Eight takeaways from the Patriots' comeback win over the Jets in Week 8

The Patriots defense deserves credit for better containment of the rush and timely call-outs. For example, on third down in the red zone, the Pats called a cover seven-style scheme – a four-point play. In the scheme, the Pats lined up New York's top wideouts, Garrett Wilson (Joneses) and Davante Adams (M. Wilson+Hawkins), with top CB Christian Gonzalez on an island against Jets WR Mike Williams. The coverage forced Rodgers to hold onto the ball and eventually LB Christian Elliss closed in for a big sack in the fourth quarter.

Although there was a good defense, there were some interesting quotes coming out of the Patriots' locker room about the 40-year-old quarterback. Rodgers suffered a hamstring injury earlier in that game, which landed him on the injury report. So this could be due to his lack of mobility. Nevertheless, here is Vom Godchaux:

“He definitely doesn’t look the same as before. He can't go back there. I could overrun him and catch him. He doesn't look mobile at all. That was good for us,” said Godchaux. “I think he’s struggling right now. As a Hall of Fame quarterback like that, you hate to see him go out like that.”

The Patriots aren't playing the Jets again this season, so maybe that's why they took a few shots at Rodger, who, to be fair, still generated +0.27 expected points per game with 233 yards and two touchdowns. New England earned some credit, but it wasn't like they completely eliminated Rodgers.

5. The Patriots run defense is improving, but there is still work to be done

Another topic of conversation from the locker room after the game was that the Patriots' run defense made some minor improvements, holding the Jets to 112 yards on 28 attempts (4.0 average).

The Jets still had 11 successful runs and four run stuffs, and Jets lead back Breece Hall had a 16-yard run and an 11-yard run but didn't make any monster plays. The Pats allowed over 185 rushing yards in their last three games, so this was a step in the right direction.

“Just stop with all the cutesy (expletive) and get back to basics,” Godchaux told reporters. “Just knockback football, play our job, not a lot of calls. Just do what we do and stop the run. I know they went over 100 yards today, but I thought it was a pretty good job in the run game.”

Earlier this week, Godchaux told Patriots.com that the Patriots were getting a handle on the run defense. So what gave the Pats the confidence that they could do it?

“When it comes to run defense, it’s all about mindset. Once you have the mindset, you're going to hit a (expletive) back and you're not going to let them run you off the ball. I mean, sometimes the double teams.” They’ll win too. But when you have the attitude that you will be disruptive, you throw off all blockages.

Although he acknowledged that some game-planned runs hurt them, the Patriots showed some pride in stopping the run in Sunday's win.

6. CB Christian Gonzalez shadows Jets WR Davante Adams, M. Jones over Wilson

With the Patriots playing 14 drop-backs in man coverage, the match consisted of Gonzalez shadowing Adams and Marcus Jones against Garett Wilson. Despite being knocked off the ball a few times, Gonzalez was able to shut Adams down for the most part. On 23 routes against the Jets wideout, Adams had just one catch for 16 yards. Jones, however, struggled in his 22 receptions against Wilson, allowing five catches for 113 yards on eight targets. Wilson caught two fades, a crosser and a corner route against Jones for explosives. Wilson is an excellent receiver and Jones made up for it with his 62-yard return, but the Jets WR had his number on Sunday.

7. Evaluate backup QB Jacoby Brissett's performance compared to the Jets

As I turned to offense one final time, my first look back at Brissett's performance was that this was his typical football play. Brissett didn't make any “wow” throws until he hit Boutte on the game-winning drive, and had a couple of “minus” plays where he took an unnecessary sack and threw just past the batters on third down.

Ultimately, when the game is on the line and there are no turnover-worthy plays, a big throw is all it takes for a backup quarterback to step into action. The hope is that Maye returns sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, Brissett did his part and came through in the final stages. Kudos to him for staying ready in the big moments and playing well. He was a real professional this season.

8. Give and take for the Patriots' special forces

Although it was mostly positive for the Patriots' special teams, the punt coverage unit gave up another big return (40 yards) on Sunday. Xavier Gipson is one of the top returners in the league. Still, special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said the blame should be on him if the Pats give up another big return this week after allowing a 96-yard punt return touchdown in London. This is becoming a recurring problem, which, according to Springer, is the fault of the coach. They have to clean that up.