The Patriots are reeling, giving the Jets some hope of getting their first victory of the season. But New England is still the better team and it will be looking to get right against the dismal Jets. It will be close into the second half and then the Pats pull away late.

Patriots 28, Jets 10

Patriots QB Cam Newton vs. Jets front seven

The Jets face a very different challenge at quarterback this week in Newton than last week in Patrick Mahomes. Newton will try to run through and over the Jets defense while Mahomes threw over their heads.

The Jets defensive line, which will likely be without its top player in Quinnen Williams, must not let Newton get rolling. He leads the Patriots in rushing this season with 59 carries for 298 yards and six touchdowns. He has thrown only two touchdown passes and has been picked off seven times, so the Jets should have opportunities for takeaways.

“He’s a rare dude,” Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. “One of the things we’ve talked about with our players is, is that you’re looking at a defensive end playing quarterback when you take a look at the body size and the body type, but he can play the quarterback positions in a lot of different ways. And we’ve got to be sound on all of our ways.”

Another Cup of Joe: The Jets had hoped Sam Darnold would be well enough to quarterback in this game, but his shoulder acted up at Friday’s practice and they will turn back to Joe Flacco, who started two games last month with Darnold out. Flacco went 0-2, and the Jets are 0-8 in Darnold’s three years when he does not play. The veteran did not play particularly well and looked rusty at times. Jets coach Adam Gase believes this go-round should be better.

“I think he was transitioning into a lot of stuff,” Gase said. “He didn’t get to practice in training camp, he has a week of preparation then he’s in the game. I think every week is really great for him of being able to process things in his brain faster, being able to play quicker, understanding his outs, understanding the options he has at the line of scrimmage, play calls coming in. Everything moves quicker for him now than it did two weeks ago.”

First Things Worst: One of the most stunning statistics surrounding the Patriots is that they have yet to score an offensive touchdown in the first quarter this season. Slow starts have led to New England playing from behind, a trend it is out to reverse.

“We definitely want to change it. We need to change it,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “It’s not what we’re trying to do. But we haven’t done a very good job of it so far. We’ll keep working on it, see if we can be more productive in the early part of the game, for sure.”

Halftime Head Scratching: For the Jets, it has not been how they start games that has been the problem lately, but how they play in the second half. In each of the last two games, the Jets have moved the ball in the first half. They have reached the end zone only once in those two games, but they showed promise. Then, in the second half the offense does nothing. They had 4 yards in the second half against the Bills two weeks ago and 63 yards last week in Kansas City. Whatever is happening (or not happening) at halftime has to change this week.

Running On Empty: The Jets have not had a 100-yard rusher in two years. The last Jet to rush for 100 yards was Isaiah Crowell, who rushed for a franchise-record 219 yards against the Broncos on Oct. 7, 2018. The Jets have not been able to run the ball effectively in Gase’s two years as head coach. Last season, Le’Veon Bell’s best total was 87 yards. This year, Sam Darnold’s 84 yards against the Broncos are the most.

The Patriots are allowing 140.4 rushing yards per game, 27th in the NFL, so this sets up as a good opportunity for the Jets to get something going on the ground.