Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots vs. New York Jets: Mac Jones or Zach Wilson? Defensive Slugfest in Week 3? Crossover Thursday

Starting point is 00:00:00 You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello Jets fans and Patriots fans. It's that time of week. It's that time of year. Jets and Patriots will play this Sunday, 1 o'clock, MetLife Stadium. I'm Jon Buchko with Locked On Jets, along with Mike DeBate from Locked On Patriots. It's one of our favorite shows each year, our crossover episode of Locked On Jets and Locked On Patriots

Starting point is 00:00:43 to prepare you for this AFC East battle. And you should know that this Crossover Thursday episode is brought to you by PrizePix, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepix.com slash LockedOnNFL and use code all lowercase LockedOnNFL for a first deposit match of up to $100. Well, Mike, it's always great to talk with you. Our teams have a fierce rivalry. There's a fierce rivalry in the fan base, but I feel like it's always a friendly

Starting point is 00:01:11 discussion when we talk Jets and Patriots. It definitely is, John. It always feels very homey whenever the two of us hit the microphone together. Two fan bases that definitely have interesting relationships with each other, two teams that have interesting histories with each other, but bottom line, a lot of mutual respect between these two franchises. And I still think we're looking forward to a great game this Sunday in the Meadowlands. All right, well, Mike, Jets 1-1, Patriots 0-2. I think both these teams are in need of a win. What's the biggest storyline coming out of Foxborough this week?

Starting point is 00:01:42 Well, right now out of Foxborough, it's missed opportunities and early deficits continuing to plague these New England Patriots in their efforts to get back into the win column. Mack Jones, especially a lot of blame being placed on his shoulders. Finished Sunday's game against the Dolphins, 31 of 42 passing, 231 yards, one touchdown, one interception. You know know typically an adequate stat line not anything blockbuster but not anything bottom of the barrel either but there were a handful of ill-timed throws a little bit of an inability on behalf of the entire team to make the necessary plays in the clutch and this is something that is very atypical of a bill belichick led team especially a bill o'Brien-led offense.

Starting point is 00:02:30 So a lot of blame pie being thrown around right now, but you can in good conscience lay this all on Mac Jones' shoulders. You've got to take a look at the makeshift offensive line behind which he's been playing the last few weeks. Unfortunately, Cole Strange, Michael Wainu making their season debuts last week. They're still getting their legs back. Literally and figuratively, Wainu is their season debuts last week. They're still getting their legs back. Literally and figuratively, a Wainu is coming back from an ankle injury. Strange coming back from a knee injury. That unit struggled without any question.

Starting point is 00:02:53 Miami's defense finishing the night with four sacks on Mac Jones, eight quarterback hits. Calvin Anderson especially is working his way back from non-football illness. He was credited allowing a sack on Jones while surrendering three quarterback hits. Patriots have to figure out a way to protect Mac better, and that's going to allow the running game to get on track, which hasn't happened for New England. So the offensive improvements that we're seeing in New England are logistical right now,

Starting point is 00:03:20 but they haven't translated into a whole lot of points on the board, and that's making some Patriots fans pretty squeamish. Now, you mentioned logistical changes, and I've been fascinated by the return of Bill O'Brien to New England because, of course, last year, replacing Josh McDaniel, the Patriots had that two-headed monster, so to speak, of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, and I understand there was not a popular duo up in New England

Starting point is 00:03:43 as the Patriots struggled a bit. What difference do you think Bill O'Brien's made in his return to the Patriots? Well, you're seeing a more balanced and more disciplined New England Patriots team without any question. Fundamentally, this team is much more sound. Mac Jones is playing much better under pressure. He's completing 72% of his passes under pressure. He's ranking right now amongst the top quarterbacks in the league in terms of completions and in terms of attempts. So they're definitely putting the ball back in his hands.

