2024 NFL Season, Week 3: What We Learned from Jets’ win over Patriots on Thursday night

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1. Rodgers, Jets show new gear offensively. Late in the third quarter, the “Aa-ron, Rod-gers” chants started in what already was the best game for Aaron Rodgers in a Jets uniform. Even with some hiccups and setbacks, New York took a step forward offensively in the 24-3 victory over rival New England. Rodgers’ precision was on point early and he diced up the Patriots most of the night. The Jets’ shortest drive was their first one, which went 37 yards. After that punt, they scored touchdowns on three of the next four drives, with a missed field-goal attempt in the middle. The Rodgers wrist flick looked to be officially back. Perhaps more impressive, Rodgers’ athleticism looked outstanding for a soon-to-be 41-year-old, with the QB escaping several pressures and scrambling for a pair of first downs. Rodgers knows the Jets still have room to grow, but his performance had to make a lot of people smile.
2. Patriots’ offensive line was a problem. With Vederian Lowe inactive, the Patriots turned to rookie Caedan Wallace at left tackle — a spot he’d never played in the NFL or even in college — in his first NFL start. They were already in tough shape up front, with center David Andrews (hip) and Mike Onwenu (wrist) listed as questionable coming in. Each of them allowed multiple pressures, per Next Gen Stats, and Wallace especially had his hands full. Even the steady Andrews appeared to be a shell of himself, as he allowed 1.5 sacks and was guilty of a hold. The entire group was overwhelmed in the first series, and it set the tone for the night. Wallace was bullied for a third-down sack (and guilty of a declined penalty) to kill the second drive. He also had a hold late in the third quarter, barely preventing a huge hit on Jacoby Brissett. Don’t forget, this came against a Jets front that just lost Jermaine Johnson II and still doesn’t have Haason Reddick. Tough night up front.
3. Jets finding balance, depth on offense. The other impressive element of New York’s offense has been the number of players stepping into significant roles over the first three games. Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson are the clear stars on offense, but the Jets don’t need to force the ball to them anymore, it appears. Braelon Allen has earned his steady role alongside Hall. Mike Williams had two terrific grabs Thursday, taking incremental steps each week. Tyler Conklin led the Jets with 95 yards on five catches. Allen Lazard has been a sneaky-big performer with three TDs in three games now. The Rodgers-Wilson connection continued to grow, too, as they hooked up for a pretty TD to put the game out of reach in the third quarter. It also applied to the offensive line, where Morgan Moses (knee) went down and first-rounder Olumuyiwa Fashanu stepped in and appeared to look the part in pass protection. The offense has a little bit of everything now, including the league’s oldest player (Rodgers) and its youngest (Allen). The identity of this group is still taking shape, but what we saw Thursday — plus bits and pieces prior to that — gives hope that this can be a diverse, balanced attack. 
4. Maye made NFL debut, but Brissett should still start. For three and a half quarters, Jacoby Brissett mostly stood and watched the Jets’ offense at work. On the rare occasions when he was leading the Patriots’ offense, the group did very little. Both halves opened with New England going three-and-out in matching 92-second gems. After two punts, the Patriots’ first field-goal drive consisted of 16 yards of offense and a net 34 in penalties. But what could Brissett do? He was under fire most of the night; the offensive line issues mentioned earlier were a big part of that. That’s likely why Jerod Mayo pulled Brissett late in favor of Drake Maye, who made his NFL debut. Maye’s first pass was almost picked, he took a big hit on a third-down scramble and his first completion was a no-gainer. But this was about preserving Brissett and giving Maye some game snaps in a laugher. He settled down a little and fired a pretty pass to Demario Douglas in the red zone, but — fittingly — took a sack on the game-ending play. Mayo would be taking a huge risk making a QB change anytime soon. If the Pats can’t block for the starter, how are they going to block for the backup? 
5. Jets’ penalties are quietly an issue. After a fairly clean penalty game in the Week 1 loss at San Francisco, the Jets have taken two steps backward since, with seven flags against the Titans and seven more Thursday. It was probably the one thing to gripe about in an otherwise-dominant victory. The Jets looked surgical on the opening drive, but a penalty and a sack knocked them out of field-goal range. The defense was mostly outstanding against the offensively limited Patriots, but penalties of 15 and 34 yards gave New England its only points of the night. Bringing it full circle, Irvin Charles — last week’s special-teams hero for the Jets — committed a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness when the game was still technically a game. The flags didn’t really end up costing the Jets much on Thursday. But when the competition level rises, these are the kinds of mistakes that can cost them games. They’re still tightening the screws of the entire operation.

Next Gen Stats insight from Patriots-Jets (via NFL Pro): The Jets’ defense blitzed Jacoby Brissett on 40 percent of his dropbacks, New York’s highest rate in a game under Robert Saleh (since 2021). Brissett faced pressure on 56.5 percent of his dropbacks (13 pressures), the highest rate Brissett has faced in a game since 2018 (minimum 10 attempts). 

NFL Research note: Garrett Wilson is the first wide receiver drafted in the first round to catch a TD pass from Aaron Rodgers. The only other first-round pick to catch a TD from Rodgers is tight end Marcedes Lewis.