With a 34-20 victory over Washington, The New York Jets will face off against the New England Patriots for 1st place in the AFC East. And while this team seams to have all the pieces in place, and all the talent they need, the game against Washington has left me more pessimistic then optimistic towards the Jets ability to play the Patriots and pull out a win. My advice to Jets fans is to temper their expectations going into next week, because the Patriots are going to put a beat down on the Jets.
This is a narrative that hasn’t been told since 2010, and really The 2015 Jets share many parallels with the 2010 Rex Ryan incarnation. But both the Jets and Patriots will be playing for 1st place in week 7. In the Jets 14 point victory over Washington, they turned the football over 3 times (2 fumbles and one interception). In addition to this they had a blocked punt for a touchdown. Washington is by no means a good team, and they let the Jets hang around and get back into the game. It also didn’t hurt to have Revis and Gilchrist get one interception a piece. However, what the good teams in the NFL do are once they get ahead in the turnover differential, they don’t let teams back into the game. Granted, Washington was able to score off of their turnovers but what they weren’t able to do was carry that momentum into a win.
Another thing about this Jets team, and it’s both a positive and a negative, but they will go as far as Chris Ivory will carry them. Brandon Marshall said earlier this week that he believes Chris Ivory is the best running back in the NFL. While that may be a little premature, one could say that he’s having one of the best seasons for a running back so far this year. Today, Ivory had 196 total yards and a rushing touchdown. This is an incredible performance, however when he wasn’t’ on the field, the offense seemed to be flat. Some of the time the big name receivers on this team Marshall and Decker are able to pick up the slack, but this teams identity is a run first football team. This was seen when Ivory was not playing for the Eagles game, the offense couldn’t’ seem to get a drive together. Ivory is truly the heart and soul to the Jets offense. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a decent quarterback, but he doesn’t have it in him to win a football game for your team, sure he can scramble, throw to Marshall and Decker, but he’s not the person you trust to drive down the field in the 2 minute drill.
What the Patriots do better then any other team in the NFL is they take away what your strength is. I really don’t have any doubt that the patriots will be able to slow down Ivory. Bellicheck will figure out a way to do it. Does this Jets defense have the ability to force turnovers and stop a future hall of fame quarterback? They’ve been able to do it before. However, it’s very rare that that happens in the regular season, and in addition it’s very rare that happens in New England.
This Jets team is the best it’s been in years. But so is this Patriots team, drawing comparisons to their 2007 version. As good as the Jets are this season, my prediction is that they lose and lose by at least 2 touchdowns. Final score 35-21. Bold Prediction? Ivory gets held to under 100 yards, Marshall and Decker are held to under 100 yards, and Brady throws for all five touchdowns.