WATCH: 3 keys to a New York Jets victory in Week 3

These three factors could be the difference between a win and loss against the New England Patriots.

The New York Jets (0-2) will attempt to turn their season around this weekend when they take on the AFC East-leading New England Patriots in their first road game of 2019. 

The Patriots will be New York’s toughest opponent yet, as they’ve absolutely steamrolled their competition to start the year, outscoring their opponents 76-3 in the two games they’ve played this season.

The Jets, who are 22-point underdogs as of this writing, will enter Foxborough on Sunday without starting quarterback Sam Darnold and will pin their hopes of an upset victory on sophomore signal-caller Luke Falk, who had a surprisingly strong performance against the Cleveland Browns (1-1) in Week 2.

Let’s come to terms with one fact before we get into each one of these points: Pulling each and everyone of these off will be an incredibly tall task for this undermanned Jets squad, realistically speaking, but hey, any given Sunday, right?

Offense: Dominate time of possession

It’s really hard to deny it right now. There’s a huge disparity in talent between these two teams and if the Jets want to level the playing field, they’ll need to hold on to the ball as much as possible in this one. 

It’s odd to think that New York’s best defense is a good offense, but it makes sense when you take a closer look.

The Patriots own the league’s second-best scoring offense and a huge factor in their offensive success (outside of the bevy of offensive weapons they have) has been their ability to dominate time of possession, possessing the ball for an average 34:31 per contest this season (No. 2 in the NFL).

Leaning on the run and utilizing a short-to-intermediate passing game will allow the Jets to milk enough time off the clock and keep New England’s potent offense off the field. 

If Gang Green can keep the chains moving and take complete advantage of their scoring opportunities, they’ll greatly improve their chances of leaving Foxborough with an upset victory.

Defense: Contain New England’s receivers

The Patriots boast one of the most talented - and highly-decorated - group of pass-catchers in the league, featuring, 2013 All-Pro Josh Gordon, Super Bowl LIII MVP Julian Edelman and Phillip Dorsett; and all three wideouts have been vital to New England’s offensive success this season.

The trio has combined for 360 of Tom Brady’s 605 yards passing and have been the recipients of 48.4 percent of his pass attempts this year. 

Not to mention that all three have combined for five of Brady’s nine red zone targets to players still on the team (Antonio Brown had five before being released).

Again, containing these game-breaking receivers is a very tall task for a suspect Jets secondary that’s allowing 289.5 yards receiving per game (No. 22 in the NFL) this year, but finding a way to do so is the only way that New York can improve its chances of stopping the Patriots' machine on Sunday.

Player Spotlight: Limit James White’s impact

I mention any one of New England’s receivers here or even Tom Brady based on his track record against the Jets (27-7 career record), but the Jets really need to keep an eye on James White on Sunday if they want to get into the win column.

The 27-year-old is a versatile player that’s capable of doing damage on the ground and, more importantly, as a receiver out of the backfield (three red zone targets, No. 2 on team). 

The Jets have struggled to stop running backs in the passing game this season (116 yards receiving allowed, No. 24 in the NFL), which is a weakness New England may be able to exploit with the former focused on secondary focused on containing the latter’s receivers.

The Pats have been very creative with White’s usage and they’re bound to find ways for him to exploit a few mismatches throughout the afternoon. 

However, having a good coverage linebacker, like Blake Cashman, spy on him throughout the afternoon could be enough to limit White’s impact on the game.