The first half of the New York Jets game against the New England Patriots is in the books, and the Jets are trailing the Patriots, 35 – 3.
The game opened with the Jets on defense. It did not go well. The Patriots
marched right down the field, meeting only token resistance by the Jets defense. If the Jets were tanking, they might have thought about not being so obvious about it. In a little more than four minutes the Patriots scored a touchdown to take an early 7 – 0 lead.
The Jets took over on offense and executed an impressive three and out.
The Patriots took over on offense and effortlessly sliced through a Jets defense that apparently thought today was a paid day off. The Patriots ran the ball in from the one yard line after Brandon Stephens was called for pass interference in the end zone. The score was 14 – 0 in favor of the Patriots with more than five minutes still left in the first quarter. The game threatened to get out of reach before the second quarter started.
The Jets responded by chopping their wood while imbibing copious amounts of instant coffee. They showed character and grit as they turned the ball over on a Brady Cook interception, his 7th in 12 quarters of football, on their next drive. A glorious tank was unfolding.
The first quarter ended with the Patriots driving deep in Jets territory.
On the first play of the second quarter Drake Maye threw his second touchdown pass of the game as the Patriots took a 21 – 0 lead five seconds into the second quarter. At this point the Patriots had outgained the Jets 199 yards to 13. The game was all but over, and we had three quarters of garbage time to look forward to. Aaron Glenn was certainly delivering on his promise of a Jets team the fans could be proud of.
The Jets finally got something going on offense on their next possession. Breece Hall picked up yards in chunks both on the ground and through the air as the Jets progressed deep into Patriots territory before settling for a short Nick Folk field goal to make the score 21 – 3, Patriots.
Even limited success did not last long for a Jets team that looked like they had already started the offseason. The Patriots went right down the field, scoring their fourth touchdown on four possessions, to make the score 28 – 3, Patriots with three minutes left in the first half.
The Patriots got the ball back a little more than a minute later after another impressive Jets three and out. They proceeded to put the finishing touches on a dominant first half, driving the length of the field and scoring a touchdown on another Drake Maye touchdown pass. That made it five drives and five touchdowns for the Patriots. The Jets were making us so proud.
The Jets go into the locker room trailing the Patriots by 32 points.
