’s not all blown coverages. They ran some good plays to the defense we were running,” said Harmon. “Look, those are plays we don’t want to give up. It’s something we know we can’t be giving up if we want to be a good football team. Even though it’s not the way it was three weeks ago, we still can’t allow it, and we have to fix the little things, so we don’t give up those big plays. But we got fighters on this team. We’ll fix it.”
The Patriots did technically hold the Jets to just three points in the second half. They actually sacked McCown four times in the game, and showed a toughness in fighting off the Jets. But, in the final analysis, the defense still doesn’t pass any eye test.
Chung, however, believes there’s still time to work out the kinks. He’s right, but the Groundhog Day defense is getting a little old.
“We can play better, we’re going to try to get better. We’re making progress. We just have to be more consistent,” Chung said. “(McCown) is a seasoned veteran. He’s going to make plays. He gets paid, too. We just have to limit (the big plays) as much as we can. It’s football. Things are going to happen. It’s just a matter of how you bounce back. That determines how tough you are.”