New York Jets Square off against AFC Rival Patriots Thursday Night

The New York Jets are hoping to snap a five game losing streak when they travel to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots this Thursday night. The Jets are coming off a loss to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos 31-17 at Metlife Stadium. The atmosphere at Metlife felt like that of a playoff game as thousands of Denver fans showed up in support of their reigning AFC Champions. Outside the stadium there was a lot going on for fans with various promotional events put on by companies such as Tostitos, Verizon, Nickelodeon and several others including the Jets very own “Jets Fest.” Of the several promotional activities going on outside the stadium, the one that stuck out to me the most was the Papa John’s tent where they had a free pizza giveaway. Ironically, Peyton Manning’s face graced every single one of the hundreds of pizza boxes brought in. The oddest part however was that Jets fans didn’t seem to mind, or even notice the opposing quarterback on the box.

Free pizza was the least that the all-pro Papa John’s franchisee could do for Jets fans as Peyton had another great day through the air throwing for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns, while completing 66 percent of his passes going 22-33 and only taking two sacks as the Jets had a tough time applying pressure. For being so depleted, the Jets secondary played Peyton about as well as they could have and safety Dawan Landry led the Jets with 13 tackles. The secondary took a blow on one of the first plays of the game as Dee Milliner got hurt while playing on special teams. Milliner was helped off the field and did not return to the game. It was later released that Dee Milliner, the Jets best cover corner; is out for the year with a torn Achilles tendon.

The game turned out to be a close one at the end after Geno Smith hit Eric Decker on a quick slant for a short score to make it 24-17 with just less than 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. However the Jets couldn’t get the timely stops they needed, and Geno Smith threw an untimely pick six with 15 seconds to go to seal the deal for the away team. Smith was 23-43 for 190 yards, two touchdowns and one interception which was returned for a touchdown by Aquib Talib. The former mountaineer played fairly well considering the run game was virtually nonexistent for Gang Green all afternoon.  The running game was so bad for the Jets that Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory combined for just 16 yards on 11 carries. Geno Smith led the Jets rushing attack with 11 yards on two carries. With no run support it’s tough for any quarterback in this league to have a strong performance, let alone one who’s struggling like Smith. In the end, the ground game proved to be the difference on Sunday. The Denver rushing performance was solid against the Jets front seven as Ronnie Hillman rushed for 100 yards on 24 carries to lead the Broncos.

The New York Jets face Tom Brady and the ascending Patriots on a short week during their clash in the primetime slot Thursday Night. This will be the third week in a row the Jets face a quarterback coming off a scorching performance the previous week. Brady absolutely dismantled the Bills as he threw for 361 yards and 4 scores with no interceptions and a QBR of 90.4. After being in the basement post-week one, the Patriots find themselves at 4-2 and back atop the AFC East. The Jets find themselves in last place desperate for a win and a spark. Wide Receiver David Nelson told the media “We’re throwing our record out the door. We’re trying to start fresh.”

The Jets go into Gillette Stadium Thursday night with nothing to lose, making this a possible trap game for the Patriots. The forecast in Foxboro for Thursday is 100 percent chance of rain and if that continues into the night that increases the Jets chances to win the football game as Brady is an unstoppable force in the air. However, the Jets must get the running game going if they have any shot to win in rainy conditions. They’re seeing six in the box every game and that’s because teams know that the Jets can’t thrive as a one dimensional ball club. In addition, the ACL injury to guard Brian Winters hurts the Jets chances of revitalizing their running game. However, if the game comes down to a dogfight in the rain, the Jets are more equipped to succeed and should win. A “grind it out” victory could be just what the Jets need to turn their season around. There isn’t much to say about the Jets struggles this season, all one can do is wonder when they’re going to turn it around and if they will before the season’s over. The Jets roster is too talented to be 1-5 and I think they come out and show that on Thursday night. You’ll see a hungry Jets football team with nothing to lose against their division rival and like Rex said in his press conference, “A team that doesn’t quit is hard to beat.”