Special Teams Review: Jets-New England

We've been breaking down this week's game. We conclude today's postgame analysis with a look at the special teams.

Let's review the key contributions...

Kicking game - QuarterMac

The Jets must have set, or at least tied, an NFL record when they attempted two fake punts on one drive on Sunday. They made the first as Austin McNamara found Malachi Moore on a pass over the middle. However, the second one, an Isaiah Davis run, was blown up embarrassingly easily.

The first one didn't really work either as Moore wasn't wide open and McNamara initially hesitated before throwing it into traffic and Moore had to make a tough catch with a defensive player draped all over him. The second one never had a chance as Jeremy Ruckert and Jarius Monroe were among the lead blockers who allowed penetration.

When McNamara did what he does best - punting the ball - he was effective with a 48-yarder fair-caught at the 15 and a 50-yarder fair-caught at the nine.

He also kicked off three times with one down to the goal line but two shorter ones outside the five.

Nick Folk made a field goal and an extra point. Something to watch is that he needs two more made field goals in the final game to earn another incentive.

Kick coverage - Arian flew

New England returned three kickoffs, to the 39, 26 and 27-yard line. Davis, Monroe, Cam Jones and Ja'Sir Taylor were credited with tackles. Andrew Beck and Mykal Walker were blocked out of the play that almost got returned to the 40.

Davis and Taylor had the most impressive stops, although Davis was injured in the process of making his.

On both punts, Arian Smith got downfield well to force the fair catch.

Return game - Kene-tration

The Patriots opted to actually kick to the Jets this week, although they did have three touchbacks. Interestingly, though, it was Kene Nwangwu returning all kickoffs rather than Isaiah Williams. Perhaps this was to avoid exposing a key offensive player to too many hits or something.

Nwangwu averaged 28.5 yards per return but the furthest he got was out to the 36. The blocking wasn't particularly good with Davis (twice), Beck and Jelani Woods all missing blocks, but he did break a few tackles.

There's another possible reason the Jets used Nwangwu in this capacity. He is on the brink of having enough returns to qualify for the league leaders and, right now, has a better average than the guy in first place. He will need four returns next week to potentially qualify as the official league leader.

Williams did work punt returns but New England only punted twice and he couldn't return either of them as Taylor was beaten both times by the gunner to force a fair catch.

We'll be back with the 3-on-D and 3-on-O over the next few days...