FOXBOROUGH — Just a few days after the Patriots left Tampa with a hard-fought win over the Buccaneers, New England extended its win streak to eight games in a row.
A weary New England roster was far from perfect on Thursday against the Jets, but Mike Vrabel’s team did more than enough to come away with a 27-14 win over New York.
Here are nine takeaways from the win:
Patriots gut one out
Entering Thursday’s game as a 12.5-point favorite, the Patriots were expected to make quick work of a 2-7 Jets team that gutted their roster at the trade deadline.
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But with New England playing their second game in five days — and with their bye still several weeks away — New England looked like a team running on fumes at times against New York.
New England’s defense labored at times when it came to snuffing out extended Jets drives, while the Patriots offense also wasn’t able to turn this game into a blowout on several occasions.
But given their daunting workload and the amount of injuries that have started to pile up for Vrabel’s roster, the Patriots welcomed a primetime game where they did more than enough to come away with a win.
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New England still has several things to clean up, but rest should be the top prescription for this team after once again taking care of business on Thursday night.
Drake Maye keeps making case for MVP
Playing in front of a national audience once again, Maye continued to make a compelling case as NFL MVP in just his second year in the league.
Against a Jets defense that entered Thursday allowing just 190.8 yards per game, Maye once again carved up a stout personnel grouping.
He completed 25-of-34 throws for 281 yards and one touchdown — while avoiding any turnovers in another strong showing.
At this point, a dominant performance from Maye isn’t a pleasant surprise. It’s become the norm.
Another slow start
The Jets don’t boast the most imposing offensive personnel, especially with top wideout Garrett Wilson sidelined on Thursday and QB Justin Fields throwing for under 60 yards in three of his last four games entering tonight.
But in what has continued to be a recurring flaw for New England this season, the Patriots let go of the rope on defense to open the game — with New York starting the bout with a 14-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a rushing touchdown from Fields.
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The Patriots have been stout against the run all season, but couldn’t seem to slow down the Jets on this first drive — with New York going a perfect 4-for-4 on third-down situations and gaining 56 of their 72 yards on the ground.
FIELDS FOR 6.
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This marked the eighth time in 11 games this season where New England’s defense coughed up points on the opening drive.
Henderson’s breakout continues
With Rhamondre Stevenson sidelined for the third-straight game with a toe injury, the onus was once again going to fall on rookie TreVeyon Henderson to pace New England’s rushing attack on Thursday.
It hasn’t been the most seamless transition to the NFL ranks so far this fall for the 2025 second-round pick, but he showcased his explosive speed on Sunday against Tampa with a 147-yard, two-touchdown performance.
And on Thursday, Henderson continued to establish himself as a legitimate weapon in Josh McDaniels’ offensive system — rushing for two touchdowns and adding another receiving score in the victory.
Henderson paced New England’s offense in the first half, finding the end zone on a pair of seven-yard rushes in the end zone — headlined by a dogged attempt in the second quarter where the rookie remained on his feet and was pushed over the goal line by the scrum of Patriots players surrounding him.
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Henderson joined Curtis Martin (1995) as the only Patriots rookies since 1970 to post consecutive games with two or more rushing touchdowns — and is the first Patriots player with two-plus rushing touchdowns in back-to-back matchups since Damien Harris in 2021.
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Henderson added his third touchdown of the day (and fifth in five days) in the third quarter, making him just the fourth player in franchise history to post two rushing TDs and one receiving TD in a single game — joining Rex Burkhead (9/27/20), Sam Cunningham (11/23/75) and Billy Lott (12/9/61).
With Rob Gronkowski in attendance, Henderson also joined the Patriots legend as the only rookie in franchise history to record a three-touchdown game.
New England whiffs on double-score attempt
With the Jets opted to receive the ball after winning the opening coin toss, New England was set up to execute yet another double-score opportunity on Thursday night.
The chance presented itself in the closing minutes of the second quarter after getting the ball back with 1:48 left until halftime — and with New England still in possession of all three timeouts.
But Vrabel and the Patriots opted to let the clock run without using all of their timeouts, eventually settling for a 45-yard field-goal attempt from Andy Borregales. But for the first time since Week 1, the rookie kicker whiffed on an attempt — with New England having zero points to show for that final drive.
New England still had a chance to build off of their 14-7 lead coming out of the half, but their drive stalled out on their own 37-yard line — prompting a punt from Bryce Baringer.
Maye does his best Mahomes impression
After that uninspiring opening drive of the second half, Maye and the Patriots offense delivered a haymaker against New York later in the third quarter.
Chants of “MVP! MVP!” only grew louder as Maye pushed the ball down the field — with the 23-year-old QB looking like Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes with a few of his rollouts and scrambles that allowed him to extend plays and hit open receivers.
watching Drake Maye's breakout szn in real time 🥹
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After Maye hit Stefon Diggs for an 18-yard pickup, Maye recorded his first touchdown of the night by floating a ball up from Henderson — who reeled it in for his first receiving TD of his NFL career.
