Patriots Country

Patriots-Jets Tied at 3-3 After Mistake-Filled First Half

New England dominated early but managed only one field goal on two drives inside New York's 10.

Richie Whitt

The start of Sunday's game at Gillette Stadium was more chaotic and discombobulated than the current regime at Twitter. CBS' "technical difficulties" delayed kickoff 10 minutes.

The bumbling New York Patriots and New York Jets took it from there.

In the first 14 snaps there were four penalties and only one first down. Coming off their Bye, the Patriots' first offensive play resulted in a sack of quarterback Mac Jones.

New England finally looked like a football team on it third possession, driving 14 plays over 7:46 to take a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard Nick Folk field goal. In the drive there were short passes to DeVante Parker and Jakobi Meyers, a 22-yard run up the middle by Damien Harris and a fortunate fumble recovery of his own bobble by tight end Jonnu Smith.

In an NFL where daring coaches are going for it on fourth down more than ever, coach Bill Belichick again elected to play not to lose. New England kicked the field goal on 4th-and-1 from New York's 6.

The Patriots have not scored an offensive touchdown in the first quarter all season.

The Jets tied it at 3-3 on Greg Zuerlein's 45-yard field goal on their next possession, benefitting from an offside penalty on Matthew Judon on 3rd-and-4 and a 34-yard catch by Denzel Mims.

New England was forced to patch together its offensive line after injuries forced center David Andrews (thigh) and tackle Isaiah Wynn (foot) out of the game early.

The Pats had a chance to re-gain the lead but suffered an ugly Red-Zone meltdown and came away with no points.

Jones again drove them inside New York's 10 - aided by a gutsy 3rd-and-16 catch-and-conversion by Rhamondre Stevenson - but the drive stalled on a holding penalty on Yodny Cajuste and a sack on consecutive plays. Folk's 44-yard field goal bounced off the crossbar.

The Patriots ran 19 plays on New York's side of the 50 in the first half but managed only the three points.

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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