The Jets threw for 252 yards and lost by seven. That is the game.
Geno Smith's line reads like a winning afternoon: 20 of 30, 252 yards, 8.4 an attempt. Then you reach the part that decides games. Three sacks for 25 yards lost. One interception. One passing touchdown. An 89.9 rating and 19 points on the board. Drake Maye threw for less, 18 of 32 for 235 yards at 7.3 an attempt, and his line is the better one by a distance: three touchdowns, no interceptions, no sacks, a 110.8 rating. New England is 4-2 because its quarterback is not giving possessions away. New York is 2-4 because Smith's yardage arrives attached to the two plays that end drives.
That is the argument, and the supporting numbers are lopsided in a way the final score hides. Maye was never brought down. The Jets' defense, which got 11 tackles from Jamien Sherwood plus a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit, kept the game in reach and never got a sack. Sherwood's 11 stops are what a linebacker's stat line looks like when the underneath throws are completing and the pass rush is not arriving.
Maye's help was modest and sufficient. DeMario Douglas caught 7 of 8 targets for 86 yards and a touchdown, including a 39-yard long. Corey Kiner carried 11 times for 57 yards at 5.2 a carry. New England ran a small offense and won with it because every possession ended on its own terms.
New York's offense was Omar Cooper Jr. and a lot of traffic. Cooper caught 6 of 7 targets for 103 yards, 17.2 a catch, with a 48-yard long and the Jets' only touchdown through the air. Garrett Wilson turned 6 targets into 4 catches for 44 yards. Mason Taylor caught 4 of 6 for 33. Braelon Allen ran 17 times for 78 yards at 4.6 and added 2 catches for 26 more; Isaiah Davis got 7 carries and found 16 yards. That is a functioning run game and a passing game concentrated in one rookie. When Smith dropped back on the down that mattered, the ball was coming out under pressure, and the three sacks are the receipt.
Andy Borregales kicked a 27-yard field goal at 1:12 of the fourth to make it 26-19, and the game reached 0:00 without another point. New England still had a timeout available at 0:32. A one-score finish that never became a one-score game.
The Patriots' 4-2 is built on the two things that do not slump: no sacks allowed, no turnovers. The Jets' 2-4 is built on the two that do. Smith is completing passes and losing, and until New York converts that volume into a possession it doesn't hand back, the Cooper highlights will keep being the only part of the afternoon that survives the box score.
