Are There Must-Win Games In Week 3? Jets vs Patriots Predictions

[JetNation]

It’s hard to know what to expect now. Expectations were sky-high before the first game. Things are very different with Aaron Rodgers out, but how much different is hard to say. Dallas looks like the class of the league thus far. I didn’t expect that the Cowboys would be playing this well. The Dallas defense was nearly perfect except for one pass to Garrett Wilson. The Jets offense couldn’t stay on the field, meaning their defense couldn’t stay off it. It was a bad spot for New York. A trip to Dallas is a bad spot for any team right now, and the results were bad. Let’s move on and take a look at some Jets vs Patriots predictions.

This Sunday’s game is very winnable. The Pats have a good defense, but it’s not nearly as good as the Dallas defense, and the Patriots are only scoring about 18 points per game. It will be a rock fight, but the Jets have bigger rocks on both sides of the ball. If the Jets can stay away from the mind-boggling interception this week, they have every chance to finish their first three weeks without their starting quarterback with a 2-1 record. To be honest, that is probably where they would have been, even with Aaron Rodgers in the lineup.

The Line

Las Vegas says that the Patriots are expected to win this week. New England is a slight favorite (-2.5) on the road. It doesn’t make sense. Look at the rosters and you will see that the Jets are a better team, even without Rodgers. Vegas is banking on Zach Wilson making the mistakes he typically makes. The books expect that Wilson will turn it over more than once, and those turnovers will give New England the short fields their offense will need to score against the Jet defense. They are expecting history to repeat itself.

Turnovers

Turnovers are the only thing that would tilt a very winnable game for New York to New England’s favor. The Patriots have nothing that should scare the Jets on defense. They don’t have anyone as talented as Cee Dee Lamb. The Patriot’s tight end is their leading receiver thus far. Mac Jones is average. New England’s run game should not be successful against the Jets. There’s a good chance that the Pats simply look to tread water until the Jets give them the game. That’s what Vegas expects to happen. It’s what happened last year. Belichick knows how to grind the game down to the bone and wait for the opponent to crack. I think it’s his best option Sunday and what I expect him to do. The Pats will take no risks. They will wait for a break and only move when the opportunity presents itself. I expect the Jets to win. I think the defense will stifle New England’s pedestrian offense, and Zach will finally manage the ball. I don’t think the outcome should ever be in much doubt. I expect Zach to take care of the ball, and I expect the Jets to win it 20-6.

Jets vs Patriots Predictions

Jets 20 New England 6…that’s what should happen. That’s what must happen. Are there “must-win” games in week three? I think this is a must-win for the Jets. Things can unravel quickly if the Jets lose to New England. The Jets host the world-champion Kansas City Chiefs on October 1^st. After they play the Chiefs, the Jets travel to Denver; then they host NFC champion, Philadelphia. A loss on Sunday to the Patriots could easily turn into a 1-5 start. I know – Denver isn’t good, but it’s a road game, and Denver is a tough place to play. It’s a game they can lose, especially with their confidence waning if they come in, having lost three straight with Rodgers out of the lineup. It’s a plausible future that none of us want to consider. The possibility dissolves, though, if the Jets win Sunday. That nightmare goes away if the Jets play the way they should this week. Maybe we let the preseason expectations go and take it week to week instead. The Jets will win this week. They are a better team, and they win if they play the way I expect them to play.

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[JoeNamathsFurCoat]

Relatively close game but Jets lose is my prediction.

ZW gives the ball away at least once in ugly fashion.

LOL Belichick opens by praising the Jets ST, Gipson, Morstead and Hardee.

 

[Dunnie]

Close game ... the Jets talent outweighs the Pats.

The deciding factor will be coaching and game plan.

I want the Jets to win this .... but at this point my confidence in Saleh and Co's "brand of football' is in the sh*tter

I think the Pats out coach and out muscle the Jets.

Pats 24
Jets 10

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Dunnie

[Fantasy Island]

Scumbag Belli forces Zach to "pass" most of the game, and we will let them yard chunk us on screens.

Pats 13

Jets 6

Just wish we had a legitimate QB2 BEFORE the season started.

[Biggs]

Jets 27 Pats 23.   We hold onto a pick 6 and with the lead grind out a win.

[Ben Had]

Jets - 9

Pats - 6

[jamesr]

Jets -19

Patsies - 16

 

[Greensleeves]

One note based on the above take: I would reverse the info to say, the Jets D couldn't' get off the field so the Jets O had very few chances to run the ball and find a rhythm. That being said, Jets run the ball with Breece and Zach plays like he did the first 3 quarters and they win:

Jets: 24
Pats: 13 

[Integrity28]

Bill takes away GW, as he does with every top weapon. Our sh*t OL takes away our run game. Zach implodes. Sah-LAH gaslights everyone about how good Zach looked. We lose our minds.

[The Crusher]

5 hours ago, Dunnie said:

Close game ... the Jets talent outweighs the Pats.

The deciding factor will be coaching and game plan.

I want the Jets to win this .... but at this point my confidence in Saleh and Co's "brand of football' is in the sh*tter

I think the Pats out coach and out muscle the Jets.

