Well, that was something. One of the worst games to watch all year ended up having one of the most thrilling endings of the season. Go figure.
WALK-OFF PUNT RETURN TOUCHDOWN IN FOXBOROUGH!!!!
— Guy Boston Sports (@GuyBostonSports) November 20, 2022
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES???pic.twitter.com/iR3j8jz3Tr
Marcus Jones was the hero of the day for New England. Had it not been for his 84 yard walk-off punt return touchdown, this game was headed for a 3-3 tie. I could feel it brewing.
Sure, they would have had to go to overtime first. However, the way these offenses were playing today, I can’t imagine they would have scored. Both the Jets and Patriots looked horrendous on offense.
Give credit where it’s due, both defenses did play lights out. Both Mac Jones and Zach Wilson were under pressure most the day. Neither offense was allowed to develop a rhythm. If you’re a fan of defensive football, you had a blast today.
Jones’ heroics saved New England from an ugly result. If the Patriots do make the playoffs, we will look back on Jones’ touchdown as possibly being the reason they got there.
This was in my eyes a must win game for the Patriots. With a brutal schedule coming up, they need every win they can get. Especially when you consider the Jets are one of the teams New England is fighting with for a spot.
The Patriots now have a complete two game tie breaker over the Jets. Make that 14 consecutive victories for the Patriots over the Jets. Even when the Jets are halfway decent, we still own them. All is still right in the world.
It was an ugly win, as ugly as a win can get, but a win nonetheless. We’ll take those. New England is officially out of the AFC East basement. If the season ended today, the Patriots would be a playoff team.
I have a lot more thoughts that I’ll write about at another time, but I’ll close this instant reaction with this. The Patriots got away with one today, but they won’t win many more games playing like this offensively.
Something needs to change. I put the blame entirely on the play calling. I’m looking at you Patricia. The play calling was some of the worst I’ve ever seen. New England had 10 plays for negative yards. 10 PLAYS!!!
Mac Jones didn’t even look terrible today. He finished 23 for 27 with 246 yards. It was an oddly efficient day out of him considering how bad the offense was overall.
I’ll take the win, but this will be a rough finish to the year if something doesn’t change with the play calling. Figure it out!
Featured Photo by David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
