The Patriots took care of what they needed to do to get a first round bye on Sunday and now they’ll sit back to see how things play out in the AFC West.
Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes in the first half, added a fourth in the fourth quarter and the Patriots defense made life miserable for Sam Darnold in a 38-3 victory. The win ensures the Patriots can finish no lower than No. 2 in the AFC and they can move up to the top spot in the event that the Chiefs and Chargers both lose later in the day.
Whether that happens or not, the Patriots can feel better about the overall state of the offense than they did after beating Buffalo last week. Brady missed a few throws on Sunday, but was sharper than he was against the Bills and wound up 21-of-30 for 226 yards. That effort was balanced by 132 rushing yards as the Patriots didn’t lack for ways to move the ball on Sunday.
The same can’t be said of the Jets, who missed wide receivers Quincy Enunwa and Jermaine Kearse as they tried to attack New England’s defense. Darnold was 16-of-28 for 167 yards and got sacked four times, including one that saw Adam Butler strip the ball for a Kyle Van Noy touchdown return.
Darnold’s rookie season showed enough promise that you’d imagine he’ll have many more games against the Patriots in the future. The expectation is that someone other than Todd Bowles will be calling the shots in those contests and it’s probably a good bet that Bowles’ replacement will be chosen with Darnold’s development in mind.
That move will have relevance for the Patriots in the future. In the present, they’ll be waiting to find out where they fit in the conference’s playoff picture.