Starting point is 00:04:13 Mack has more control at the line of scrimmage. And because of it, it's giving him a little bit more freedom over this offense than he had last year, where really at times, John, it looked like he was playing with handcuffs on. The Patriots were not able to really get their offense into rhythm simply because they were so bogged down with trying to worry about game plan that they didn't worry about executing it on the field. Bill O'Brien has made a world of difference

Starting point is 00:04:38 for the New England Patriots in that regard. Again, it's digging themselves early holes, turnovers, protection of the football has been key. Patriots turning the ball over very early in the first two games, and it's leading to a lot of points on the board for their opponents. So they have to shore that up if they want to be competitive in this game that we're talking about today. But ultimately, Bill O'Brien has made a difference in terms of catering to the strengths of his past catchers and especially his quarterback mike you know i hear you talk about a polarizing third year quarterback who

Starting point is 00:05:12 was drafted in the first round of 2021 i hear you talk about a makeshift offensive line we might as well be talking about the new york jets right now and i was just going to say john uh please enlighten me as to what the biggest story right now is in Gotham City there we need to ask. Well, I think, you know, it's obviously all derivative on how do the Jets recover from the Aaron Rodgers injury. It was about as devastating of an injury as you can see a team suffer. And Mike, before we started recording, I told you, you know, I think Patriots fans who were around in the pre-Bill Parcells days maybe get it. I think folks in Boston, Red Sox fans pre-2004 get it. I think there are fan bases across the NFL like Detroit and Cleveland that may get it, but it's just different when you suffer an injury like

Starting point is 00:05:58 that and you have a team with the history of everything always seeming to fall apart at the wrong time. You know, it's one thing if, I think it's one thing if your team's won a championship recently, it's one thing if your team's consistently in the mix, it hurts no matter what. But when you're in a situation like the Jets are, where you just feel like nothing can ever go right, it's been decades, it's been 54 years since your team won a championship.

Starting point is 00:06:20 Most Jets fans have not seen their team win the Super Bowl. And you have this sense of optimism through the offseason that maybe we finally found our guy. Maybe this is all going to work. And then Rodgers goes down four plays into the season. I mean, I've mentioned this on Locked on Jets over the last couple of weeks. If you hired a Hollywood writer

Starting point is 00:06:39 to come up with the most cursed team in sports and he gave you that script, you wouldn't just reject it you'd fire him because of how lazy it was the four four plays into the season your guy gets injured so now zach wilson's back in the lineup and this is the quarterback the jets benched twice last year and they got aaron rogers to replace zach wilson and the offensive line which was a makeshift unit they had a lot they rolled the dice on a lot of guys dway, who's 38 years old, they gambled they could get another good season out of him coming off injury. Makai Becton coming off essentially two full missed seasons because of injuries.

Starting point is 00:07:14 It's not worked that well for the offensive line so far. And the Jets had a really bad performance against Dallas after a really inspiring victory after Rodgers got injured at week one against Buffalo. But a lot of the good feeling, I I think is now gone after that week one game because they went out and got crushed by Dallas and the Cowboys are playing excellent football right now. There's no question about that. I don't think there's any shame in losing to Dallas, but the way the Jets lost, I think opens up a lot of questions about this team,

Starting point is 00:07:39 especially the offensive line. Now I think on the positive side, and you can't tell this through the stat sheet because the stats look terrible but i actually do think zach wilson's making some progress i mean i knew he threw three interceptions but those were all in the fourth quarter after the game was well in hand for dallas and i think for at least two of them it was just him trying to do too much him trying to make a play you know desperation situation um i'm not saying it's there for zach wilson yet And listen, when I say Zach Wilson's improved, improvement is relative. It's not that hard to be better than what Zach Wilson

Starting point is 00:08:09 was last year. And I'm not convinced he's a quality starting quarterback at this point in time. But if you look at the way he's playing, he's making better reads. He's navigating the pocket better. I mean, last year, if there was the first sign of pressure, he was going to bail on it. He was going to backpedal. He's not doing these things year so there's at least you know some glimmer of hope but it's always one game away from falling apart and he's going up against the Patriots team that has really given him some issues over the last two seasons so I think part of the story is you know part of the story Zach Wilson part of the story is how will the offensive line impact him and broad in a broader sense Jets really need to get this win they may be one and one but the part of the story zach wilson part of the story is how will the offensive line impact him and broad in a broader sense jets really need to get this win they may be one and one but the

