The Patriots didn’t wind up running away with Sunday’s game against the Jets, but they did enough to extend their winning streak to three games.
After a 17-3 halftime lead got whittled down to four points late in the third quarter, Drake Maye connected with tight end Hunter Henry for his third touchdown pass of the game early in the fourth quarter and a field goal with 1:12 to push them to a 26-16 lead.
The Jets kicked a field goal with 32 seconds left to open the door for an onside kick, but the Patriots recovered it to seal a 26-19 win. It looked for a moment like the Jets would recover when the kick went off wide receiver A.J. Brown’s hands, but Pop Douglas bailed out his teammate by falling on the ball.
Maye finished the day 18-of-32 for 235 yards and his numbers would have been better if Brown’s hands were any better on offense than they were on special teams. He had a couple of drops and a couple of other passes he should have caught go incomplete in his return from an ankle injury. It felt at times like the Patriots were forcing the ball his way and things usually worked better when the Patriots went in other directions.
Henry converted some key third downs, Douglas had seven catches and running back Corey Kiner helped close out the game by running 11 times for 57 yards. One of Douglas’s catches went for 40 yards, but he lost a fumble at the end of that play and Kiner got his chance after TreVeyon Henderson was exiled to the bench after he lost a fumble in the third quarter. Those turnovers helped keep the Jets in the game, but Geno Smith threw his first interception of the season in the fourth quarter and their upset hopes were all but squashed when they had to settle for a field goal on their next drive.
The Jets could have helped their chances of getting a win with more pressure on Maye, but the quarterback had a lot of clean pockets over the course of the afternoon. That came despite the losses of right tackle Morgan Moses, right guard Ben Brown, and left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker to injuries over the course of the afternoon. Their status will be something to watch with the Patriots on a short week heading into Thursday’s game against the Bears.
The Jets will try to amp up that part of their game before hosting the Dolphins on Sunday in Week 7.
The Patriots were able to extend their lead over the Jets late in the first half at Gillette Stadium.
After forcing a punt with just over a minute left in the second quarter, the Patriots were able to move the ball inside the Jets’ 9-yard-line on a pass to Pop Douglas that was combined with a roughing the passer call on Jets rookie linebacker David Bailey. A pair of incompletions left the Patriots with one last chance to get the ball into the end zone before halftime and they took advantage of it.
Drake Maye scrambled long enough to find Douglas for a touchdown that pushed the Patriots to a 17-3 lead. New England will also get the ball to start the third quarter.
Maye has not been sacked despite the Patriots losing a pair of offensive linemen to injury. Right tackle Morgan Moses is questionable to return with an ankle injury and left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker has the same designation due to a hamstring injury. Wide receiver Romeo Doubs is also questionable to return after hurting his shoulder while catching Maye’s first touchdown of the day.
The Jets opened the game with a field goal and moved the ball into Patriots territory twice more, but saw both drives end with failed attempts to convert on fourth down. The first was a run out of the shotgun by Braelon Allen and the second was a Geno Smith sneak that came after another shotgun run was thwarted on third down.
That’s why the Jets trail by 14 despite having the ball nearly twice as long as the Patriots through one half of play.
The Jets scored first at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, but the Patriots are now in front.
Drake Maye got plenty of time to throw on a second down and eventually found wide receiver Romeo Doubs in the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown. Doubs wound up staying down after the play and got some medical attention on the field before walking to the sideline with trainers.
The score made it 7-3 Patriots with 4:10 to play in the opening quarter.
The Jets opened the game with a strong drive that appeared to end with rookie wide receiver Omar Cooper’s first career touchdown catch, but Tim Patrick was flagged for offensive pass interference while Geno Smith was scrambling ahead of the throw. The Jets had to settle for a field goal and their second drive went up in smoke thanks to sacks by Milton Williams and Christian Barmore.
The Patriots enter Week 6 at 3-2. The Jets are 2-3.
The gap between the two teams seems to be a lot bigger than that.
The Jets have won only two of 20 games against the Patriots over the past decade. They’ll try to improve that record to 3-18 on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
It won’t be easy. New England’s offense has emerged from its funk. After scoring only two offensive touchdowns in the first three games of the season, the Patriots have scored 10 in two games.
The last time the Patriots faced the Jets, quarterback Drake Maye had a career-high five touchdown passes.
Signs have pointed to Bears quarterback Caleb Williams making his return from a hamstring injury all week and it became official on Sunday morning.
Williams is active for the team’s 1 p.m. ET game in Atlanta. Williams missed three games after being injured in Chicago’s Week 2 loss to the Vikings and was listed as questionable on the team’s final injury report, but he was a full participant in practice all this week and he posted a comeback-themed video to social media on Friday night.
Michael Penix will be the other quarterback on Sunday. Penix was forced out of last weekend’s loss to the Ravens with injured ribs, but he was also a full practice participant and he had no injury designation.
Bears at Falcons
Bears: RB Kyle Monangai, CB Tyrique Stevenson, LB T.J. Edwards, LB Keyshaun Elliott, OL Jordan McFadden, DL Jayden Loving, QB Case Keenum
Falcons: QB Cooper Rush, QB Jack Strand, CB C.J. Henderson, DB Malcolm DeWalt, LB Christian Harris, OL Ethan Onianwa, DE Drake Jackson
Ravens at Browns
Ravens: QB Lamar Jackson, C Cam Jurgens, DT Broderick Washington, TE Matt Hibner, WR Elijah Sarratt, G Andrew Vorhees, S K’Von Wallace
Browns: RB Quinshon Judkins, QB Taylen Green, CB Noah Igbinoghene, DT Mike Hall Jr., C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins, DT Mason Graham
Titans at Colts
Titans: CB Alontae Taylor, S Kevin Winston, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, RB Nick Singleton, DL Jackie Marshall, DL Jordan Elliott
Colts: LB Jaylon Carlies, WR Ashton Dulin, QB Riley Leonard, G Dalton Tucker, TE Tyler Warren
Jets at Patriots
Jets: RB Breece Hall, DL Jack Heflin, WR Adonai Mitchell, LB Joseph Ossai, G Dylan Parham, CB Nahshon Wright
Patriots: QB Behren Morton, TE Tanner Arkin, OT Dametrious Crownover, CB Carlton Davis, CB Karon Prunty, CB Channing Canada
Saints at Giants
Saints: QB Zach Wilson, LB Anfernee Jennings, S Mike Reid, LB Kaden Elliss, DL Nathan Shepherd, DL John Ridgeway
Giants: CB Colton Hood, QB Jake Haener, S Tyler Nubin, OT Jermaine Eluemunor, TE Theo Johnson, DL C.J. Okoye
Panthers at Eagles
Panthers: OT Monroe Freeling, TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, QB Haynes King, RB AJ Dillon, G Torricelli Simpkins, OT Albert Reese, DT TeRah Edwards
Eagles: WR Hollywood Brown, QB Joe Milton, RB Saquon Barkley, DB Michael Carter, LB A.J. Epenesa, LB Jalyx Hunt
Steelers at Buccaneers
Steelers: WR Ben Skowronek, QB Drew Allar, QB Will Howard, CB Sean Murphy-Bunting, RB Eli Heidenreich, CB Terell Smith, DL Kevin Jobity
Buccaneers: DL DeMonte Capehart, G Luke Haggard, QB Baker Mayfield, CB Benjamin Morrison, G Billy Schrauth, RB Sean Tucker, S Antoine Winfield Jr.
