The New England Patriots seemed to think they needed to prove to themselves — and the rest of the NFL — that they are a truly dominant team. That meant making a point against the New York Jets by scoring as many points as possible. And so the Patriots embarrassed the Jets in a 54-13 beatdown on Sunday.
No mercy.
It seems the Jets weren’t pleased the Patriots decided to pulverize the Jets. New York wished New England hadn’t run up the score.
“It’s the NFL, it’s not like Alabama vs. William & Mary,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said on “The Michael Kay Show.” “It’s the NFL. We’re all professional athletes. If you don’t want to get scored on, you gotta stop ‘em. Is it something I would do? Probably not, but to each his own.”
It wasn’t just Saleh who was frustrated with New England’s scoring efforts. His players weren’t pleased either.
Morgan Moses said he & others were bothered by #Patriots running up the score
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) October 24, 2021
Bill Belichick has long preached that his players must play all 60 minutes of the game. His decision to run up the score on the Jets is in keeping with that message. That said, he has elected to run the ball and chew clock to help speed up the closing minutes of games. He didn’t do that, not even when quarterback Brian Hoyer entered the game. Even the backup engineered a scoring drive and managed to generate a big play: a 26-yarder to receiver N’Keal Harry.
The bottom line is that the Patriots were at a low point in their season after losing to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. New England needed a pick-me-up win over New York. The Patriots played the first complete game of the season, with 60 strong minutes. The Jets didn’t. And Saleh said it himself: if you don’t want your opponent to score, then stop them.
This is professional football. The Patriots are going to do what’s best for them in attempting to make the playoffs — and that meant shellacking the Jets in order to build momentum going into must-win games against the Chargers, Panthers and Browns.
Losing stinks. The Jets need to figure out how to stop doing it. That’s not the Patriots’ problem.
