Patriots vs. Jets: Full Report Card Grades for New England
Christmas came one day early for the New England Patriots. As a great gift to all Patriots fans, the holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah kicked off with a dominant victory over the so-called rival New York Jets.
This game was nearly over before it started, as the Patriots hit the ground running by blowing out the Jets 41-3 at Gillette Stadium, ensuring everyone was on their way to celebrate the holidays.
The Jets are a fallen, broken team that was wavering and needed someone to deliver the finishing blow. The Patriots crushed the Jets and then crushed them some more.
Quarterback Tom Brady was nearly perfect for the day, and the whole team was gelling as the Patriots look to lock up the AFC's No. 1 seed as we sit and wait to see what happens in the Colts-Raiders game.
The Patriots' No. 1 scoring defense continued its run of true defensive gems. The criticism can stop even though the Patriots have played lousy offenses. They just held the Jets to three points to improve on the top defense in the NFL when it comes to points allowed.
Happy holidays to all and celebrate by reading on for the full report grades from the Patriots' 41-3 beatdown of the Jets.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Brady's performance can be summed up quite simply because his three passing touchdowns in the first half put the Jets out of their misery and gave the Patriots a 27-0 lead going in to halftime.
Brady finished the day 17-of-27 with 214 yards and those three touchdowns. He paved the way for the Patriots to turn to backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the fourth quarter. Whenever a quarterback plays this well that his team can bring in the second-team offense, it is a thing of beauty. Sometimes we take that for granted with New England. Cherish the moment.
Brady's finest moment came off a play-action fake to James White where he scrambled out of the pocket like Fran Tarkenton and fired down the field to Julian Edelman.
The only knock on Brady was that he missed Edelman open along the left sideline in the end zone on a third-down play on the game's first drive that ended in a field goal.
Grade: A
Running Back
2 of 10
Two touchdowns can be a little deceiving when it comes to handing out grades. But let's praise LeGarrette Blount for adding to his franchise record for rushing touchdowns. Blount now has an NFL-leading 17 rushing touchdowns, which is such an impressive number for the power back. He was deadly in the red zone as he just doesn't go down.
Overall, Blount averaged a lowly 2.5 yards per carry, and Dion Lewis only pitched a yards-per-carry average of 3.3. But the Patriots had already done their damage on the scoreboard, so they just wanted to get the game over with and have everyone healthy.
White had three catches for 32 yards and a touchdown. Though before the touchdown, White dropped a pass that would have gone for huge yardage to the house. He made up for it with a nice over-the-shoulder touchdown grab shortly thereafter.
Grade: B+
Wide Receiver
3 of 10
Edelman had his longest catch of the year, a 35-yard grab, and was in top form for Hanukkah. Edelman finished the day with five catches for 89 yards and nearly hauled in a back-shoulder touchdown grab. Edelman should have had another catch too on a ball that referees deemed hit the ground, though it sure looked like a catch on all replays.
Malcolm Mitchell drew a long pass interference call when his arm was held by the defensive back. Mitchell would have likely hauled in the deep ball if he could have used both arms. Regardless, he got the yardage.
Chris Hogan was pretty quiet, though his one reception was perfectly in stride and a solid display of hands for 22 yards.
Michael Floyd saw some snaps and looks like he may have a little involvement in the offense going forward.
Grade: A
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Tight End
4 of 10
The first Christmas miracle came one day early. Tight end Matt Lengel caught his first pass of his NFL career. And to make it even more of a miracle, it was a great touchdown grab as he fell to the ground in the end zone.
Lengel, who is only seeing playing time because of Rob Gronkowski being out for the year, typically is used as a blocking tight end. As a deceptive play, Brady had Lengel cut over the middle on a weak slant, and Lengel made the catch for the score.
Meanwhile, Martellus Bennett made some noise with a textbook touchdown catch on a seam route from five yards outside of the end zone. Bennett was untouched and high-pointed the football and got both feet in with precision.
