Patriots Ups & Downs: Who stood out in a prime-time win over the Jets?

The New England Patriots improved to 9-2 on the season with a short-week victory over the New York Jets on "Thursday Night Football." Here are eight players graded UP or DOWN based on their on-field performance...

Another superlative effort from Maye, who continues to build his case for league MVP. The second-year quarterback finished 25 of 34 passing for 281 yards and a touchdown, and four of those incompletions were low-percentage deep balls.

After three straight games with an interception, Maye finally got back to his turnover-free ways. But most impressive was how Maye controlled the pocket and the middle of the field, buying time with his footwork and making plays with both his arm and his legs -- sometimes on the same play.

Maye most notably completed two consecutive passes to Stefon Diggs (more on him below) for 39 yards en route to his only touchdown pass of the night, the first of which saw him dodge two defenders before flipping a pretty touch-pass into the soft zone.

The second involved Maye darting and tiptoeing around the sideline before dropping it off to Diggs for a catch-and-run. It was simply next-level, man-against-boys football by the ultra-athletic QB.

Maye is a superstar, certainly with the way he's playing right now. There's no limit to what the Pats can accomplish with their franchise quarterback performing at this high of a level.

Landry looked slow and ineffective on the Jets' opening drive of the game, when Justin Fields and their backs repeatedly exploited the edges in the ground game. Fields outran Landry with ease on his way to the end zone. Landry may be playing hurt, as he's been on and off the injury report and getting occasional maintenance days, but he didn't look great out there tonight.

Diggs couldn't find the end zone for a fourth straight game, but he crossed the 100-yard mark for the first time since Week 5 and led the team with nine catches and 105 yards. One of his non-catches was very nearly secured; it took a quick replay review for officials to rule that the ball jarred loose as Diggs hit the ground. The veteran receiver continues to gel with Maye and establish himself as a player tha Patriots can depend on to come up with big plays in big moments.

The rookie missed an end-of-first-half kick attempt, after the Jets called a last-second timeout on his initial try, in a classic icing. Borregales bounced back later to hit kicks of 44 and 26 yards, but his first FG miss since Week 1 was a blemish on an otherwise strong team game. You beat the Jets by 13 on Thursday night, and you have to nitpick.

Henderson didn't break off monster runs like he did last week in Tampa, but he found the end zone three more times, giving him five total touchdowns over his last two games. He certainly got help on his two TD runs, the first of which was a group push into the end zone, but Henderson has been making the most of his blocking lately. And it's come at a great time, with Rhamondre Stevenson on the shelf.

The rookie wideout continued to see his share of snaps on offense, and Maye looked his way three times. Unfortunately, all three attempts fell incomplete, as Williams and the quarterback are clearly not on the same page. We're going to lean in the direction of the receiver needing to be better, in this regard.

The right guard deserves a shoutout for the way he blocked on both of Henderson's first two touchdown runs. He was basically the caboose on the freight train created by Henderson and the linemen on the first score. On the second, Onwenu pulled right to left and pancaked the last possible tackler for Henderson. A nice bounceback effort for Onwenu after a shaky couple of weeks.

The rookie safety unfortunately fell down while trying to cover receiver John Metchie III, leaving him wide-open for a touchdown that at the time made it a one-score game in the third quarter. Woodson finished with four tackles, and looks like he could develop into a dependable long-term starting safety, but his coverage has been hit-or-miss.

Gibbens has delivered his best two game of the season over the past two weeks, with Christian Elliss out. He finished with six tackles and made what at the time was their first and only tackle for loss on the night, before a pair of late sacks. Gibbens is making for an interesting decision for the Patriots when Elliss is ready to return. He's made a strong case to remain in a prominent role at inside linebacker.

Three carries at a 2-yard clip, and no kick returns for the veteran. Maybe it's not fair to expect much from Johnson, who just got here and is clearly on the back end of his NFL career. But it was another forgettable night for him, and his chances of making any headway on this roster will dwindle as long as Stevenson keeps inching closer to returning.

Next Patriots Ups & Downs comes in about a week and a half, after the Pats finally get back on the field to take on the Cincinnati Bengals.