Having snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Patriots in last year’s season finale, the Jets will now look to get a streak of their own going against their AFC East rivals.
The Jets will be favored in their home opener, but New England has been competitive so far, so it won’t be an easy game.
Here are the biggest stories to watch…
How will both teams cope with recent defensive losses?
Both teams will be forced into adjustments this week having suffered key defensive injuries.
For the Jets, Pro Bowl defensive end Jermaine Johnson is out for the season after tearing his Achilles in the win over Tennessee. Meanwhile, New England will be without stud linebacker and one of their key leaders as Ja’Whaun Bentley is reportedly headed to injured reserve.
The Jets’ depth on the edge will be tested, but Will McDonald will look to build on last week’s performance where he matched his entire rookie season output with three sacks. New England will need to lean on the ascending Jahlani Tavai to anchor the linebacker unit.
The injuries don’t stop there, though. The Jets may also need to make multiple changes with the status of starters C.J. Mosley, DJ Reed and Michael Carter II uncertain. For their own part, the Pats are already without their best defensive lineman as Christian Barmore is on the non-football injury list due to blood clots.
Will the Jets be able to get their tight ends involved?
In the preseason, Tyler Conklin said his goal for this season was to make the Pro Bowl. However, he’s off to a slow start with just two catches for 16 yards in the first two games. In addition, backup Jeremy Ruckert, who was hoping to establish himself as a future starter, hasn’t had any catches.
The Jets need to showcase a more multifaceted offense, having relied too much on Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson at times. Getting Braelon Allen involved last week was successful, so perhaps this week could see them getting the tight ends going — especially with Bentley out.
As for New England, their best pass-catching option is tight end Hunter Henry, who is coming off a 100-yard game against Seattle. The Jets will be wary of the threat he brings.
Can the Jets secondary right the ship after two inconsistent games?
The Jets have plenty of options to fill in if Reed and/or Carter are unavailable or limited on Thursday night, and will be confident that they can cope without either player after winning with both missing time on Sunday.
However, the bigger concern might be Sauce Gardner, who uncharacteristically gave up 97 receiving yards, including a long touchdown, in Sunday’s game. This was more than he had given up in his past 12 games combined. He needs to bounce back against a Patriots team that will be looking to involve their receivers more after a slow start from all of them.
At safety, Tony Adams leads the team with four missed tackles, and Chuck Clark had two costly personal fouls last week. They need to get that cleaned up, too.
Could this be a breakout game for Garrett Wilson?
Seahwaks wide receivers DK Metcalf and Jaxson Smith-Njigba combined for 22 catches in their overtime win over New England on Sunday, so the Jets should be confident they can get their own receivers more involved. Wilson has 117 yards on 10 catches through two games, but the Jets will expect more production as their offense gets into gear.
While he was often matched up with outstanding 2023 first-round pick Christian Gonzalez, Metcalf did most of his damage against zone coverage or other matchups so look for the Jets to feed the ball to Wilson whenever Gonzalez isn’t on him and to target their other receivers when he is.
Can the Jets slow down the Patriots’ impressive running game?
After the 49ers ran all over them in Week 1, the Jets showed improvement against the run in Week 2. Although Tennessee ended up with 130 rushing yards, a lot of this came from Will Levis’ scrambling. New York actually held the Titans’ running backs to just 3.6 yards per carry.
They face another challenge on Sunday, though, as the Pats are coming off a game where they racked up 185 rushing yards. Rhamondre Stevenson is second in the AFC in rushing yards and his backup Antonio Gibson is coming off a game where he had 96 yards on just 11 carries.
New England has had success even though they have a few inexperienced linemen starting for them and injury issues upfront. The Jets must hold up better in the trenches and tackle effectively at the second level to limit yards after contact so they can force the Patriots into passing situations.