THE TREYFECTA
It was seemingly a knockout punch delivered by Maye as a packed Gillette Stadium went into a frenzy.
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But New England’s defense once again suffered a severe blip during a critical moment of the game — with the Jets responding to Maye’s TD drive by generating their own nine-play, 65-yard that was capped with John Metchie III hauling in a 22-yard touchdown.
Entering the fourth quarter, New England’s lead was still just 21-14.
Patriots hold off Jets in fourth quarter
New England wasn’t able to turn Thursday’s game into a lopsided laugher over the final minutes of play.
But the Patriots did enough to put this game away, with Borregales bouncing back with two field goals to give his team the breathing room it needed.
An up-and-down night from New England’s defense did see them make some key stops down the stretch — with Anfernee Jennings picking up a fumble after Fields fumbled the snap well within New York territory.
JUMP ON IT BOYS
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Maye and the Patriots weren’t able to end the game with another touchdown, ultimately settling for another field goal after taking over at the Jets’ 11-yard line.
But New England’s defense did bounce back — with Christian Barmore and Elijah Ponder both sacking Fields and safety Dell Pettus eventually forcing a turnover on downs after covering Jeremy Ruckert at New England’s 15-yard line.
The Jets might have still be able to extend drives on the ground, especially with a mobile QB in Fields.
But New England’s defense once again bent — but didn’t break — en route to a win.
Gronk’s return to Foxborough had the future Hall-of-Famer playing all of the hits — be it delivering a “Gronk Spike” on the field and later smashing a guitar with a Jets logo on it during a halftime performance by musical duo LOCASH.
Gronk is now smashing a Jets guitar during this halftime show.
ODDS AND ENDS
The Patriots had an injury scare on the opening drive, as Milton Williams suffered an ankle injury after getting rolled up by fellow defensive lineman Christian Barmore. Williams spent time in the blue medical tent and was deemed questionable to return. He did return for a few snaps before officially getting ruled out in the fourth quarter. New England will welcome an extended break to heal up — with their next game set for Nov. 23 against the Bengals.
Looked like Christian Barmore got blocked into Milton Williams’ lower body on Fields’ third down run.
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After breaking through with a 72-yard touchdown grab in Tampa, rookie Kyle Williams couldn’t build off that performance — as he once again couldn’t get on the same page as Maye via several throws down the field. Kayshon Boutte was missed in this game.
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He didn’t finish with a touchdown, but Stefon Diggs was once again a game-changer as Maye’s top target — closing out the game with nine catches for 105 yards.
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It wasn’t the sharpest game from New England, but the Jets didn’t exactly capitalize on their chances due to several critical penalties. New York finished with seven penalties, amounting to 62 yards.
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There were several other Patriots greats in attendance for this game beyond Gronkowski, including Randy Moss and Vince Wilfork.
Quite the response from Fields and the Jets, as New York orchestrates a 9-play, 64-yard drive that ends with a 22-yard TD catch from Metchie.
Woodson was in coverage, but fell down.
Fields finds Metchie! Back to a one-possession game.
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10:05: TOUCHDOWN PATRIOTS.
Henderson adds his third touchdown of the day — this one through the air.
Maye hits him in the end zone and the Patriots are up, 21-7.
THE TREYFECTA
10:03: “MVP” chants here at Gillette for Maye — and deservedly so. He’s looking like Mahomes out there.
9:58: Patriots haven’t delivered a knockout punch yet … but the Jets also can’t get out of their own way with some careless penalties. Jets punt again after that intentional grounding and an unnecessary roughness call.
9:55: Chaisson brings the pressure and Justin Fields is whistled for intentional grounding.
9:51: Replay assist takes away a completion from Diggs, and New England punts.
9:34: Borregales has a chance to add extra points at the half — but he misses a 45-yard field goal to end the half.
HALF: Patriots have a 14-7 lead over the Jets.
9:25: Maye is sacked … but Mack Hollins draws an illegal contact penalty. First down.
9:20: AD Mitchell with another drop on third down. He was wide open — and couldn’t reel in a throw from Fields. New York isn’t gonna pull an upset if they can’t cash in on chances like that.
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Jets punt again.
New England has a prime chance for another double-score.
9:17: Two-minute warning. Jets staring at a 3rd and 2.
9:12: Stefon Diggs is slow to get up after getting hit over the middle there. Patriots punting.
9:05: Jets punt again after Gonzalez breaks up a deep throw from Fields to Mitchell.
9:01: It’s been the TreVeyon Henderson show … but Drake Maye is also 9-for-9 on throws for 97 yards.
9:00: TOUCHDOWN PATRIOTS.
TreVeyon Henderson … again. He rushes in from 7 yards out and the Patriots now have a 14-7 lead.
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