The Patriots had Sam Darnold ‘seeing ghosts.’ The rest of the NFL should be frightened, too.

Quarterback Sam Darnold and the New York Jets lost to the New England Patriots on Monday. (Adam Hunger/AP Photo)

 

Oct. 22, 2019 at 7:28 a.m. GMT+2

The New England Patriots gave a performance Monday night at the Meadowlands that had Sam Darnold muttering about seeing ghosts and should have been equally frightening to their fellow Super Bowl contenders. They improved to 7-0 by overwhelming the New York Jets, 33-0.

The Patriots are nearly halfway to an unblemished regular season mostly because of their dominant defense. But quarterback Tom Brady and the offense also looked capable of doing their part during a quick start Monday that provided a 24-point lead before the midway point of the second quarter.

That was much more than enough support for an historically great defense that left Darnold, the prized second-year quarterback for the Jets, looking frazzled and sounding confused.

“I’m seeing ghosts,” Darnold, wearing a microphone for the ESPN broadcast, said on the Jets’ sideline in the first half.

So much for the notion that the Jets, coming off an upset of the Dallas Cowboys, could be competitive with the Patriots with Darnold back in the lineup. He missed the Jets’ loss to the Patriots last month in Foxborough, Mass., after being diagnosed with mononucleosis.

He had five turnovers, throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble. He had a passer rating of 3.6 while throwing for 86 yards on 11-for-32 passing accuracy. He gave the Patriots a safety with an illegal batting penalty on a play on which the football was loose in the end zone after an errant shotgun snap. The Jets (1-5) had 154 yards of total offense.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Coach Adam Gase said during a postgame news conference in which he called his team’s performance “brutal.”

But that is how every team looks against this New England defense. The Patriots have 18 interceptions, the most by an NFL team through seven games of a season since the Green Bay Packers had 20 in 1996. Those Packers won the Super Bowl.

The Patriots have two shutout victories this season in which they’ve topped 30 points. They won at Miami, 43-0, in Week 2. According to the NFL, they and the 1991 Washington Redskins are the only teams during the Super Bowl era to have two shutouts while scoring 30 or more points within the first seven games of a season. Those Redskins won the Super Bowl.

These Patriots are seeking a seventh Super Bowl triumph with Brady as their quarterback and Bill Belichick as their coach.

“We’re a long way from thinking about those things,” Brady told ESPN after the game. “Again, just happy we won. Seven wins doesn’t get you anything in the NFL. But, you know, 33-0 — I mean, if we don’t give up any points, it’s gonna be hard to lose. But our offense has to come through when we’re counted on. Guys made some plays tonight. We’ve got to make more next week.”