J.C. Jackson, Patriots defense handed a slice of humble pie by Buffalo

Amid all of the doom and gloom spewed out last week following the Patriots' 22-12 loss against the Dolphins, J.C. Jackson did what he could to remain positive — even if New England's front seven was thoroughly trampled by a usually listless rushing attack from the Fins.

Granted, trying to polish a sordid showing from New England's defensive unit wasn't going to get very far — not on an afternoon in which the Pats relinquished 250 yards on the ground down at Hard Rock Stadium, and especially not in the immediate aftermath of a loss that officially bumped Bill Belichick's club out of playoff contention.

No, rather than try to view that loss through rose-colored glasses, Jackson instead looked ahead — doling out some assurance that this defense was not going to let another embarrassing effort mar what has already been a trying season down Foxborough.

"We've just got to play better as a team in my opinion, which we will," Jackson said postgame down in Miami Gardens. "We will. We will get shit together and we're going to get ready for Buffalo next week - Monday night."

Of course, for as daunting as Buffalo's offense — orchestrated by Brian Daboll and executed by Josh Allen — has been this season, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Jackson's confidence was unwavering entering Monday night's showdown with the new top dogs in the AFC East.

You certainly can't blame the young defensive back — not with eight interceptions on his stat line this season and plenty of buzz generated from being omitted as a Pro Bowl selection.

“I feel like I had an OK season,” Jackson said earlier this week on his game. “I could have done much better. In some games, I could have played better, better performance. I’ll never get myself credit. I can be way better than I was this year, trust me. They haven’t seen nothing yet.”

If the 25-year-old cornerback was looking for an opportunity to cement himself as one of top young DBs in the game, Monday's national showcase was primed to provide such an outlet. Even with New England's playoff hopes dashed, there was still plenty of pride on the line for a Patriots' defense that has been put on the ropes repeatedly over the last few weeks — with Jackson slated to handle No. 1 cornerback duties with Stephon Gilmore ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a torn quad.

Jackson's task? Stymying one of the top wideouts in the league in Stefon Diggs.

Had this played out like most seasons at Gillette Stadium over the past two decades, a poor defensive performance against Miami would likely be absolved with a lockdown showing against Allen and the Bills — with Jackson backing up his postgame prose in Florida by grounding Diggs and Buffalo's aerial assault.

But, plain and simple, this hasn't been like most seasons for Belichick and Co.

And any hope for redemption for Jackson and New England's defense was snuffed out more and more with each successful salvo that Allen and the Bills launched down the field in Foxborough on Monday night.



By the time the dust had finally settled, the Bills exited the Gillette gridiron with a 38-9 victory over the Patriots — a trouncing that stands as the worst home loss of the Belichick era.

Buffalo landed a haymaker against the Pats in just about every facet of Monday's contest, with New England's defense tagged for a season-worst 474 yards allowed in a game in which Sean McDermott mercifully removed Allen (27-of-36, 320 yards, four touchdowns) in the fourth quarter.

At that point, the damage had already been done, with the Bills racking up points in six of their seven drives with Allen under center — and Jackson, in particular, getting carved up as New England's current No.1 CB.

Despite an encouraging start against Diggs, things went off the rails in a hurry — as the Bills' top receiver hauled in nine balls for 145 yards and three scores, two of which came with Jackson in coverage.

"I gotta play better," Jackson said postgame. "I just got to keep working, keep trying to get better. That's really it."

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The early returns were promising for Jackson against Diggs, with the Pats' corner picking off a pass intended for Buffalo's explosive WR in the end zone during the closing minute of the first quarter. Although that pick was negated due to Adam Butler being offsides, Jackson continued to keep Diggs in check over the first few series, jawing with the fellow Terrapin in between plays.

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However, Diggs' play ultimately did most of the talking on Monday night — headlined by a 50-yard touchdown reception in which the receiver waved at a pursuing Jackson before racing into the end zone — giving Buffalo a 24-9 lead at the time.

"I didn't really see the ball, and I feel like I hesitated a little bit," Jackson said of Allen and Diggs' home-run play. "I saw the ball at the last minute. And he caught the ball and ran in for the touchdown. He's a good player — he's a playmaker. Like I said, I could have did better. I could have had tighter coverage. I'll see him again. We play twice a year, every year."

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But Diggs was not finished against Jackson, finding the end zone yet again in the third quarter after slipping between him and Terrence Brooks and coasting in for an 18-yard score. By the end of that quarter, Jackson found himself on the sidelines — with Joejuan Williams taking some of his reps out on the field.

Jackson is still an extremely talented defensive back, and is line for a nice pay raise as a restricted free agent this offseason. And yet, for as much as his stock has soared over the last few months, Monday's showing against a bonafide No. 1 receiver in Diggs stands as a reminder that Jackson — while on the path to become the anchor of a defensive backfield — still has a ways to go before his play justifies the hype.

"Each play, you can't take any reps off," Jackson said of covering Diggs. You can't fall asleep, you got to be alert and ready every play when you play a receiver like that. Like I said, he's a playmaker. ... You got to be almost be perfect when you guard somebody like that — you got to almost have perfect coverage in man to man."

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Of course, Jackson was far from the lone culprit in New England's ghastly showing on defense. Even with some stalwarts like Gilmore and Lawrence Guy on the shelf, the production on the field — or lack thereof — was inexcusable for this grouping. Butler's costly penalties struck Jackson's end-zone pick off the board, while the Patriots' pass rush failed to generate one sack against Allen all game.

"We just didn't do a good job tackling, we didn't do a good job covering," Jason McCourty, who was also burned by Diggs for a touchdown, said postgame. "To be honest, from a defensive standpoint, we didn't do anything well in the game. And it was indicative of the score. This was a poor performance by us on defense as a whole. ...We just need guys to step up, come in and play hard and just a failure by us on defense tonight. Just not good all around. Disappointing."

With just one game remaining before this Patriots season mercifully comes to a close, Jackson, McCourty and the Patriots found themselves in the same spot they were in a week ago — embarrassed out on the field, with nothing to play for in the following matchup other than pride.

It's not a fate that most on this roster envisioned would manifest into reality back in August, to say the least. But given that Sunday's finale against the Jets will likely stand as the last time that many New England regulars will share the field together, perhaps this miserable campaign can at least end on a positive note — even if those words might ring hollow in a season like this.

"We have one more opportunity left for this season with this group of guys. Obviously we talk about it all the time — I was here in '18, we won the Super Bowl. And you come back in '19, and the team's different," McCourty said. "No matter what, things change. And I think when you have a season like we did this year, and you're not going to the playoffs, you have embarrassing losses, this roster is going to be a lot different. There's a lot of guys that are in the locker room tonight that aren't going to be in the locker room next year — guys that are playing football right now that aren't going to be playing football next year. So I think for us, we have one more opportunity left together. So whoever's out there — young, old ... We got to go out there and compete."