The Patriots are making a short trip on a short week to the Meadowlands for a matchup against the Jets on Thursday Night Football.

The last time these two teams met, New England's division rival ended a 15-game losing streak with a Jets victory at a snowy Gillette Stadium. It was an unfortunate end to a historic era of Patriots football, but now a new challenge presents itself this week. For the first time with Gang Green, the Patriots will square off against four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers on Thursday night. Rodgers is healthy after tearing his Achilles four snaps into his Jets debut last season.

Without the benefit of a full game-prep, teams typically stick to their base schemes on Thursday Night Football. Nobody is reinventing the wheel or crafting a Super Bowl game plan in three days. Furthermore, after two weeks of throwing the kitchen sink at Joe Burrow and Geno Smith, there's no fooling a 40-year-old quarterback like Rodgers. At this stage of his career, Rodgers has a doctorate degree in reading out defenses, with the second-fastest average time to throw in the NFL through two weeks (2.26s). For those reasons, it's a good time for the Patriots defense to get back to basics.

Last week, Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington began the game with schemes that Smith picked apart. New England allowed 17 first-half points to the Seahawks, and Geno added +0.45 expected points per drop-back at halftime. In the second half, the Patriots went back to their roots with a 50% man coverage rate. They went from calling zone coverage on 83.3% of passing third downs to an even 50-50 split in the final two quarters plus overtime. New England returned to some Belichick staples and held Seattle to six second-half points.

For example, the Patriots get off the field on third down with a drop-back in cover-one cross. One-cross is a man coverage where the robber defender helps to the first in-breaking route. The primary man coverage defender passes off the route and becomes the new robber. This time, S Jabrill Peppers overtakes WR Tyler Lockett's crosser, and CB Jonathan Jones becomes the new robber. Smith is forced to target the shallow crosser short of the sticks and Seattle punts.

On film, Rodgers seems most comfortable in the infant stages of his Jets offense in the spread, where he can hunt matchups. Mainly, New York's offense is centered around stud receiver Garrett Wilson and RB Breece Hall: take those two playmakers away, and you have a chance. Hall, in particular, was the straw stirring the drink for the Jets in their Week 2 win. In the run game, the Jets under OC Nathaniel Hackett are an outside zone/duo team, much like the Patriots in this West Coast-inspired scheme.

New York also drafted bruising RB Braelon Allen last April. Allen is a classic Wisconsin back at 6-1, 235 pounds, making him a nice complement to the explosive Hall. With the rookie emerging as an offensive playmaker, the Jets played four snaps last week in a two-back "pony" grouping with Allen and Hall on the field together.

Along with having two backs that can create yards as ball carriers, Rodgers's sleight of hand comes into play on some of their passes around the line of scrimmage. Rodgers has always used ball fakes and quick throws to the perimeter on run plays to mess with defenses. Last Sunday, New York ran a double-screen design where they faked the screen one way to Hall and threw back to Allen for a 12-yard touchdown.

Another way Rodgers likes to attack defenses is by throwing vertical routes against single coverage when he likes the matchup. Above, the Jets get into an empty formation with Hall split out wide. The formation gets Hall matched up with a linebacker, and Rodgers puts it on his running back for six. Look for the Patriots to treat Hall as more than a running back in the passing game, possibly putting a coverage safety on him.

The Jets quarterback will do the same thing whenever he sees Wilson in a favorable matchup. Sometimes, he'll even throw the fade to Wilson on run plays when the defense stacks the box. Above, the Titans are in a zero blitz structure without a deep safety, and Rodgers wastes zero time going to Wilson with single coverage on the outside. The Jets wideout makes a terrific adjustment on an over-the-shoulder grab for a big play in the fourth quarter – that's nice.

Lastly, the other Rodgers go-to over the years is throwing slants against soft coverage. The Jets like to put Wilson in the slot on third-and-short/medium situations. In this example, the Titans play man-free with a post-safety in the deep middle. There isn't low help because the off-ball linebacker blitzes and that's too easy for Rodgers and Wilson. This might be when the Pats mix in some cover-two to take away the in-breakers.

After watching their offense in the first two weeks, that's where the Jets are at offensively. It's finding ways to get Hall into space either with the outside zone run game or as a receiver, and Rodgers and Wilson making plays on third down. Those are three dangerous players, but the Jets haven't gotten much else going. For example, Rodgers is just 4-of-10 for 30 yards and an interception on an 18.2% play-action rate. In fact, some of his under-center drop-backs were a bit wonky against Tennessee.

There's one more early-season trend we should point out. But here is your small sample size alert: Rodgers has not looked good so far while under pressure or against the blitz. Granted, he has only been blitzed 11 times (20%). Usually, bltizing Rodgers would be a death sentence because you're creating holes in the coverage for him to exploit. But this group is still building chemistry together, and the Jets QB doesn't appear to be overly mobile post-Achilles injury.

Ultimately, we'd like to see the Patriots settle down with their exotic coverages this week. They can put CB Christian Gonzalez on Wilson, game-plan the Jets run game, and treat Hall like a receiver in the passing game. This doesn't feel like a game where they're going to confuse the quarterback, but maybe they can rattle Rodgers if they can take away his binkies and get some pressure on him. In their first matchup against him in the division, the key is not trying to out-fox the 20-year veteran but to punch the Jets offense in the mouth.

