It was a day to forget for the New York Jets, who were blown out by the Patriots in their Week 7 matchup in Foxborough. New England jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead to begin the game and it was off to the races from that point forward. The Patriots put up points on their first six possessions of the day en route to a 54-13 victory. In all, New York allowed 551 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns (four rushing, three passing).
"Top down," Jets head coach Robert Saleh said of the team's struggles after the game. "Starts with coaching all the way down. Obviously, we've got to be better. They punched us in the freaking mouth and scored points, so credit to them. That's it. I mean, I've been in part of some of those in my life. They just don't feel good."
When asked if there is a sense of embarrassment following a defeat of this magnitude, Saleh said, "Yeah, obviously. This is the NFL. You give up 50 points, it's embarrassing. I don't think I've had this feeling after a game since 2017 against Dallas. A helpless feeling where you're just watching, you're trying to figure something out. I'll be honest.
"We talk about adversity. Everyone was asking. You can chalk this one up, it's here. This is from coaches all the way down. NFL doesn't really give a flying [expletive] -- excuse my language -- in terms of scheduling. We got to line up the next week and for the 11 or 12, whatever we got left. I know we got the right men in that locker room. I know we got the right people in that locker room. I know we'll come back strong. But we got to get it going."
New York allowed Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones to complete passes to 11 different receivers on the afternoon en route to the first 300-yard passing game of his career. On the ground, New England starter Damien Harris rushed for 106 yards, averaging 7.6 yards per carry to go along with two touchdowns.
"There's always a tell-the-truth moment in terms of when you watch film," Saleh said when asked if he was going to make any changes to the defense following this loss. "You always want to look at, one, structurally were we OK. Were there mistakes. Was it structurally where no matter what we did based on that call, were we going to be in the situation we were in or was it just a matter of executing.
"Once we get to the film room, study all that, just check it obviously. I don't want to give you wholesale changes when structurally I think we were OK. I think the guys for the most part were executing. All it takes is one. So we'll get a good idea
after film study."
The Jets fell to 1-5 on the season and will now head back to MetLife Stadium and await the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8.