The Jets took the early lead on the strength of two passing touchdowns from QB Josh McCown, one each to TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins and WR Jeremy Kerley. The Patriots would fight back though, with two second-quarter scores, a rushing touchdown by HB Dion Lewis and a QB Tom Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski touchdown pass, to tie the game at halftime.
Brady to Gronkowski would be good for another touchdown in the second half, and the Patriots also added an insurance field goal. With the Jets only second half points being a field goal of their own, the Patriots would win 24-17. With that, we give you our PFF exclusive takeaways from the contest for each team.
Top 5 Grades:
G Shaq Mason, 87.4 overall grade
HB Dion Lewis, 87.1 overall grade
OT Marcus Cannon, 87.1 overall grade
CB Malcolm Butler, 85.8 overall grade
DI Malcom Brown, 84.2 overall grade
Performances of Note:
QB Tom Brady, 82.7 overall grade
Brady's day saw him start off struggling, throwing some poor passes including one that should have been picked off early, but he rebounded to make several key throws as the Patriots came back from two scores down. Brady was almost perfect on throws between 10 and 19 yards and between the numbers, going 6-for-7 for 115 yards and a touchdown. His best throw of the day came on the downfield pass to Brandin Cooks down the left sideline that went for a 42-yard gain
TE Rob Gronkowski, 83.6 overall grade
Averaging an impressive 2.86 yards per route run, Gronkowski didn't look to be even slightly slowed by the injury that kept him out last week. Finding the end zone twice, he was Tom Brady's favorite target, with 10 passes heading his way over the course of the game. The only slight knock on his performance was a drop on a pass thrown slightly behind him in the end zone, but he made up for it with a touchdown catch on the very next play.
CB Malcolm Butler, 85.8 overall grade
Even though Butler allowed 114 receiving yards, gave up a touchdown pass and surrendered another reception for a big gain on a coverage bust, he had one of his best games this season. Butler was the Patriots' most frequently targeted defender as there were 10 passes going his way; however, only four of those were completed as he also broke up two passes and recorded an interception. As a result, Josh McCown had a passer rating of 76.7 when going after Butler as he allowed just two receptions on eight targets to Robby Anderson.
DI Malcom Brown, 84.2 overall grade
While Brown was on the field for only 44 of the Patriots defense's 75 snaps, he had a large impact on the game, especially when it came to run defense. Brown recorded two run stops on just 16 snaps against the run and was a problem for Jets offensive linemen all day long. Furthermore, the former Texas player also recorded two pressures, including a sack on 28 pass rushing snaps.
Top 5 Grades:
CB Buster Skrine, 89.3 overall grade
T Kelvin Beachum, 83.1 overall grade
LB Demario Davis, 82.5 overall grade
TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, 82.3 overall grade
Edge Kony Ealy, 79.2 overall grade
Performances of Note:
TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, 82.3 overall grade
Seferian-Jenkins stepped up as a safety blanket for quarterback Josh McCown as he was the Jets' second-most-targeted player with 10 targets and was tied with RB Matt Forte for the most receptions with eight. Furthermore, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer beat five different New England defenders for a reception as McCown had a passer rating of 119.2 when targeting the tight end.
QB Josh McCown, 76.1 overall grade
McCown had a mixed outing against the Patriots as had some successful drives and a couple ill-advised throws as well. Overall, he had relatively good results throwing the ball downfield as he completed 8 of his 16 attempts traveling 10 or more yards from the line of scrimmage, including two touchdowns. In addition, McCown played well under pressure and completed 9 of his 14 attempts under pressure and had a passer rating of 91.4 in these situations, which is higher than his passer rating of 84.6 when kept clean.
CB Buster Skrine, 89.3 overall grade
Skrine was targeted 10 times in coverage, and while he did give up three receptions for 40 yards, he also came away with an interception and two pass breakups. His coverage stats don't account for the penalty he committed, but by the end of the game he had allowed a passer rating of just 4.2 on throws into his coverage
Edge Kony Ealy, 79.2 overall grade
Ealy continued his strong start to the season when it comes to batting passes at the line of scrimmage with two against the Patriots. As a pass-rusher he managed to register just one hurry from 29 pass-rushing snaps, but his ability to swat balls away at the line of scrimmage is becoming a habit. After registering five batted passes through the first three seasons of his career, he has registered seven through the first seven weeks of the 2017 season
PFF Game Ball: Buster Skrine, CB
*Grades are subject to change upon review
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