Pats 24
Jets 10

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
 

The Jets talent outweighs the Pats except at QB. Mack Jones is average, Zach has a few years before he reaches average probably. 

We don’t have coaches, we have coddlers. 
 

Saleh’s  brand of football is to stick to what he knows and if that doesn’t work he loses and puffs his chest out hoping nobody noticed, 

The Jets could easily physically beat this team down. But, they will quit once they get down by 10 or more because running uphill on roller skates suck. 
 

Pats 42 (couple garbage time FU TD’s)

Jets 9 or 16 ( depending on if Breece busts a 50 yard + TD run or not)

 

Following this one on my phone while I enjoy my family. Fifth time watching this predictable pathetic movie. I already know how it ends. We all do! 

 

 

 

 

[Larz]

Belicheat will do the smart things. Double GW, stack the box and make Zach throw over the middle. 
 

on offense they will use 2 TE and 4 WR and attack the Jets linebackers and safeties, with plenty of screens too. 
 

The jets will make the mistakes. 
 

cheaters 16

Jets 9

[rtnelson]

For the sake of fan sanity, and potentially team morale this is probably as close to a must win as you can have in week 3.

For both teams tbh.

[Warfish]

Pats (7+7+3+3) = 20

Jets (7+3+3) = 13

D plays pretty well.

Pats stop our run effectively (their focus).

Zach throws a pick 6.  ~50%, under 200 pass yards, 2+ INT's total

Prove me wrong Zach.

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

This is absolutely a must win game for reasons well beyond the standings. Mentally this team can't survive another loss to these assholes.

 

That said

Patriots 20

Jets 12

 

 

[ScarletKnight89]

Patriots 23 

Jets 10 

[Joe W. Namath]

So wait........ the Pats gave the Eagles and Dolphins (2 of the best teams in the league) all they could handle, but we are going to beat them 20-6.

Jet fans......................................

[shuler82]

Weather looks lovely this weekend. Can’t wait to see Zach light it up in a monsoon… 5-16 37 yards and 2 picks. 
 

pats 27 - 3

[PFSIKH]

A combined 13 - "3 and outs".

A combined 5 - 4-6 play drives covering 20 or so yards and a punt.

A combined 2 - Drives ending in 'downs'.

Jets 10 Patriots 3. - Of the two teams, the Jets are the only one that has shown a fighting spirit this year.  Credit for not imploding on MNF.  In front of a home crowd, Zach does enough not to lose while the rest of the team do enough to win.

 

[UntouchableCrew]

Pats 23, Jets 6

It’s 9-6 in a defensive struggle before a ZW turnover gives the pats a 10 point lead. Pats add a garbage time TD to close it out.

[Bobby816]

Quite possibly looking at the most boring game of the week and likely season. Last time we played them neither team scored a offensive TD and we lost on a punt return TD (oddly the way we won this year already).

Wilson played quite possibly the worst game I've seen a QB play last time we played them and we have basically the exact same team. So to expect something vastly different is incredibly optimistic.

We had 136 yards of total offense against them last matchup. That's not a typo. 77 yards passing and 59 yards rushing. One of the worst offensive performances ever for a team in the history of the NFL.

On defense we had a bend don't break type game against them last time. Jones threw for 246 yards with going 23/27. So we really had no answer to slowing them down. Just had some big stops. They rushed for 99 yards as well. Which isn't bad. The difference was that we were getting to Jones. We had 6 sacks that game. So we need more of that. We need to find a way to stop these quick passes and such. This is where zone struggles. And teams have seemed to figure that out against us. We need to alter something.

 

Prediction....

NE: 13

NYJ:10

 

Can't see us winning this one against a great defense and well coached team with the way the offense has looked and even worse how bad the defense has been. We were only in games last year because we had a top 5 D. We right now are very average to below average on defense.

[ChuckkieB]

I think a bad QB playing against Belechick is a recipe for disaster, but the Jets are simply a better team than the Pats this year. The defense and running game will both have to be spectacular for the Jets to get the W.  I think that's possible this week. Hopefully the crowd goes against it's instincts and props up Wilson because lord knows he needs that instead of the boos, but I won't hold my breath on that one. 

Jets squeak this one out despite a sloppy and inconsistent effort from Wilson. 

[T0mShane]

If Saleh loses this game, the vibes are going to be catastrophic and we’ll get jackhammered by Mahomes next week, and god forbid we lose to Payton in Denver in week five. Starting 1-4, even without Rodgers, would initiate a conversation on positioning the team to get a top five draft pick. Doubtful that Rodgers would want/allow the team to fire Saleh, but if Saleh continues down this path with Zach Wilson he’s committing career suicide.

Fun Fact: Saleh is 0-4 vs Belichick. Combined score of those games: 111-36. 

[jetsfan4life72]

Prediction: refs throw a back breaking flag. 

