New England Patriots: Studs and duds vs. Jets in Week 7

Stud: Sony Michel

Sony Michel has continued his recent stretch of stellar performances over the past few weeks, serving as the primary running back within the Patriots offense over that span of success. In Monday’s victory over the Jets in New York, Michel tallied a team-best 42 yards rushing on a team-high 19 carries in the contest, running for three touchdowns with an average of 2.2 yards per carry and a game-long rush of 11 yards.

Although his overall yards gained on the ground in Week 7 aren’t necessarily eye-popping, Michel stepped up in some key moments in the game to help lead New England to the win, including getting in the end zone a total of three times.

It’s becoming clear that Michel is becoming the primary running back within the Patriots offense, while occasionally being paired with fellow running back James White in the backfield. And as of late, Michel has stepped up for New England while contributing to the team remaining undefeated so far this season.

Dud: Scoring off of turnovers forced

As mentioned earlier, the New England defense was able to force New York quarterback Sam Darnold into throwing four interceptions, while also recovering two fumbles on the defensive side of the ball. The Patriots, however, were only able to score a touchdown on one of those forced turnovers, which was after a fumble in the second quarter.

New England was ultimately able to turn the ball over, which is the most important part, early and often against New York, taking the Jets out of the game early on while coasting to yet another win. But it would have been nice to see the Patriots score and take advantage of their turnovers more in the game.