Surprisingly, the New England Patriots are sitting with a 1-1 record.
They took care of business vs. the Cincinnati Bengals in a shocking upset in Jerod Mayo’s head coaching debut, and they took the Seattle Seahawks and their solid defense to overtime.
Most experts predicted the Patriots to be one of the worst teams in the league this season, and that hasn’t been the case at all thus far.
That’s why NFL analyst Mark Schlereth believes the Patriots will leave Thursday Night Football’s matchup with the New York Jets with a win (via Breakfast Ball).
.@markschlereth is picking @craigcartonlive‘s Jets to lose in TNF vs. the Patriots 👀 pic.twitter.com/36Xiglk5K0
— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) September 18, 2024
Schlereth explained that the Patriots have been able to run the football down their opponents’ throats.
They rushed for 185 yards on 5.1 yards per carry while allowing just 46 rushing yards on 2.4 yards per attempt vs. the Seahawks.
And while Seattle didn’t have Kenneth Walker III out there, the Patriots’ physicality in the trenches has overwhelmed both teams they’ve faced thus far.
Schlereth thinks the Patriots have been what people thought the Jets would be in terms of their physicality, strong defense, and running game.
The Jets, on the other hand, have been less than impressive.
Their once-great defense got steamrolled by the San Francisco 49ers in the season opener, and they were barely able to escape with a win over the Tennessee Titans.
Divisional matchups are always tricky.
But even though the Jets have more talent and both teams have the same record, the Patriots seem to be playing the better brand of football at this moment.
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