PATS NEED A JET-FAST START
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The road has not been kind to the Patriots this season. That’s no secret. The trick now is flipping the script. To do so, the Patriots will have to buck their bothersome trend of starting slowly in games. The Pats have fallen woefully behind in each of the three games they’ve lost away from Gillette Stadium. The Patriots went down 21-3 at Jacksonville Week 2, 13-0 at Detroit Week 3 and, most recently, 17-3 at Tennessee. They were also behind 17-7 at Chicago before turning that game around. Time to kick the habit. The Patriots know those dismal road starts have to stop starting today when they travel to the Meadowlands to play the New York Jets. “If we want to be the type of football team that we set out to be back in August, we’re going to have to start playing better on the road, period. We haven’t been a good team on the road this year. We haven’t brought enough energy. We haven’t started fast enough,” said special teams captain Matthew Slater. “We haven’t played consistently enough to be a good road team and that’s going to have to change. So, this is a huge game. I think the last five times we’ve been in New York, we’re 3-2. Three of the wins have been by less than a touchdown if I’m not mistaken. So we know what kind of game it’s going to be and we have to find a way to get out of there with a win. But not only that, we need to play well. We need to play with confidence. We need to play with energy, great focus, great execution. So that’s our goal for the week.” The Patriots haven’t jumped out of the gates well to start games. They also haven’t come out too well after halftime, either. They’ve been outscored handily in both the first (56-47) and third (61-40) quarters. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the problem was certainly discussed during the bye week. It just boils down to everyone doing their jobs better. “I don’t think there’s any magical solution. It really comes down to our execution of the plays, whatever they happen to be – runs, passes, play actions, outside, inside. If we execute the plays well we gain yards, and if we don’t then we don’t,” he said. “Our overall coaching, and playing and execution of whatever it is that we run, whenever we run it, whether it’s in the first quarter, fourth quarter, we’ve had plenty of success when things are done correctly and efficiently. When they’re not, then we don’t have the same results. I think that’s really what it comes down to.” The Jets, at 3-7, might not appear to pose much of a threat on paper, but the Patriots won’t fall into the trap of underestimating them. They’ve talked all week about their history of tough games with their division rival. They don’t care about records, or coaches being on the hot seat, which is where Todd Bowles sits. The Jets are also coming off a bye week, and also are trying to get the taste of a butt-kicking out of their mouths. They were embarrassed by the Bills, 41-10, last time they took the field. Veteran Josh McCown started that game. There’s a possibility rookie Sam Darnold, who’s been nursing a foot injury, will return. The Patriots will be ready for whoever’s under center. “Every week, we’re one play away from playing the other quarterback, whoever the starter is. So, we have to be ready for both guys,” said Belichick. “That’s the way it is every week.” The Patriots should have a healthy Rob Gronkowski returning. He’s missed three of the past four games with back and ankle issues. There’s still some mystery whether the old Gronk will be back to his dominant self when he returns, or if all the wear and tear of countless injuries have finally caught up. Tom Brady, meanwhile, popped up on the injury report Wednesday with a knee problem. That was the result of the double-pass in the Titans game where he caught a Julian Edelman toss and ran for a short gain. So with all of their pieces on offense together, the Patriots will try to get off to a good start and carry that through the rest of the game. The Jets are preparing for the Patriots best across the board. “We know they have great players, and we know they can turn the switch and play great football,” said Bowles during a conference call. “That’s what we’re expecting.” The Patriots have six games left to get their act together before the playoffs. With the Chiefs losing Monday night, there’s still the possibility of them landing the top seed and home field throughout the playoffs. It won’t happen if they can’t fix their problems on the road first. “I’m confident in this group, in this team, in this coaching staff. We know what we gotta do, we just have to go out and do it. There’s no secret stuff we can take. It’s just out there executing, being focused each and every play,” said safety Duron Harmon. “It’s realizing every game is going to go 60 minutes, and being able to focus from the first play to the last play and just being able to go out and execute. If we do that at a high level, we’ll be fine.” PREDICTION: Patriots 34, Jets 17