The New England Patriots and New York Jets renew their rivalry on "Thursday Night Football," but with a different look. When the two AFC East rivals meet in MetLife Stadium on Thursday night, Bill Belichick won't be on the New England sideline for the matchup for the first time since 1999. During Belichick's tenure, the Patriots owned the Jets: Belichick's teams went 37-11 in the regular season vs. the Jets and their lineup of seven head coaches since 2000. The Jets, though, have an opportunity to pen a new chapter against a Patriots team that will have to find its way under the guidance of new head coach Jerod Mayo. Both teams still have a bit to prove.
After a Week 1 stunner against the Bengals, the Patriots crashed back to Earth, losing a competitive game to the Seahawks in overtime. Now, Pats fans are anxiously (and maybe impatiently) awaiting the nod to No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye, who has been on the bench behind Jacoby Brissett this season. The Jets are also finding their footing after a wishy-washy first two weeks of the season: New York was handed a brutal loss by the 49ers in Week 1, and struggled to get going against the Titans in Week 2. They came away with a win, though it wasn't aesthetically pleasing football.
The Patriots-Jets rivalry is rekindled on Thursday night. USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, highlights and more from the Week 3 "Thursday Night Football" matchup below:
The Jets get their second touchdown of the day after Hall runs around the left side of the line, rolls over a body and breaks the plane just before his knee hit the ground. The officials originally ruled Hall short of the goal-line, but a video review clearly showed he made it into the end zone on the play. Peppers remained down on the field after the Patriots allowed a 27-yard catch-and-run to Allen Lazard. The starting safety eventually limped off the field and headed straight into the blue medical tent to receive treatment. Peppers would be listed as "questionable" to return after some time in the tent.
The Jets significantly outplayed the Patriots in the first quarter. Aaron Rodgers performed very well, completing 8 of his 9 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown while showing better mobility than he did in the first two weeks of the season. On the other side, the Patriots' offense struggled to stem the Jets' pass rush while the New England defense had issues without Ja'Whaun Bentley. If this continues, it could be a long night for the Patriots faithful. Quinnen Williams gets early pressure on Brissett on a third-and-7 near midfield. Will McDonald and Micheal Clemons help Williams clean up to bring down Brissett and force the Patriots to punt. The Jets will get the ball back on their own 9-yard line, up 7-0.
The Jets QB is looking good through two drives against the Patriots. He has completed 8 of 9 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown. His lone incompletion came on a nice, back-shoulder strike to Garrett Wilson, who couldn't keep his feet in bounds on the sideline to make the play. Rodgers also appears to have better mobility than he did in the first couple of weeks of the season. He scrambled once for a 5-yard gain and picked up a first down on the carry. The Jets get on the board first after Rodgers hits Lazard for a 10-yard touchdown. Rodgers threw the ball quickly to Lazard at the line of scrimmage and the veteran receiver made a man miss before running into the end zone. The Jets made the extra point to take the 7-0 lead.
Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai stopped Breece Hall at the line of scrimmage after the running back caught a pass out of the backfield from Aaron Rodgers. Tavai threw Hall to the ground after the play, drawing a 15-yard personal foul penalty and putting the Jets in field goal range. The Jets pressured Jacoby Brissett on each of his two dropbacks on the Patriots' first possession. It looks like Robert Saleh's plan will be to blitz Brissett often to take advantage of New England's banged-up offensive line, which is missing left tackle Vederian Lowe and left guard Sidy Sow. Aaron Rodgers had the Jets offense moving early to start their "TNF" matchup with the Patriots, but a holding penalty on Morgan Moses and a sack on the ensuing first-and-20 put the Jets behind the chains. Eventually, the Jets opted to punt rather than attempt a 60-plus-yard field goal. The Patriots will get the ball on the 20-yard line on their first possession.
The Jets vs. Patriots game will start at 8:15 p.m. ET, the same start time as all of Amazon's "Thursday Night Football" games for the 2024 NFL season. NFL fans hoping to catch the "Thursday Night Football" game live must be subscribed to Amazon Prime to stream the contest. Al Michaels (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (color commentary), and Kaylee Hartung (sideline reporter) will be on the call for Amazon's broadcast.
