NEWSLETTER
Does any team in the NFL own another team — shut it, Packers fans — quite like the New England Patriots own the New York Jets? In the biggest game of the season for both teams, the Patriots extended their winning streak over the Jets, one that goes back to December 2015.
Patriots Continues Their Domination of the Jets
Sunday was a must-win for the Patriots. I shared PFF’s playoff odds machine on Friday, and the Jets-Patriots game was a swing game for both teams but vital for the Patriots’ playoff chances. With a win, the Jets’ playoff odds would be 84 percent. With a loss, they would shrink to 51 percent. The Patriots would be 50 percent with a win and 17 percent with a loss.
New England saved their season — at least by the numbers — with this wild ending to their AFC East matchup with the Jets:
With the game tied at three and just 26 seconds on the clock, Marcus Jones took a New York Jets punt to the house to give New England their 14th straight win over the Jets and their 22nd win in their last 24 contests.
The Jets went from near locks to make the playoffs to firmly on the bubble, and deservedly so after a putrid offensive performance. New York punted the ball more times (10) than Zack Wilson completed passes (9) and finished the game with only 103 net yards. Oh, and just two yards in the second half.
New York’s defense was strong again, holding the Patriots without an offensive touchdown, with Jones’ 84-yard punt return for a touchdown the only time either team got into the end zone. Zack Wison was 9-for-22 for 77 yards and had two turnover-worthy throws that weren’t hauled in by Patriots defenders.
The Jets host the Bears this week, and if Justin Fields is healthy (that’s a big if right now) and the Jets have an offensive performance anywhere near as bad as they did on Sunday against the Patriots, they’ll be in danger of dropping to 6-5 and out of the playoff hunt in the AFC East.
Patrick Mahomes Does it Again
For the second time this season, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs stole a win from the grasps of Justin Herbert and the Chargers. This time with the Chargers learning a lesson that giving Mahomes one more shot, regardless of how much time is left, is never a good idea.
Mahomes completed 20-of-34 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns to go along with an excellent 120.8 passer rating and drove a dagger into the heart of Chiefs fans with the game-winning touchdown throw to Travis Kelce, who was once again a problem for the Chargers.
Kelce hauled in six passes for 115 yards and all three of Patrick Mahomes’ scores and averaged 14.8 yards per reception.
Meanwhile, Herbert was 23-of-30 for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the loss. Los Angeles falls to 5-5 with the loss and is looking up at the Chiefs (8-2) in the AFC West and the Bengals, Jets, and Patriots in the AFC Wild Card picture.
Davante’s Big Day, Broncos Waive Melvin Gordon
The Las Vegas Raiders became the latest team to beat the Denver Broncos this weekend and Davante Adams had a bunch to do with it. Adams caught seven passes for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Vegas topped the Broncos 22-16 in Denver.
Derek Carr was trolled by his former — albeit abbreviated — teammate Antonio Brown on Twitter before the game, for whatever reason. Carr responded by completing 23-of-37 passes for 307 yards, two touchdowns, and a 106.5 passer rating in one of his better performances of the season. He made sure Antonio Brown knew it after the game.
Following the loss to the Raiders, the Broncos have waived running back Melvin Gordon. Gordon ran for 31 yards on just eight carries on Sunday while Latavius Murray got the bulk of the workload with 17 carries.
Gordon has seen his carries plummet in Denver only hitting double digits in handoffs once (11 vs. NYJ) in the last five games. Gordon is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry on 90 attempts for the Broncos this season.