Starting point is 00:08:48 rest of the schedule at least over the next couple weeks is going to be pretty tough you got kansas city coming into town next week the eagles over the horizon in a few weeks and it's not that hard to see this thing going really downhill for the jets if they don't get this victory and to go two and one this weekend i'm glad that you mentioned mentioned Zach Wilson and the pressure that he's under because I talked a little bit about pressure on Mac Jones and obviously you don't want to see your quarterback under extreme pressure. Mac's been a little bit better but he's averaging just north of two seconds of time to get the ball out when the defenders are closing in around him how do you believe in this game he's going to be able to handle some of that pressure that you know Bill Belichick is going to be throwing at him

Starting point is 00:09:30 you know he's moving in the pocket better and in the two-minute drill against Dallas he dealt with pressure a couple times and he he stepped up and he scrambled so you know and like I said last year if last year if there was a hint of pressure, the play was over. This year, I think he's more calm in the pocket. And maybe this is the Aaron Rodgers effect because there was a lot made out of Aaron Rodgers mentoring him. And I do think the mentor thing gets a little out of hand sometimes. I think the Jets were selling it because it's one of those things you could say, well, Aaron Rodgers, we're not just getting him for two years.

Starting point is 00:10:01 He's also going to help Zach Wilson become a really good quarterback. But I think this is going to be a really interesting test. I do think Zach Wilson's handling pressure much better this year. And I think that, you know, you just see he's more comfortable moving within the pocket. And he's also more willing to just tuck in and run. And, you know, he's not going to make him out to be Lamar Jackson. But, you know, he can, if there's a lane in front of him, you know, he can break a nice gain. So I think this is going to be a bigger test, though. I think it's going to be more interesting. I think it'll be interesting

Starting point is 00:10:30 to see how he handles it, because I think Bill Belichick's a bit of a different test from what he's seen so far. Absolutely. And Bill Belichick defensively going up against Zach Wilson is a matchup I'm sure both sides are going to be looking forward to seeing. But, John, you and I both know these games come down to matchups. We can talk all about strategy, but it's the players on the field that ultimately decide the fate. John and I are going to talk about those matchups in just a moment and key players on which both sides want to keep eyes on when this episode of the Locked On Patriots and Locked On Jazz Podcasts

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Starting point is 00:13:41 crossing the streams as we do twice every NFL season. And we're already having a blast here on this one, talking about the biggest stories coming out of both New England and New York. But as we said coming into the break, these games always come down to matchups on the field. And this game obviously has a lot of them to choose from. When you look at the Patriots and the Jets in week three of the 2023 NFL season, what matchups on the field are you looking forward to most?

Starting point is 00:14:11 You know, Mike, I got to go back to something I alluded to in the first segment. This Jets offensive line did not play a good game against Dallas. I don't think they played a great game against Buffalo, but against Dallas, I think all five Jets linemen had a bad game. I don't think there was a single guy on that line that played well. And there's a lot of talk in New York, especially at the left tackle position with Dwayne Brown.

Starting point is 00:14:31 This was a roll of the dice going with him this season. He was coming off a serious injury. I want to emphasize, I have a lot of respect for Dwayne Brown, perennial pro bowler in Houston and Seattle. Guy who's had a phenomenal career, played injured with the Jets last season. He did not have to play. At the time he injured with the Jets last season. He did not have to play. At the time he signed with the Jets, you have to remember, the Jets were a team that's been

Starting point is 00:14:49 at the bottom of the league for a number of years. There was no sign that they were necessarily going to improve. He kind of took a leap of faith and signed with the Jets and played hurt last year and gave the Jets credible football after Mekhi Becton got injured. I have a lot of respect for Dwayne Brown. I don't know how much Dwayne Brown has has left in the tank he had limited snaps in training camp this year did not play at

Starting point is 00:15:09 all in the preseason and listen micah parsons is a guy who gives everybody problems in fact he gave other jets linemen a lot of problems but that was a dominant performance and i worry about duane brown but i also worry about mckay beckton because mckay beckton did not play well last week and i look at the patriots the guys they have who are going to come off the edge Matthew Judon Josh Uche these are guys who've both given the Jets a lot of problems the last couple of years especially last year Jets had issues blocking them and I did say I think Zach Wilson will handle pressure better than he did last year but look you don't want your quarterback to be under pressure because bad things will happen bad things happen for the jets against dallas even though it wasn't what i'm

