In holding the Patriots to a Jets-franchise-record 16 yards, the Green & White rose to first in the league in both rushing yards/game (71.5) and rushing yards/attempt (3.4).
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A victory was there for the taking against the New England Patriots on Sunday. So we were waiting for the right situation to try to call them.
The Jets were left to ponder plenty of “what ifs” after their 30-23 loss to the Patriots on Sunday, with Chris Ivory’s hamstring injury at or near the top of the list.
“He ran around, ran fast”, Bowles said about Skrine. When it came late in the game, obviously Brady took over and those guys made the bigger plays that counted. If not, they’re going to turn around and do it to you. If it weren’t for fumbles and a special teams lapse at the end of the game, the Jets could’ve pitched a shutout.
A few fans and media were impressed by how tough the Jets played their rivals, narrowing the gap perhaps in a division that has been won by the Patriots 12 of the last 14 years.
A safe prediction: Todd Bowles won’t bury a football this week.
“There are no statements when you lose”, he said. “But we didn’t get the outcome we wanted”. The season opener was no different, and Manning couldn’t knock off the Patriots on the night they dropped their Super Bowl XXXVIII banner. “If I make that play, it puts us in a better position”. But Fitzpatrick had to dump the ball off because defensive end Akiem Hicks used a quick swim move to get past Colon and center Nick Mangold.
That doesn’t mean the loss to the Patriots didn’t sting.
If he continues to play like this, I wont be surprised at all if New England and the New York Jets are representing the AFC East in the playoffs.
The Raiders (3-3) aren’t as talented as the Patriots (6-0), but they’re an upstart team with wins over the Ravens, Browns and, most recently, the Chargers.
Zac Stacy filled in for Ivory off and on the rest of the way but wasn’t almost as effective, managing just 19 yards on seven carries.
“Everybody was kind of disappointed”, Colon said. But given where we are in the secondary and the level of (his) improvement, I think no matter who we had on our team that he would be playing a lot of football for us. We still control our season, we still control our fate. He was also done no favors by WR Brandon Marshall (four catches for 67 yards), who punctuated his quietest game of the year with an odious drop in the end zone that would have given the Jets an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
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Bowles plans to have the Jets leave for Oakland after practice Friday, making no changes to the itinerary despite the cross-country flight. “We’re just trying to score or keep the opponent to one less point so our offense can win the ballgame”, the head coach said. On the next play, Brady faced a heavy rush from safety Marcus Gilchrist and linebacker Quinton Coples, but he casually lofted a ball over the rushers to a wide-open Rob Gronkowski.