Here are the USA TODAY Sports staff’s predictions for the “Thursday Night Football” Week 3 matchup: The Jets are favorites to defeat the Patriots, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Looking to wager? Check out the best mobile sports betting apps offering NFL betting promos in 2024 including the ESPN BET app and Fanatics Sportsbook promo code. Not interested in this game? Our guide to NFL betting odds, picks and spreads has you covered with Thursday Night Football odds and Monday Night Football odds. New to sports betting? USA TODAY readers can claim exclusive promos and bonus codes with the best online sportsbooks and sports betting sites.
The New York Jets and New England Patriots are facing off in an AFC East battle on "Thursday Night Football," both sitting at 1-1 after splitting their first two games. The Jets enter the matchup coming off not just any win, but quarterback Aaron Rodgers' first win as a Jet (in a game where he played more than four snaps). Now he has the chance to win his first home game and first divisional game since joining the New York squad. The Jets haven't defeated the Patriots at MetLife Stadium since 2015, so Rodgers and Co. have a chance to reverse a nearly decade-old curse in what is a new era for both teams. The Patriots and Jets have played each other 130 times, with New England coming out on top in 74 of those games.
For New England, all eyes will be on its defense without linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley, who is out for the season, and how its offensive line can protect quarterback Jacoby Brissett. The Jets' defense had some missteps in Week 1, but showed in Week 2 they can make some adjustments. Their offense has yet to put up any chart-topping numbers and Rodgers has thrown for under 200 yards in each game so far. The Jets (-6.5) are favored to beat the Patriots with the over/under set at 38.5.
Follow below for all the real-time updates between the Patriots and Jets on Thursday night.
Date: Thursday, Sept. 19 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ETLocation: MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)Streaming: Prime Video | Follow: CBS Sports App
I think the Jets will win a close one in a defense-heavy game that comes down to the final few drives. Pick: Jets 24, Ptriots 21
After review... Breece Hall did indeed break the goal line and get into the end zone. Hall has 11 touches for 48 yards and a touchdown, while New York is now up by two scores. This is NOT a good situation for New England, whose offense is not built to be in comeback mode. Especially against a Jets defense that is elite against the pass. The Jets should challenge. This is a touchdown for Breece Hall.
Allen Lazard did almost nothing in his debut season with the Jets after signing a big contract. He caught 23 passes for 311 yards and one touchdown on only 49 targets. He had a huge game against the 49ers in the season opener (6-89-2), but was quiet against the Titans last week (2-11-0). He's off to a big start tonight: 3 catches for 48 yards and a score. The Pats got a first down instead of going three-and-out this time, but they'll regret Jacoby Brissett's big miss on a throw to Austin Hooper on a crossing route on the next series. McDonald picked up his fourth (partial) sack of the season on the next snap, forcing a punt. He had three last week against the Titans. (He split the sack with Michael Clemons.)
Rodgers made a quick decision to flip the ball out to Allen Lazard in the flat on what appeared to be a called run play, and his former Packers teammate did the rest from there. Really nice pair of moves from Lazard (who now has three touchdowns on the season) to get himself across the goal line. 7-0 Jets. The rich got richer when New York added Braelon Allen to a backfield that already included Breece Hall. Already tonight, they have combined for 33 yards on just 4 carries (and they each have a double-digit-yard rush), while Hall has added 2 catches for 9 yards. New England's offensive line looked positively overwhelmed on its first series. Jacoby Brissett was under quick pressure on both of his throws and Rhamondre Stevenson was contacted at the line of scrimmage on his only carry. The Pats punted after taking only 1:32 off the clock and gaining one yards.
New York quickly moved into Patriots territory with a pair of first downs on its first four snaps -- certainly a much better four-snap sequence than the one with which the Jets opened MetLife Stadium last year, which ended with Aaron Rodgers' Achilles tear. But the Jets drive went backwards just as soon as it reached positive territory, first with a penalty on Morgan Moses and then a sack. They couldn't recover from second-and-26 and ended up punting. Still, Rodgers looked considerably more mobile early on than he has in either of this season's first two games, and that's a pretty good sign.
