Patriots Ups & Downs: Mostly ‘Ups’ in a blowout win over the Jets

When the Patriots got their butts kicked by the Saints in Week 3, it was hard to find many “Ups” to take away from the game. After Sunday’s 54-13 rout of the New York Jets, it’s the opposite: almost all “Ups” from this one.

The Pats played 60 minutes of complementary football on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, setting the tone from the start with a touchdown, three-and-out on defense, solid punt return, and another touchdown. The Jets could never catch up after that, and it only got worse for them as the game went on – and, of course, better for the Patriots.

Anyway, there were a few nitpicks to pull from the win. But it’s “thumbs up” almost all the way around for the Patriots in this one. Here are the “Ups” and “Downs” from a 54-13 blowout win…

• UP: RB Damien Harris

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  The Patriots gained 551 total yards of offense, including 148 on the ground. Harris had more individual yards than anyone else, passing 100 rushing yards for the second straight game. And he punched it into the end zone from the goal line twice, marking one of the better games of Harris’ career. Good ball security and hard running, which helped set the tone and keep the offense consistent throughout.

• DOWN: CB Jalen Mills

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  Whenever the Jets were able to move the ball on offense, it seemed they were picking on Mills. He’s still out of place whenever he plays on the outside, so it’s not totally his fault, but the Patriots don’t have much of a choice right now. If Mills is going to keep covering on the outside, he’ll need to be better.

• UP: WR Kendrick Bourne

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  Bourne joined in on the passing fun on Sunday, as his first career NFL pass attempt went for a 25-yard touchdown to Nelson Agholor. The Patriots have been obsessed with busting out the ol’ double-pass this season, and Bourne’s was just the latest example. He also caught a 46-yard pass from Mac Jones later in the game, which helped set up another touchdown. His TD pass gave him a perfect 158.3 passer rating, so he has bragging rights over Jones and Brian Hoyer this week.
• DOWN: LB Brandon King

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  Our second and final “down” on the day goes to King, a special teams cornerstone whose name you rarely want to hear called - because it often means he made a mistake. In this case, it was an unnecessary roughness penalty that helped the Jets in terms of field position. The flag obviously didn’t hurt the Patriots too badly, but King had one of the team’s few glaring mistakes on the day.

• UP: RB Brandon Bolden

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  Bolden is steadily contributing more every week, particularly as the team’s third-down back and pass-catching specialist out of the backfield. In this one he caught six passes for 79 yards and a touchdown, which more than made up for a grand total of zero yards on two carries. If the Patriots aren’t going to trade for a pass-catching back, it’s promising that Bolden showed he’s capable of a performance like this through the air.

• UP: DT Christian Barmore

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  Two QB hits and three total tackles for the rookie, who continues to really disrupt things on the defensive interior. The future looks brighter every week for Barmore, who is certainly the kind of player that Bill Belichick has been known to coach up over his career. It feels like the Patriots could end up getting more out of Barmore than what was reasonably expected in his first season.
• UP: CB Myles Bryant

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  Filling in for Jonathan Jones at slot corner, Bryant had a couple of shaky moments in the first half when the Jets put a pair of good drives together. But Bryant ended up stuffing the stat sheet with a forced fumble, a tackle for loss, and a sack on a corner blitz. They’ll likely continue to lean on Bryant with Jones on injured reserve, after Bryant recently signed to the 53-man roster after starting the season on the practice squad.

• UP: C David Andrews

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  Sunday marked one of the Patriots’ better efforts on the offensive line, in terms of both the run game (4.6 yards per carry) and pass protection (just one sack and three other QB hits). Andrews was (literally) in the middle of all that, as both a communicator and producer. The Patriots punched the ball in from the goal line up the middle four times on Sunday, thanks in part to a strong effort from the offensive interior.

• UP: CB Joejuan Williams

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  The Patriots may still need help at outside cornerback with the trade deadline approaching, but Williams’ performance was encouraging after missing two of the last three games and playing poorly in Week 6 against Houston. Williams racked up three pass breakups on the day, providing the team with some confidence in potentially keeping him on the field going forward.
• UP: TE Hunter Henry

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  Fourth straight game with a touchdown for Henry. He’s continuing to develop a strong rapport with Mac Jones. And his role increased as the game went on, as Jonnu Smith had to exit the game with a shoulder injury. Henry ended up playing 57 of 73 snaps, and while he only caught two passes for 23 yards with a touchdown that came with the Patriots already up 24, he blocked well in the running game, too. It was a complete effort for him.

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @mattydsays. You can also email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.