[Augustiniak]

11 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

If Saleh loses this game, the vibes are going to be catastrophic and we’ll get jackhammered by Mahomes next week, and god forbid we lose to Payton in Denver in week five. Starting 1-4, even without Rodgers, would initiate a conversation on positioning the team to get a top five draft pick. Doubtful that Rodgers would want/allow the team to fire Saleh, but if Saleh continues down this path with Zach Wilson he’s committing career suicide.

Fun Fact: Saleh is 0-4 vs Belichick. Combined score of those games: 111-36. 

The last thing rodgers wants is a losing streak like that b/c like you said, it would legitimize qb in round 1 conversations as well as should saleh and Rodgers’ OC be there to usher in the next qb when they failed with zach?  

If the jets have a top 15 pick, i can’t see why they would not seriously consider Caleb, maye, McCarthy or sanders.  

[Barry McCockinner]

wow, a must win game week 1 AND week 3

amazing season going on here

important game, yes. must win? 

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/must-win

[bitonti]

41 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

If Saleh loses this game, the vibes are going to be catastrophic and we’ll get jackhammered by Mahomes next week, and god forbid we lose to Payton in Denver in week five. Starting 1-4, even without Rodgers, would initiate a conversation on positioning the team to get a top five draft pick. Doubtful that Rodgers would want/allow the team to fire Saleh, but if Saleh continues down this path with Zach Wilson he’s committing career suicide.

Fun Fact: Saleh is 0-4 vs Belichick. Combined score of those games: 111-36. 

Woody is on autopilot the Jets can go 1-16 and no one gets fired

not JD, not Saleh, Not even Zakafono. And they can't fire Rodgers. But Rodgers could fire himself and retire.  

Woody? he'd just run it all back again with everyone on lame-duck years

it's not like they have any better ideas  

 

***

 

oh and the Pats win this 18-13 or some low scoring nonsense. Mac being average is better than Zach well below average. Pats get a special team TD, a pick 6 or both. Reading the JN article there's a difference between what "should happen" or "Needs to happen" (what you hope) and what actually is going to happen. 

[Joe W. Namath]

49 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

If Saleh loses this game, the vibes are going to be catastrophic and we’ll get jackhammered by Mahomes next week, and god forbid we lose to Payton in Denver in week five. Starting 1-4, even without Rodgers, would initiate a conversation on positioning the team to get a top five draft pick. Doubtful that Rodgers would want/allow the team to fire Saleh, but if Saleh continues down this path with Zach Wilson he’s committing career suicide.

Fun Fact: Saleh is 0-4 vs Belichick. Combined score of those games: 111-36. 

If they go into the bye at 1-6, which I believe they will, it is time for owner, coach and gm to seriously considering doing whatever they can to get the number 1 pick.

[TheAustrian]

31 minutes ago, Joe W. Namath said:

If they go into the bye at 1-6, which I believe they will, it is time for owner, coach and gm to seriously considering doing whatever they can to get the number 1 pick.

Im afraid they will try and play with boyle. But boyle is better than zach so we win a couple and have something like pick 8

[Brady's a catcher]

It's not a must win but the closest thing to it. Losing to these aholes for the 15th straight time a week after getting bullied in Dallas, two weeks after losing out HOF QB after 4 plays. It would just be too much. 1-2 will feel like 1-9.

 

Pats 19

Jets 6

[Joe W. Namath]

36 minutes ago, Brady's a catcher said:

It's not a must win but the closest thing to it. Losing to these aholes for the 15th straight time a week after getting bullied in Dallas, two weeks after losing out HOF QB after 4 plays. It would just be too much. 1-2 will feel like 1-9.

 

Pats 19

Jets 6

There is an oasis of comfort for all of us on Sunday around 4:00pm EST.  The Defcon 4 thread will be legendary.

[Augustiniak]

39 minutes ago, Brady's a catcher said:

It's not a must win but the closest thing to it. Losing to these aholes for the 15th straight time a week after getting bullied in Dallas, two weeks after losing out HOF QB after 4 plays. It would just be too much. 1-2 will feel like 1-9.

 

Pats 19

Jets 6

Missing the point here - the must win is for the patriots who are 0-2.

 

[Ron Rico]

I have no faith in the coaching staff, and no faith in Number 2. 

Plus, everyone is gonna be booing so it will be the fans fault when the Jets lose. 

Pats win TOP, turnover ratio and Jets defense will get a Bs roughing the passer penalty that seals it for the Pats.

Pats 20-Jets 10

[Augustiniak]

Just now, Ron Rico said:

I have no faith in the coaching staff, and no faith in Number 2. 

Plus, everyone is gonna be booing so it will be the fans fault when the Jets lose. 

Pats win TOP, turnover ratio and Jets defense will get a Bs roughing the passer penalty that seals it for the Pats.

Pats 20-Jets 10

Unfortunately this is the likely outcome.  It’s one thing to get outcoached on the road after a short week after that victory but then when they look like crap vs NE with KC coming to town the wheels are going to start to fall off.

[Barry McCockinner]

Looks like we might have some weather

 

[ASH1962]

It appears that this game is going be played in a quagmire. I am not sure who that favors. I can't see NE starting 0-3 and ever losing to Robert Shalalalalalalalalalah.

 

NE 24

NY 6 (If we are lucky)