The production was minimal, but the quality was most impressive.
Grade: A+
Offensive Line
5 of 10
Brady is thankful for his offensive linemen this holiday season. The Jets do still have one of the better defensive lines in the NFL, though many got injured during the course of the game. So, the offensive line did not have the easiest task. After dismantling the Broncos defensive front, the Patriots continued the trend with a stellar performance.
Marcus Cannon kept his rhythm at right tackle as he is piecing together a fantastic season.
Joe Thuney had a great pull block where he led the way for a Lewis run.
Offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia worked wonders with the O-line that has continuity for the first time in seasons, and it is paying off big time.
Grade: A+
Defensive End
6 of 10
The game started with a statement for the Patriots defensive line. Chris Long burst along the edge to record a sack on the opening drive of the game that set the defensive tone for the day. Alan Branch blew up a run play that forced Jets running back Bilal Powell to try to make a play moving laterally. Jabaal Sheard was a force once again as he recorded a half-sack with Branch.
Between the big fellas in the middle of Branch, Malcom Brown and rookie Vincent Valentine and the edge presence of Long, Trey Flowers and Rob Ninkovich, the Patriots were dominant up front.
The Jets ran for 111 yards on the day, but Powell only had 60 yards, and they held the Jets as a team to 3.8 yards per carry.
The pressure generated by the pass rush is becoming a joy to watch, and the Jets paid the price by only completing eight passes on the day.
Grade: A
Linebacker
7 of 10
The linebackers were everywhere on Saturday.
Elandon Roberts led the way with a whopping 11 total tackles, five of which were solo tackles. Second on the team in tackles was emerging linebacker Kyle Van Noy with seven tackles including one solo stop.
Roberts and Van Noy were solid contributors on defense in both the run game and passing game.
The Jets couldn't get anything going on offense, and while it is a collective group, the ability of the linebackers to limit the running backs was key in this one right from the start of the game.
Grade: A+
Secondary
8 of 10
Don't throw toward Malcolm Butler. He will make you pay.
Sure, Bryce Petty and Ryan Fitzpatrick made a lot of mistakes and threw a lot of interceptions, but the Patriots seized every opportunity.
Butler's first interception came on a slightly underthrown ball that he was able to break up and then stick with to make the pick. Butler's luck didn't stop there, as he intercepted another pass. Butler was a total shutdown cornerback and was potent in the defensive backfield.
Eric Rowe had his own contribution with a nice interception along the sideline where he high-pointed the football and managed to control his body and land inbounds. Rowe has carved out a nice role in New England, and his second career interception came against the same team as his first interception. Thank you, New York Jets.
Not to be forgotten because he didn't intercept the pass, but Logan Ryan dove for a perfectly timed pass breakup in the second quarter.
Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon combined for 13 tackles, too.
Grade: A+
Special Teams
9 of 10
When you demolish a team 41-3, there aren't typically a lot of opportunities for special teams plays. The Patriots didn't even have a chance to return a kickoff. They returned three punts, but there were minimal contributions there.
The special teams moments came on the punt team as Ryan Allen downed a punt inside the 20 and the punt coverage only allowed two punt returns for a total of seven yards. Jonathan Jones made another nice punt coverage tackle.
Stephen Gostkowski did a nice job of pinning his kickoffs right at the goal line and giving his teammates the opportunity to tackle returners for less yardage than taking a touchback.
Gostkowski also sank all five of his extra points and made two field goals that were total chip shots.
Grade: A
Coaching
10 of 10
I'm going to let the scoreboard do the talking:
Patriots 41, Jets 3
41. 41 points. To 3. 3 Points.
The Patriots crushed, demolished, demoralized, trounced, smacked around, beat down and dominated their so-called rival. It was the first time since 2012 that a Patriots-Jets game ended with a double-digit scoring margin.
The Jets are a team that has hit rock bottom, but Bill Belichick and his coaching staff sent the Jets lower than rock bottom.
Grade: A+
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