EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. _ Following his second interception in the first half, New York Jet quarterback Sam Darnold retreated to the sideline and sat on the bench searching for answers.
"I'm seeing ghosts," said the mic'd up quarterback.
It was only fitting.
Two weeks ago, Jamie Collins nicknamed the Patriots linebackers "boogeymen." On this night, the secondary might as well been lined with Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Dracula. There was no escaping their grasp � at least not for the Jets receivers.
The Patriots turned MetLife Stadium into the house of horrors on Monday night. Darnold became the defense's latest victim as the Patriots improved to 7-0 with a dominant 33-0 win.
The Patriots came into this contest down several veteran players _ Josh Gordon, Rex Burkhead, Patrick Chung and Michael Bennett. However, when you have a defense that's playing like the best unit in the NFL, it doesn't really matter. Coming off an impressive win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Patriots defense made Darnold and the Jets looked like an inept JV squad.
The Patriots forced four interceptions to go with a strip-sack and a safety, their first since the 2017 season. They had Darnold rattled and the quarterback finished 11/32 for 86 yards with a 3.6 passer rating.
Offensively, things weren't perfect for the Patriots, but just the safety would've sufficed on this night. Brady finished 3\4 for 249 yards with a touchdown and interception. Sony Michel led the way with three rushing touchdowns.
The offense started strong. The Patriots took their time on their opening drive. The team was methodical and the Jets couldn't slow them down as Brady orchestrated a 16-play, 78-yard scoring drive to kick this matchup off with a 7-0 lead.
Brady went 8/9 for 55 yards in the opening series. The Patriots saw four third downs and converted on all of them as Jakobi Meyers, Julian Edelman and Ben Watson helped move the chains. The last the third down, this series, Michel capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run at 6:13 of the first quarter.
In typical fashion, the Patriots defense wouldn't be outdone. On the next series, Devin McCourty intercepted the first pass attempted by Jets quarterback Sam Darnold. Collins blitzed to pressure on Darnold, who was easily intercepted at 5:24 of the first quarter. The Patriots took over at the 12-yard line and moved backwards, but Mike Nugent capped off the short drive with a 34-yard field goal to give the Pats a 10-0 lead.
The Patriots stepped on the gas the next time the offense stepped on the field. By the time they left, the Pats led, 17-0. Brady hit Brandon Bolden for a gain of 28 to start the series. Faced with a fourth-and-6, Watson hauled in a 7-yard pass to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Phillip Dorsett easily burnt the Jets secondary en route to a 26-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing series, the Patriots defensive dominance continued. This time, John Simon strip-sacked Darnold and Kyle Van Noy recovered at 14:15 of the second quarter. The offense took over and it wasn't long before the Pats led, 24-0. Michel ran in for his second touchdown of the game, a 1-yard rush, at 9:18 of the second quarter and the Patriots were rolling.
The defense's effort to try and one up the offense continued. On the next Jets series, Duron Harmon intercepted Darnold on the goal line, at 5:34 of the second quarter. That's when Darnold told his coaches he was "seeing ghosts." At halftime, the Patriots nearly had as many third-down conversions (five) as the Jets had first downs (six).
Darnold's nightmare continued in the second half as he opened up the third quarter with an interception to Stephon Gilmore. On the next series, the Jets quarterback watched the snap sail over his head and into the end zone at 7:41 of the third quarter. Darnold slapped the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety and the Pats led, 26-0.
On the next series, after being hit by Leonard Williams, Brady was intercepted by Trumaine Johnson The Jets found themselves in the red zone, but it didn't matter. Not with how this secondary was playing. At 6:14 of the third quarter, Pats safety Terrence Brooks picked Darnold in the end zone for the defense's fourth interception.
With 12:32 left in the game, Michel added his third touchdown of the game, another 1-yard rush, and the Patriots led, 33-0. As if the Jets weren't tortured enough, Braxton Berrios muffed a punt and Matthew Slater recovered the ball with 3:03 left in the contest.
At this point, most Jets fans had enough of his horror show and chants of "Brady! Brady!" were heard throughout the stadium.
