Three Jets who deserve praise in Week 11 Loss to the Patriots

The New York Jets looked to continue their decent play on Thursday night as they faced off with division rival, the New England Patriots. This was going to be a very tough test for Gang Green as they were going to face off with the top team in the AFC, and one of the top teams in the entire NFL, in Foxborough. Foxborough is tough for any team to play in, let alone a struggling team like the Jets. Unfortunately, the Jets’ winning streak came to an end as they fell to New England, 27-14.

Justin Fields had a decent game by his standards, finishing the team with 116 passing yards and leading the team in rushing with 67 yards on the ground. Fields also threw and ran for a touchdown. This game gave the Jets their 8th loss of the year, bringing their record to a poor, yet expected, 2-8. So, in Thursday’s loss, who are three Jets who deserve praise following the game? Here are three game balls, one for each aspect of the game.

Offense: Olu Fashanu & Armand Membou, OT 

Kicking off the list, the player(s) who most deserve the game ball on the offensive side of things are the Jets’ two young tackles, Olu Fashanu & Armand Membou. They have been having a strong season, even shutting down one of the top defenders in the league a couple of weeks back, Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns. Their excellent play continued on Thursday night as they once again shut down a strong Patriots’ defense.

According to Pro Football Focus, Membou finished with an 80.4 overall grade for the game. Fashanu wasn’t far behind at all, as he finished with a 79.5 pass-blocking grade. Combined, Membou and Fashanu gave up just four total pressures, on 66 combined pass-blocking snaps. Three of these pressures came at the hand of Fashanu, while one came from the rookie stud, Membou. However, not only did their play help their team through the air, but it also helped on the ground.

Beyond pass protection, Membou had a very strong run-blocking grade, 75.3, which was the team’s best. He is now the fifth-highest graded right tackle in 2025. He is also one of only 11 offensive tackles in the NFL to record both a PFF grade of 72.0+ in pass-block and run-block. This helped Fields and Hall to get some decent plays with their feet on the ground. While a few names stuck out to me in this one (like John Metchie), it cannot be understated that without strong play from Fashanu & Membou, the team may have had a much worse game on offense.

Defense: Jermaine Johnson, EDGE

This was one of those games where the defense didn’t play badly, but also didn’t play great. It was a very middle-of-the-line game with few big impact games from their players. However, Jermaine Johnson deserves his flowers for his impressive game. Johnson found his way to Drake Maye once in this one, picking up his third sack of the season, and remaining one of the top Jets’ defensive players, consistently being able to generate some pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

This marked Johnson’s second straight game with a sack. Despite having a pretty slow season on the stat sheet, Johnson was one of the few pass-rushers on the Jets who consistently made some sort of splash. However, the Patriots’ offense is very good, and it would take a lot for someone to throw them off their game. Johnson’s sack came in the fourth quarter as he tried to get momentum going for the Jets. Johnson finished the game with two tackles, one solo, one sack, one tackle for loss, and two quarterback hits.

Overall, Johnson more than did his job in what was a rather quiet game for the Jets’ defense. He got to the quarterback and made a big play to try and force a momentum swing. With Quinnen Williams now gone via a trade to the Dallas Cowboys, Johnson has the potential to be one of the Jets’ best defenders and certainly a player that the Jets can build around for years to come. He has been off to an excellent start now with back-to-back games with a sack.

Special Teams: Austin McNamara, P

When the special teams player of the game is the punter, it usually means not much is going right for a team. There were no big returns by the Jets or their special teams in this game. A much different look for the Jets following their outstanding special teams game against the Cleveland Browns a week ago. However, for Austin McNamara, this isn’t exactly the truth. McNamara punted very well in a closer-than-expected game against the Patriots. He downed two punts inside the 20-yard line.

McNamara finished with five punts for 227 yards. He averaged a respectable 45.4 yards per punt. His longest run of the day went for 64 yards. In the fourth quarter, when the Jets trailed by 10, McNamara boomed a punt from the NYJ 36-yard line all the way to the endzone. The touchback hurt, but it kept the Patriots on their side of the field. The Patriots weren’t able to get anything going on the next drive, as they were forced to punt by the Jets’ defense.

The two punts downed inside the 20-yard line helped the Jets keep up good field position. It was a large part of why the game was as close as it was. In football, good field position is key. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss, but thankfully, the Jets were able to hold their own in this one against one of not only the AFC’s but the league’s top teams.

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