Here is a breakdown of the Patriots offense against the Jets defense and key matchups in Thursday night's showdown at MetLife Stadium:

Patriots Offense vs. Jets Defense: Revisiting Browns vs. Jets in Week 17, 2023

Before we get into last season's duel between AVP and the Jets defense, we must first discuss a challenging week in the trenches when the Patriots have the ball.

As we've seen in recent years, the Patriots offensive line against the Jets defensive front is a huge mismatch in New York's favor. The Patriots have allowed the second-highest pressure rate (44.3%) and are dead-last in pass-blocking win rate. They'll now try to block a Jets front that has generated the highest pressure in the NFL through two weeks (45.6%) and will likely do so shorthanded: that, folks, is what you call a mismatch special.

When you're at a major disadvantage in the trenches, it eliminates things that offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt can put on the call sheet this week. For example, this is probably not the week for longer-developing pass plays. New England must devise a game plan that schemes around the inevitable pressure that the Jets defense will put on quarterback Jacoby Brissett in Thursday night's matchup.

That said, Van Pelt and Joe Flacco's offense hung 37 points on a Thursday night in Cleveland late last season, with the playoff-bound Browns coasting to a 37-20 victory. In his fifth start since coming off his couch to quarterback the Browns, Flacco added +0.17 expected points per drop-back while Cleveland had a 46% rushing success rate. For a Jets defense that ranked third in DVOA a year ago, it was an uncharacteristically poor performance on a short week.

Although it may be unrealistic to replicate Cleveland's passing game success, the Browns put a blueprint on tape for how the Patriots can get Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson rolling on the ground. In Week 1, the Jets gave up 180 rushing yards on 38 attempts in a loss to the 49ers, with undrafted RB Jordan Mason rushing for 147 yards on 28 carries. The Patriots can run on the Jets using Cleveland's blueprint.

The Browns got their run game going by moving away from their outside zone runs. New York is playing more man coverage and blitzing at a slightly higher rate this season, but, at their core, HC Robert Saleh runs a cover-three/quarters defense that relies on getting pressure with a four-man rush. Therefore, one possible approach is getting downhill or influencing the defensive line to get upfield. With a quarters/three-buzz defense, the Jets get vertical on the D-Line and have good team speed into the alley to defend outside zone. From this perspective, running right at the Jets front is better than trying to win with speed by stretching them out.

For example, the Browns hit several big runs using this counter scheme in a jumbo package. Cleveland has two tight ends and an eligible tackle on the field, with only one outside receiver. The Browns then fold the Jets front by double-teaming on the interior and putting the two-tight end side through to the second level. The backside guard and tight end pull as lead blockers on the counter action, and the back does the rest.

Along with using counter plays to exploit the Jets aggressiveness, the Browns also ran right at New York's front with the same duo schemes that the Patriots featured in their win over the Bengals in Week 1. Again, Cleveland is in the same jumbo package. This time, they created two double-teams on the interior that reset the line of scrimmage.

Stop me if you've heard this before: once the Browns got the run game going, they opened up the passing game with play-action, which can be very effective against zone defenses because defenders in the box have run and pass responsibilities, so you can pull zone-droppers out of coverage to open passing windows.

The play design the Browns leaned on was their "Hank" concept. The route combination pairs downfield stop routes with routes into the flats to widen the short zones to create passing lanes. Cleveland ran it out of the gun here, which might be a way for the Patriots to keep Brissett clean.

In the drop-back pass game, we know the Patriots pass protection will have its hands full, so let's get the ball out quickly, please. The Browns used zone-beaters to pick apart the short zones in the Jets defense. Above, Cleveland runs a spot concept to get a first down.

Admittedly, seeing a path for the Patriots to throw the ball productively this week is difficult. Still, you have to try to force defenses to respect a downfield passing game. So far, Brissett is facing the second-highest stacked box rate in the NFL. Eventually, those loaded boxes will start to slow down the running game if the Patriots don't find a passing game.

Key Matchups

CB Christian Gonzalez vs. Jets WR Garrett Wilson: Last season, we got to see these two go toe-to-toe before Gonzalez's injury. However, that was with Zach Wilson as the quarterback for the Jets, so this will be more challenging. Still, Gonzalez was excellent shadowing Wilson on 23 routes (11 in man) while allowing three catches for 18 yards on five targets. The Pats helped Gonzo with some post-safety/robber structures, but he had Wilson on an island on third down and mostly took the Jets wideout out of the game. The receivers Gonzalez has faced through six career games is wild: Wilson x2, AJ Brown/DeVonta Smith, Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb, Ja'Marr Chase, and DK Metcalf – talk about a gauntlet.

Gs Layden Robinson/Michael Jordan vs. Jets DT Quinnen Williams: Here we go again with Williams, who has been a nightmare for the Patriots interior O-Line. Williams had two sacks and 12 total pressures in two games vs. the Patriots last season. His ability to convert his first-step quickness into overwhelming power is a problem, and now he'll face a rookie right guard (Robinson) and backup left guard (Jordan). I worry about Williams's hand-fighting savvy against the rookie and power against Jordan, whose biggest issue is a tardy anchor in pass protection.

DL Keion White vs. Jets LG John Simpson: The Jets offensive line is off to a good start. They rank 13th in the NFL in pass-blocking win rate through two weeks, and Rodgers's quick release makes it nearly impossible to get to him. Plus, right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker is a dude, especially in pass protection, where he has tackle-like skill. My guess is the Patriots will target Simpson and C Joe Tippmann for White's pass-rush opportunities.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer