The New England Patriots, depleted by injuries on both sides of the ball, are struggling to remain competitive in the first half against the New York Jets in week 16. Despite the struggles, they only trail the Jets 10-3.
On offense, the Patriots suffered another key injury, losing offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer for this game and probably more with an apparent ankle injury. The Patriots haven't had many opportunities on offense, but haven't done much with them either. They've been uber-conservative outside of their lone scoring drive, the highlight of which was a long sideline throw to Rob Gronkowski and a near-miss on a flea flicker.
Defensively, Jets' receivers are streaking open down the field, as it is obvious the Patriots are missing both Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty. The Patriots are also being manhandled at the point of attack, with their defensive tackles allowing big holes for Jets' runners Bilal Powell and Chris Ivory. The pass rush has also been non-existent.
With nearly two full minutes to go at the end of the half and two timeouts, the Patriots simply chose to run out the clock, which was quite inexplicable despite all of the injuries they'e had on the offensive side.
The Patriots will get the ball to begin the second half, and desperately need to make something happen.