Patriots down Jets by 27-14 final for 8th straight win
The Pats have now won eight in a row, after another superlative effort by Drake Maye and Stefon Diggs in prime time.
The New England Patriots simply can't stop winning.
Sunday, Thursday, doesn't matter, the Patriots are taking care of business on their 2025 schedule. Their latest victim was the New York Jets, whom they beat 27-14 on "Thursday Night Football" to improve to 9-2 on the season. Quarterback Drake Maye finished 25 of 34 passing for 281 yards and a touchdown, a 107.6 passer rating, in his latest MVP-caliber effort. Stefon Diggs led the way for Patriots pass-catchers with team highs of nine catches and 105 yards, while rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson scored three total touchdowns in the victory. New England has now won eight in a row.
The game started in familiar fashion, for the Patriots defense. They allowed yet another touchdown to the opposing offense on its first possession of the game, the eighth time in 11 games. New York rushed 11 times for 56 yards as part of their 72-yard drive, capped with a Justin Fields touchdown run to put the underdog up 7-0. Impressively, their drive also rolled 8:04 off the clock.
As a result of the Jets chewing up so much time, the Patriots' first offensive possession bled into the start of the second quarter. Maye completed passes to receivers DeMario Douglas and Stefon Diggs to convert fourth-and-2 and third-and-3, respectively, along the way. They faced third-and-1 on the first snap of quarter No. 2, and Henderson converted with the ensuing carry. On the next play, Henderson took a pitch and tried to spin his way into the end zone, but instead got a little help from his linemen to push him over the goal line for the touchdown, to tie it 7-7. Henderson now has three TD runs over his last two games, after scoring just one in his first nine.
The Pats grabbed momentum back with that touchdown, and kept it going on defense. To help them out a bit, the Jets decided to throw on second-and-9, and Fields was well off the mark. Pats safety Dell Pettus tackled the Jets' Mason Taylor behind the line to gain on third-and-9, giving the defense its first three-and-out of the night.
And the offense picked up right where it left off after the punt return. Maye and tight end Hunter Henry sparked the drive with a 23-yard connection on the first play, and went 4-for-4 overall for 72 yards through the air. Henderson finished it off with his second touchdown run of the night, giving the Pats a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Pats defense forced another three-and-out after two more incompletions in a row by Fields, the second of which was a deep ball off the hands of second-year wideout AD Mitchell. The Patriots couldn't capitalize again on offense, stalling out themselves. Bryce Baringer's punt, and a holding penalty, pinned the Jets back at their 7-yard line with 3:19 left in the second quarter. After grinding out eight yards, they faced third-and-2 at the 15, and Fields' pass attempt proved too hard for Mitchell to catch and they had to punt yet again.
Maye and the offense got the ball back at their own 41-yard line with just 1:48 left in the second quarter. They drove another 32 yards in seven plays, and gave rookie kicker Andres Borregales to kick a field goal to send the Patriots to halftime up by 10 points. The Jets called a timeout to ice Borregales on his initial attempt, and the icing worked, because the rook's final attempt barely missed to the right, keeping the score at 14-7 Patriots at the half. The miss was Borregales' first since Week 1, and his first missed kick of any kind since Week 2.
The second half began as inauspiciously as the first half ended for the Patriots. Diggs appeared to make a third-down catch to set up fourth-and-1, but replay review reversed the play to incomplete, forcing the Pats to punt.
Fields committed an intentional grounding penalty on first-and-10, as he flung the ball over the middle toward no one within 20 yards, while barely inside the pocket. That set up second-and-20. Another penalty after the third-down play made it fourth-and-28, so, yeah, the Jets will punt that one.
Maye might have had some smelling salts between drives, because he woke up in a major way next time he got the ball. He wowed the football world with a play to evade pressure from two rushers then flip a perfect touch-pass over the middle to Diggs for 21 yards. On the very next play, he scrambled all the way to the sideline before dropping another one in Diggs' hands. Two plays later, Maye lofted it to Henderson in the back of the end zone for his first touchdown pass of the night, and Henderson's third score, to put the Pats up 21-7.
Despite the overwhelming momentum that it felt like the Patriots offense had just built, the defense may have been caught sleeping a bit. The Jets went out and drove 65 yards in nine plays, capped with a touchdown pass from Fields to receiver John Metchie to make it 21-14. Metchie ended up wide-open, as Pats rookie safety Craig Woodson fell as he chased him in coverage, and Fields got the pass off under pressure.
On the next Patriots drive, Maye completed consecutive passes of 10 and 26 yards to Henry and Douglas to cross into Jets territory. But Maye eventually took a 10-yard sack on second-and-5 just after reaching the red zone, setting up third-and-15. The Pats ultimately had to turn back to Borregales, and the rookie rebounded with a 44-yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-14.
The Patriots defense got a nice play from an unlikely source on the next possession, as linebacker Jack Gibbens made their first tackle for loss to set up third-and-12. Fields again threw it incomplete, forcing yet another Jets punt. The Pats couldn't take advantage, as a 5-yard loss by Douglas on a handoff set them back, then receiver Mack Hollins couldn't quite reel in a third-and-15 deep ball.
Despite having to punt again, it wasn't long before the Patriots got the ball back -- on the doorstep of the end zone. Fields couldn't handle a botched snap by center Josh Myers, and Pats linebacker Anfernee Jennings fell on the ball for a fumble recovery, giving the Patriots the ball back at the New York 11-yard line. The offense stalled out, but Borregales knocked a 26-yard chip shot through the uprights to make it 27-14.
The Jets threatened on a desperation drive, but ultimately came up empty-handed. Facing fourth-and-4 at the New England 15, Fields' attempt for Jeremy Ruckert was broken up by Pats safety Dell Pettus, getting the ball back to Maye and the offense with 1:57 left in the game.