Here are a few of the battles to watch out for that will help decide this game: New England's offensive line is shaping up to be a bit healthier this week, as both David Andrews and Mike Onwenu -- each of whom was listed as questionable -- will be active on Thursday night. Sidy Sow remains out, though. Also out is linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley, who is expected to be out for the rest of the season with a torn pectoral muscle. C.J. Mosley will be out for this game. He suffered a right toe injury last Sunday against the Titans and did not return, and on the short week, he didn't have enough time to make it back. Mosley and Quincy Williams form one of the NFL's top linebacker duos, so his absence is a big one. That's especially true because Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been peppering his tight ends with targets this season.
Aaron Rodgers got his first (full-game) win in a Week 2 Jets 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans, and he's looking to lead Gang Green into a second-straight victory at the Meadowlands Thursday against the division-rival Patriots. The Jets got that first win of the season after a Week 1 loss at the 49ers. The Patriots have gotten to 1-1 in the opposite way, winning a Week 1 tilt with the Bengals before losing in overtime to the Seahawks in Week 2. Rodgers and the Jets' passing attack might have to do the heavy lifting against the Patriots. New England ranks second in the league through two weeks in run defense, allowing under 60 yards per game, while the Jets enter Week 3 26th in the league in rushing, despite having a backfield led by Breece Hall and Braelon Allen. The Patriots will look to keep the ball on the ground on offense — they're fifth in the NFL at 177.5 rushing yards per game, let by Rhamondre Stevenson, who's averaging just over 100 yards per game.
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET Location: MetLife Stadium | East Rutherford, N.J. Stream: Amazon Prime Video First downs so far:Jets: 14Patriots: 1 Rhamondre Stevenson gets called for face mask on a stiff arm that wipes out a 13-yard run. You don't see that called very often. One commercial break later, the Jets are up two touchdowns and having little difficult with a Patriots team that was tormenting them just a few years ago. After further review..@BreeceH gets 6️⃣#NEvsNYJ on Prime VideoAlso streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/CZoHY5eltj Breece Hall was ruled short of the goal line, but replay seems to pretty clearly show he had the ball across the plane before going down. Jets HC Robert Saleh challenges the ruling and New York should be up 14-0 in a few moments. Fun wrinkle. Jets bring in 295-pound defensive lineman Solomon Thomas in as a fullback. It was a fake, but Thomas still flattened a rusher (Rodgers' pass was incomplete in the end zone) Jets are on the move. The Rodgers-Lazard connection is cooking early.@NFL | @nyjets | #TNFonPrimepic.twitter.com/BkokoRp6l8 Jabrill Peppers looks like he was hit by friendly fire from Keion White and he limps off to the blue medical tent.Patriots' tackling, which has been a strong point the first two weeks, not so tonight. Oof, Jets send a blitz on 3rd-and-7 and Brissett takes the sack with some open receivers. Then left tackle Caedan Wallace gets called for illegal formation. The @nyjets meet at the QB for the sack 😤#NEvsNYJ on Prime VideoAlso streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/0cacan76nk Jets QB is working quickly. This is absurd. Aaron Rodgers' time-to-throw on his first nine passes of tonight's game: 2.06 seconds, per NextGen. #Jets QB is 8 of 9 for 63 yards with the TD. QB rating of 132.9. LeBron approves. Helluva drive by 8! Dope Lazard gave him the 🏈 too! First TD pass at home Lazard caught a lightning-quick pass from Rodgers and made the CB whiff to reach the end zone. It's 7-0 New York after an eight-play, 73-yard drive. Rodgers. Lazard. SIX!And the @nyjets love it for their QB ❤️#NEvsNYJ on Prime VideoAlso streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/tk33ykcpMV The Jets are in NE territory after Patriots LB Jahlani Tavai tries to body slam Breece Hall and gets an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Jets rookie RB Braelon Allen, the youngest player in the NFL, had a breakout game in Week 2 and he picks up where he left off. He shakes off an early tackle to gain 11 yards to open the drive. That's a quick three-and-out, Jets get the ball back at their own 27 after a great punt by Bryce Baringer. The Patriots o-line... has had better drives. Rodgers got the ball to midfield, but a holding penalty and a sack left the Jets with 3rd-and-19, which they didn't convert. They punt and the Patriots get a touchback. The Jets take a fair catch and we're off in Thursday Night Football. Here comes Aaron Rodgers. Patriots inactives. pic.twitter.com/3zs4UgORh0 Inactives for #NEvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/kmnFH3WMlt
