The Patriots got a win over the Jets on Sunday when Marcus Jones returned a punt for a touchdown in the final seconds, so they were able to celebrate at the end of a long day for the offense.
New England outgained the Jets 297-103, but the score was tied 3-3 before Jones’ big play because they continually failed to make the plays they had to have over the course of the game. They punted seven times, gave up six sacks and failed to convert 11 of their 15 third down opportunities over the course of the game.
After the game was over, head coach Bill Belichick said the unit has to be crisper.
“Yeah, we’ll take a look at the film here and see, but we moved the ball,” Belichick said. “We had some good plays but not enough and not enough consistency, and we weren’t able to get the ball in the end zone or get the ball close enough often enough for what our opportunities were. Had too many negative plays, holding penalties, sacks, and that was a combination of things. We’ve got to do a better job.”
The Patriots won’t have to wait long for another chance to get on the field. They’ll be in Minnesota on Thursday night and they’ll be facing a defense that just got ripped apart by the Cowboys, so that may turn out to be just what the doctor ordered.