Starting point is 00:15:48 saying is it wasn't zach wilson's fault i think zach wilson dealt with the pressure relatively well but if you're dealing with constant pressure you're going to have issues you know you're going to take sacks the quarterback's going to be less effective i don't care who it is and i have concerns over the way the jets are going to be able to handle it. If Nathaniel Hackett, offensive coordinator, a guy who's catching a lot of criticism in New York because he left Dwayne Brown one-on-one against Parsons an awful lot and he hasn't shown much willingness to use his tight ends to block, to have guys chip.

Starting point is 00:16:19 He really did not give the – I mean, there were times where he did it, but I don't think he did it enough. And I'm concerned about is Hackett going to remain stubborn? I'm worried about this matchup from the Jets standpoint. Yeah, without any question. And I'm glad that you brought that up. And I got a funny feeling we're going to circle back to that in just a moment when we talk about key players on whom we're going to have our eye on.

Starting point is 00:16:39 But when it comes to matchups, one that I am really looking forward to watching is Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, who I happen to think is one of the most electrifying offensive players in the league right now, going up against one of the better young corners in this rookie class, and that is Christian Gonzalez. And I do believe that Christian's going to draw that coverage this week, especially with Jonathan Jones still coming back from an ankle injury. He did practice on Wednesday. Good sign. But you have to think that he's going to be somewhat hampered by that injury moving forward.

Starting point is 00:17:09 Marcus Jones, a speedy corner second year, created a lot of buzz last year with his ability to return punts. I know Jets fans know that very, very well and his ability to be able to do that. He's nursing a shoulder injury, and it's looking iffy that he might be able to go in this one. So it ends up on the rookie shoulders and so far Christian has proven that he's capable of handling the load 13 tackles through his first two games he had an interception his first career interception

Starting point is 00:17:35 against Miami a quarter blitz sack on Jalen Hurts in game one Christian has done a little bit of everything if he draws that coverage and is able to match up against Garrett Wilson I'm looking forward to seeing how this kid handles a top flight receiver one-on-one going up against I think in a very hostile environment this could be a lot of fun to watch on Sunday oh absolutely I've been I've been I've watched New England a couple for both both games and I think he's done it for not I think he's been looked excellent so I think that's an excellent matchup and you mentioned Garrett Wilson i mean he would have put up a monster game against dallas if the jets just could have protected zach wilson a little bit better i mean

Starting point is 00:18:11 there was a play near the end of the half where jets are essentially in the mode where they have to throw to the end zone they're out of timeouts they're you know they're driving near the end of the half so you know they're probably kicking a field goal but they have to take a couple shots at the end zone that's a situation where you can't get open in at the goal line and Garrett Wilson still found a way to shake a defender and get open I mean there were a couple other plays where Wilson you could see if you wouldn't want to watch the film that Wilson was wide open and it wasn't Zach Wilson's fault it was just the Jets could not protect him and you know this I think that this is going to be I'm with you Mike I think that's going to be a great matchup. Obviously, we've talked about the quarterbacks.

Starting point is 00:18:46 Obviously, we've talked about some of the high-profile players in the secondary and on the skill positions. But is there a particular player, John, that you think could swing the pendulum either way in this matchup between the Pats and Jets on Sunday? All right, I'm going to cheat here because this is the most obvious one ever. This is generic football analysis. I'm going to go to the quarterback and Zach Wilson. And the reason I'm doing this is Zach Wilson has had three nightmare, really four nightmares against New England. Cause I was going to say he's had three

Starting point is 00:19:12 terrible games. And the one game that wasn't terrible was the game he got injured two years ago in Foxborough. So it has been a really difficult experience for Zach Wilson going up against the Patriots defense. But you know, here's the thing we all know Bill Belichick is about the last coach any young quarterback wants to see but when you look at Zach Wilson's struggles it's really about him just making unforced errors I mean I don't think that I look I watch Bill Belichick destroy Sam Darnold yeah I mean in you know there's the famous ghost game on Monday night back in 2019 where you watch the film and you said, wow, I don't know how any young quarterback could figure out that scheme.

