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Patriots 33, Jets 0

Patriot Ghosts Haunt the Jets Again

New England 33, New York 0. Questions?

Sam Darnold had quite a few problems with ball security during Monday’s loss to the Patriots.Credit...Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Standing near midfield with arms folded across his chest, Bill Belichick watched Monday night as his New England Patriots scored for a fourth time against the Jets to take a 24-point lead early in the second quarter.

The smallest little smirk creased Belichick’s face. Perhaps catching himself, he grabbed a pencil, lowered his head and began writing in a small notebook.

Tom Brady, playing almost flawlessly to that point, jogged wordlessly past Belichick. But, in a deft demonstration of his grasp of nonverbal communication, Brady, like his coach, turned to reveal a thin grin.

Never forget, even for a minute, that these Patriots, and maybe most notably Belichick, relish the opportunity to torment the Jets, who were demolished by New England, 33-0. Belichick even grew bolder as the game went on, not bothering to suppress a smile as he looked across the field at Jets Coach Adam Gase in the fourth quarter when the Patriots twice tried to purposely commit a five-yard penalty to give their punter a little more room to keep his ensuing kick out of the end zone.

Gase declined the penalties. Belichick found the whole situation amusing. It helped that he was ahead by 33 points at the time and well on his way to a 7-0 record.

Imagine what Belichick would have thought if he knew that Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, wearing a microphone for the national television broadcast, walked alone to the Jets bench after one of his four interceptions and said: “I’m seeing ghosts.”

Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy knew what to make of Darnold’s comment.

“That’s the boogieman, it’s real,” Van Noy said after the game.

Now it was Van Noy who had the broad smile.

“That’s crazy for him to say that,” Van Noy said with a laugh. “Wow.”

Not surprisingly, things were a little less jovial in the locker room for the 1-6 Jets.

“That was brutal,” Gase said.

Asked to explain, Darnold’s “ghosts” remark, Gase shook his head.

“He probably was feeling like guys were coming free when they might not have been,” Gase said. “It’s tough playing these guys. If you don’t pick some of this stuff up early, they’re going to keep bringing it, and in different ways, and then it’s just going to get bad from there.

“Which it did.”

The Patriots’ desire to embarrass the Jets always seems most heightened when there’s a pregame suggestion that the underdog Jets are lying in wait for the theoretically overconfident Patriots.

And the Jets’ upset chances were a surprisingly prevalent narrative before Monday night’s game. The storyline went like this: The Jets, unexpected winners against Dallas last weekend, were poised to shock the visiting Patriots, who would be vulnerable without several injured starters. Darnold, after an efficient and impressive game against the Cowboys, would show his newfound maturity as a second-year starter.

So much for that. Darnold’s collapse was beyond thorough. He completed 11 of 32 passes for 86 yards and a passing rating of 3.6. Darnold, who talked in the week before Monday’s game about finding the Patriots’ defensive weaknesses, repeatedly threw passes not only into coverage but to spots on the field where there were no Jets receivers within 15 yards.

After the Patriots scored a touchdown on their opening 16-play drive, a wayward Darnold pass was intercepted by Devin McCourty leading to a New England field goal. The Patriots led, 17-0, by the end of the first quarter. A Darnold fumble led to another Patriots touchdown. Darnold had another interception in the second quarter, then another on the Jets first possession of the second half.

Was he seeing ghosts?

Perhaps. Or it was the same eerie, ethereal presence who has haunted the Jets for most of the 19 years since he resigned as, “HC of the NYJ.” It’s the guy on the sideline with a pencil and a little sneer.

Afterward, speaking with reporters, Darnold looked dazed. He talked often about getting better. Of his “seeing ghosts” remark, he said: “I’ve just got to see the field a lot better. That’s kind of what that means. It was a rough night out there.”

In the end, the takeaway from Monday night is really no spooky surprise at all. The devilish Belichick will always make young quarterbacks look foolish. The Jets as constituted are rivals to the Patriots in name only.

And the Patriots? What did you expect? As of yet, no one has figured out a way to derail, let alone conquer, the defending Super Bowl champions. Brady, whose passer rating Monday was more than 22 times better than Darnold’s, is as precise as ever and finding new us-against-them ways to be motivated, too.

With about six minutes left in Monday’s drubbing, the Patriots took the field deep in their own territory. The thousands of Patriots fans at MetLife Stadium, who were just about the only spectators left in the building, roared, then started chanting, “Bra-dy, Bra-dy.”

At midfield once again, Belichick, arms still crossed, kept his head down.

The man has a reputation to keep. He had smiled enough for the night.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Patriots Pounce on Darnold’s 5 Turnovers. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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