Timothy Yean
Sports Editor
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Patriots traveled to MetLife Stadium Thursday night for their first matchup against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets for Week 3 of the 2024 NFL Season, where New England was outperformed by the home-standing Jets, 24-3.
It was the second primetime game for New York following a Monday night loss to the 49ers, 32-19, in their season opener and Rodgers’ first against New England in a Jets uniform. They were without linebacker CJ Mosley (toe) for their first home appearance along with edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, who tore his right achilles tendon during Sunday’s win over the Tennessee Titans.
The Patriots entered Thursday night without linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, who was ruled out for the season in their Week 2 overtime loss against the Seattle Seahawks, with Vederian Lowe and Sidy Sow, two pieces to the Patriots’ offensive line, also out.
Both teams had scoreless drives to begin Thursday night’s matchup, with New York forced to punt from the Patriots’ 44-yard line and Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett forced to throw the football out of play on a third-and-nine scramble, the veteran under duress.
Rodgers’ and company took advantage of an unnecessary roughness call on linebacker Jahlani Tavai, moving down the field and capping off the drive on a passing touchdown to Allen Lazard who took a screen pass to the end zone despite cornerback Alex Austin holding onto his jersey by a thread
The Jets steamrolled downfield once more, with third-year runningback Breece Hall rolling into the endzone to cap off a 90-yard drive. It was their second touchdown in three drives, and Rodgers was 12/14 passing with a touchdown.
The Patriots’ only scoring drive would be a 44-yard field goal from Joey Slye as New England was unable to encroach further into Jets’ territory following a pass interference call on cornerback DJ Reed that set them up inside the New York 25.
A Greg Zuerlein missed 45-yarder kept the score 14-3 entering the half, but still a stark difference in offensive output entering halftime, with the Jets’ having 252 yards and the Patriots logging only 40 yards. Peppers, who left the locker room to tend to injury, reappeared for the first defensive drive of the third quarter.
The Patriots opened the second half on offense, albeit it was another three-and-out and another punt. New York took advantage, a methodical drive resulting in another Jets’ touchdown, this time to receiver Garrett Wilson, tiptoeing his way for New York’s third touchdown.
Nearing the redzone on third-and-four, a holding penalty on third-round rookie Caedan Wallace set back the drive to third-and-14, Brissett taking a sack on the following play forcing a punt. Brissett had yet to total 100 yards passing, his offensive line failing to alleviate a crushing Jets D-Line as they were down 21-3 entering the fourth.
The miserable night on offense continued for New England, with Jets’ safety Chuck Clark punching the football out of Rhamondre Stevenson’s control, forcing a Pats’ turnover. Greg Zuerlein turned 21-3 to 24-3 with a field goal to extend the lead to 21.
Brissett was benched in favor of rookie quarterback and third overall pick Drake Maye with four minutes to go in the game. Maye showed flashes but was unable to score as he was sacked on the final play of the game.
It was tough on both sides of the football for the Patriots as they took a humbling loss tonight to a tough Jets squad to drop to 1-2 in September. A banged-up offensive line with a ravenous Jets defense made for a lackluster night offensively for the Patriots, with Bentley’s absence prominent as the defense missed key tackles the Jets to 2-1 thanks to three touchdowns.
Rodgers was 27/35 with 281 yards and two passing touchdowns. Hall led the team in carries with 16, going for 54 yards while rookie running back Braelon Allen notched 11 carries for a yard extra. Tight end Tyler Conklin led with five receptions for 93 yards. Linebacker Quincy Williams had eight total tackles, with second-year player Will McDonald recording two sacks.
Brissett went 12/18 for an underwhelming 98 yards, with Maye recording 22 yards on 4/8 passing. Antonio Gibson and Stevenson were shut down on the ground with 29 and 23 yards respectively. Douglas was still productive in the air with seven receptions for 68 yards. Tavai and fellow linebacker Raekwon McMillan each recorded ten tackles with team captain Deatrich Wise and Josh Uche, the only two players to record a sack for New England.
The Patriots travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers next Sunday afternoon at 4:05 pm. See the game on FOX or listen in on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
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