Starting point is 00:19:48 Right. With Zach Wilson. I mean, these games against new England, he's just made big errors. And I think it's fair to say that Wilson in the three games, he's played start to finish jets have been Owen three. I think that if you flip switch Zach Wilson and Mac Jones and all three of

Starting point is 00:20:01 those games, the jets may have gone three and Oh, Zach Wilson has just, it was his first home game week two in 2021. He goes out and throws four interceptions. And again, I'll give credit for the guys who made the plays, but I don't think the Patriots necessarily did a lot schematically that forced those interceptions. I think Zach Wilson just kind of threw the ball away.

Starting point is 00:20:20 And the same goes last year at home when he threw three interceptions. And then the nightmare game in foxborough that led to the infamous press conference quote you know did you let the defense down no which led to his benching it's been a nightmare for zach wilson so a chance for him to gain some measure of measure of redemption this sunday or perhaps you know another step towards disappointment. Mike, who do you have as your key player to watch in this one? You know, I almost cheated myself and went with Zach Wilson simply because I think that the key to New England being able to control

Starting point is 00:20:54 this Jets team, either offensively or defensively, rests on how many mistakes the quarterback makes, if any. And you look at the track record, 54 of 106 pass attempts in four career games against Bill Belichick and the Patriots is Zach Wilson 693 yards two touchdowns seven interceptions 11 sacks on route to the Jets and 0-4 record in all four of those games so there is definitely a penchant for Zach to make mistakes against the Bill Belichick defense whether they're self-inflicted or whether they're inflicted by Bill, is kind of, I think, what we're going to see this week.

Starting point is 00:21:28 But I'm going to turn back over and go home around this one, and I'm going to say Ramondre Stevenson. And I think the New England Patriots absolutely have to try to get the running game going. Now, this is not an easy front to run against, but they have to try to do that. That means trying to push back guys like quinton williams quinton jefferson cj mosley quincy williams this is not an easy fun to run against

Starting point is 00:21:51 but if the patriots are going to try to do that they need to get consistent run blocking and they need to get good pass protection good solid protection from the interior that's going to allow guys like trent brown and potentially cal potentially Calvin Anderson or City So on the other side, seal those edges and allow Matt Jones to be able to go to work. But if Ramondre is able to get a couple of catch and runs and able to run off a couple of big runs, it's going to make that much easier for the New England Patriots. Excellent choice, Mike. Ramondre Stevenson played a key role last year when these teams met, especially the game at MetLife Stadium. So there you have it. You're acquainted with the Jets and the Patriots. You've heard what's going on with each team.

Starting point is 00:22:28 We've given you the key matchups, the key players to watch. Who's going to win now? Will the Jets get their first victory over the Patriots since 2015, or will New England's dominance over the Jets continue? You'll find out as we continue this Thursday crossover edition of Locked On Jets and Locked On Patriots. Our episode today is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Bird Dogs make you look good.

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Starting point is 00:24:09 1 o'clock Eastern, a rare 1 o'clock Eastern start for the Jets this season. It's their first of 2023, and it's going to be their last for a while. Jets have had a run of futility against the New England Patriots. Patriots have had a run of dominance against the Jets. You could argue that the Patriots' run of dominance against the Jets have had a run of futility against the New England Patriots. Patriots have had a run of dominance against the Jets. You could argue that the Patriots' run of dominance against the Jets

Starting point is 00:24:27 has lasted more than two decades. It's prediction time. Mike, tell us what you think is going to happen in this game. Well, if the New England Patriots are going to hope to be competitive and give themselves a chance to win in this game, one of the things that they have to do is establish the run on offense, but they have to be able to control the run on defense and I think that is the ultimate key to New England trying to remain competitive and hopefully win this game for Patriots fans the Pats have done a sort of up

Starting point is 00:24:55 and down job of doing that in the first two games they did a very good job of keeping Philadelphia's run game in check not so good when it came to the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots right now ranked 23rd in the league in rushing yards allowed and 20th in rushing yards per play. Now those numbers are a bit deceptive because Miami did most of that damage. And the reason that Miami was so productive against the run, or I should say so productive in running the football against the Patriots is because the Patriots started off using a lighter front. They had that three safety umbrella in the middle of the field to help contain their explosive offense. They didn't want guys like Tyreek Hill beating them with big plays.

