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The Patriots are making a short trip on a short week to the Meadowlands for a matchup against the Jets on Thursday Night Football.

The last time these two teams met, New England’s division rival ended a 15-game losing streak with a Jets victory at a snowy Gillette Stadium. It was an unfortunate end to a historic era of Patriots football, but now a new challenge presents itself this week. For the first time with Gang Green, the Patriots will square off against four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers on Thursday night. Rodgers is healthy after tearing his Achilles four snaps into his Jets debut last season.

Without the benefit of a full game-prep, teams typically stick to their base schemes on Thursday Night Football. Nobody is reinventing the wheel or crafting a Super Bowl game plan in three days. Furthermore, after two weeks of throwing the kitchen sink at Joe Burrow and Geno Smith, there’s no fooling a 40-year-old quarterback like Rodgers. At this stage of his career, Rodgers has a doctorate degree in reading out defenses, with the second-fastest average time to throw in the NFL through two weeks (2.26s). For those reasons, it’s a good time for the Patriots defense to get back to basics.

Last week, Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington began the game with schemes that Smith picked apart. New England allowed 17 first-half points to the Seahawks, and Geno added +0.45 expected points per drop-back at halftime. In the second half, the Patriots went back to their roots with a 50% man coverage rate. They went from calling zone coverage on 83.3% of passing third downs to an even 50-50 split in the final two quarters plus overtime. New England returned to some Belichick staples and held Seattle to six second-half points.