Pats Vs. Jets First Half Thoughts

As the New England Patriots enter halftime of their Christmas Eve match up with the New York Jets with a 27-0 lead, here are some first half thoughts.:

Make It 24- Entering the game, the Jets quarterbacks had thrown 22 interceptions so far this season. That number went up by two in the first half. The first one came as rookie quarterback Bryce Petty's third and long throw wobbled out of his hand and wound up in New England cornerback Malcolm Butler's on the other end. Butler started the play with solid coverage on the wide out and used his hands and tip the ball up, before securing the catch on his way down to the turf. The second pick was thrown by New York's second quarterback of the game as Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had lost his starting role on the team because of his poor play, came in for Petty, who was injured in the second quarter. Fitzpatrick, who actually played well against New England in the first meeting last month, tried to force a ball in to his top target Brandon Marshall, but quality coverage from corner Eric Rowe made the window extremely small. Fitzpatrick's ill advised pass was eventually snagged by Rowe, who had blanketed Marshall and played the role of wide receiver on the play.

Strong Start- After a tough start to last week's game and an overall underwhelming performance by his standards, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady bounced back with a strong start in the first half. Through the first two quarters, Brady has completed 13 of 21 pass attempts for 171 yards and three scores. Brady completed passes to nine different receivers throughout the half and worked his tight ends down in the red zone for two touchdowns.

Merry Christmas, Matt- It is turning out to be a very merry Christmas for Patriots tight end Matt Lengel. After being added to the active roster a handful of weeks ago following the trade of A.J. Derby and the injury to Rob Gronkowski, Lengel had done little in terms of offensive plays heading into the Christmas Eve game. Lengel made his first career professional reception in the first half, however, as he slipped down the middle of the field for a big 18-yard play in the second quarter. Not only did the play result in his first catch, bt it also turned into his first career score as the Eastern Kentucky product fished the play in the end zone.

Creating Turnovers- The New England defense kept up their recent ball-hawk ways in the first half, creating three turnovers that set up a couple of scoring drives for their offense. The first turnover was the nifty pick by Butler, while the second one also involved the team's top corner. Thanks to a powerful hit delivered by linebacker Elandon Roberts, Jets running back Khiry Robinson lost the ball as he hit the line. With the ball sitting on the ground, Butler leaped over the pile and fell on it. New England's third takeaway was the pick by Rowe, who did a nice job of high-pointing the football and securing the catch.

A Dominating Defense- The Patriots defense has gotten much better in all aspects of the game over the past month plus. In a word, their first half performance was dominating. Over the half, the New England defense shut down the Jets offense, giving up just 89 yards on 29 total plays for an average of 3.2 yards per play. The Pats also took the ball away from New York three times and consistently gave their offense short fields to start their drives. After question marks swirled around this defense through the midway point of the season, they are looking to be just as good as they were expected to be at the start of the season as of late.

Kicking Well In The Rain- It's been another strong performance so far for Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who struggled so mightily earlier in the season but has seemingly figured things out as of late. In a rain soaked first half of play, Gostkowski connected on both of his field goals attempts. He also was perfect on his extra point attempts, making all three of them. On the other end of the field, Jets kicker Nick Folk missed his one kick attempt.