Starting point is 00:25:35 That left them vulnerable up front. This week against the Jets, I think their focus completely shifts. It might do it even a 180. They definitely want to try to contain breeze hall they want to contain dalvin cook the defensive game plan i think is going to include devoting extra bodies into that area rather than take them away and trying to keep the jets running game from gaining any traction if they do that it allows the patriots to put the ball back in the hands of zach wilson and give zach a chance to do something he's yet to do, and that is beat a Bill Belichick defense.

Starting point is 00:26:07 Wilson, I think, has looked better, and I think he is a better quarterback this year than he was last year and in previous years. So that's going to be a little bit of a risk for New England, but I still think it's their best bet. They need very good performances from Devon Godchow, Lawrence Guy, Christian Barmore, Keon White, and Dietrich Weiss. That's a good unit. When they're playing on all cylinders.

Starting point is 00:26:28 They didn't do it on Sunday against Miami. They need to do it on Sunday against New York. And Mike, I think on the Jets side, a couple things come to mind. Number one is I'm expecting a bounce-back performance from this defense. The defense got lit up by the Dallas Cowboys. It was not a good performance by what is a very good defense. It was one of the top five defenses in the NFL last season. And I'm not sure they're necessarily going to finish in the top five again, but they're far better than what they showed against Dallas, where they let the Cowboys take the opening kick

Starting point is 00:26:57 down the field, 12 plays for a touchdown, and the Jets were chasing the game the entire time. I think this unit's going to come out and play better in this one. I think the Jets will have a better game plan on offense than they did against Dallas. Nathaniel Hackett dragged a lot of criticism, and I think deservedly so. I talked about some of my anxieties with how he's going to approach this New England pass rush, but one thing that I think is pretty likely to happen is Brees Hall's going to get more than four carries in this game.

Starting point is 00:27:24 The Jets are bringing Brees Hall back slowly, but they're not bringing him back so slowly that he should get four carries in the game. Hall kind of complained about it after the game to the media. He actually tweeted or X'd out four football emojis, which sometimes these players will send out cryptic social media posts. I think right after you complain about only getting four carries and you tweet out four football emojis it's pretty clear a little subtle yeah it's pretty clear what you're talking about there i think he's going to get four of the four carries and i mean he's a big play waiting to happen he's you know he's the one that one of the few backs in the league where you don't have to block things well for him he can still rip off a big run so i think that that's uh something you

Starting point is 00:28:01 look at but you know i've talked about zach wilson a lot. A lot of this has come back to Zach Wilson. And I actually think about something Sauce Gardner said, the Jetstar corner. He was talking about the New England offense. But I think this is actually a good breakdown of New England as a whole in the Belichick era. He was talking about their offense. And he said, you know, it's not necessarily the most complex offense in the world. They're just coached really well. And they execute really well.

Starting point is 00:28:22 And above all else, they don't beat themselves and that's been true for the last 22 years where you know jets i always hear jets fans say why don't why doesn't new england never lose a close game well it's because they never make the big i mean you know you know occasionally every team makes a big mistake in a big spot i mean you know the game in vegas last year which i'm sure you don't want to hear about mike but um that's a that's an anomaly. You know, the Patriots never are the team that makes the big mistake. You have to go out and beat the Patriots because the Patriots are not going to beat themselves. So the Jets, I think, in this game, probably above all others, the Jets have to avoid the big mistakes.

Starting point is 00:28:59 Because as I mentioned, the last two years, Zach Wilson's made the big mistake. And that's been the difference in the game. And I think sometimes when you say something like that, it sounds like you're being disrespectful for the opponent. But when I said that, I'm being respectful for the Patriots. Because the Patriots, if the game comes down to a big mistake, it's going to be the other team that makes it. The Patriots are a well-coached team. And they're always going to be sound. So they just kind of wait for you to be the other team that makes it the patriots are a well-coached team and they always you know they're always going to be sound so if you and they just kind of wait for you to make the mistake and that's how they win a lot of games absolutely without any question and would you like to offer a score prediction today for uh the outcome on sunday in east rutherford well maybe

Starting point is 00:29:39 this is wishful thinking maybe this is me being a homer although i did pick against the jets last weekend i picked for a closer game than they got but i do think the jets will win this game i think that they'll finally break this long losing streak that they have against the patriots i like the way this defense is going to respond i think that this defense is kind of built to contain the new england offense i think that you knew as Gardner said, this is not necessarily the most explosive offense in the league. They're very well coached. They executed the high level, but I think this is the type of offense the Jets defense is built to kind of slow down. I think on the other side of the ball, you'll see a relatively conservative game plan. I worry about Zach Wilson. I think if Zach Wilson can play turnover-free football,

Starting point is 00:30:22 the Jets are going to have a really good chance at winning this game. I think it's kind of a coin flip game. These are two tough teams. I think these teams may be combined for a one-in-three record. I think these are both really solid football teams. I mean, look at the opponents they've played so far. Can you have a tougher schedule than these two teams through the first two weeks? Patriots getting Philadelphia and Miami, Jets getting Buffalo and Dallas.

Starting point is 00:30:44 I think these are two quality football teams that will be in the playoff race. I think the Jets will still be in the playoff race near the end of the season, even without Aaron Rodgers. I think the Patriots will be right there. I think that the Jets figure out a way. I think Zach Wilson finally avoids the big mistake. So I'll take the Jets 17, the Patriots 14. I think it's going to be a low-scoring game.

Starting point is 00:31:03 I'll definitely take the under on that. I think the Jets 17, the Patriots 14. I think it's going to be a low-scoring game. I'll definitely take the under on that. I think the Jets eek one out at home. Folks, this is the fourth year that John and I have been doing crossovers together. And you can tell we think alike and share half of the same brain. I also have this game going 17-14 because I do think it's going to be a defensive slugfest. I'm going to pull out the Homer card on this one and say the New England Patriots pull this out. And the reason I do believe that is because I think the Patriots are going to win the turnover battle this week. And I think that's going to be key for them. New England knows that their backs are up against the wall. They're going to have a very difficult time

Starting point is 00:31:35 against this defense, especially in that secondary, like Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed are going to really make things difficult on the Patriots pass catchers, especially deep. So it's going to be imperative for the Patriots to win the short game battle. I think they do it. And I think they pull this one out 17-14. But like you said, John, this is a coin flip. It would not shock me to see it go the other way. The Jets have an extremely talented team. Aaron Rodgers or no Aaron Rodgers, this is still a formidable matchup for the New England

Starting point is 00:32:02 Patriots and one they have to be very, very careful for because the Jets can take it to you in so many different ways. And interestingly, both of these teams, we're going to see a lot of punts on Sunday. Both of these teams in the last two years have won a game on a punt return touchdown. Now, not such a pleasant memory for the Jets because it happened when these two teams met last year,

Starting point is 00:32:20 but week one, the Jets won on the Xavier Gibson punt return touchdown. So special teams could be an X factor in this one, Mike, as it always is when these teams meet. Absolutely. Just ask Brendan Schooler how important special teams were. The only reason why Patriots fans have any smiles this week is because of that move around the edge to be able to block Jason Sanders' field goal attempt last week.

Starting point is 00:32:41 The Patriots always have a wrinkle up their sleeve when it comes to special teams, and the Jets are very well coached in that area as well great x factor john well mike it's always great talking with you i can't wait to do it again later in the season jets fans check out locked on jets tomorrow we'll talk plenty more about this week three matchup patriots fans go to check out mike's show locked on patriots he always gives great analysis ahead of ahead of games between the patriots and the jets and jets fans head over to mike's show, Locked On Patriots. He always gives great analysis ahead of games between the Patriots and the Jets, and Jets fans head over to Mike's show as well.

Starting point is 00:33:07 You'll hear it from the other side. Until then, though, have a great Thursday, everybody, and we'll be back tomorrow to talk more AFC East football.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots vs. New York Jets: Mac Jones or Zach Wilson? Defensive Slugfest in Week 3? Crossover Thursday

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