FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots are back, baby — and Drake Maye’s the real deal. The quarterback carved up the Jets under the Thursday night lights, leading New England to a 27-14 win at Gillette and pushing the Pats’ win streak to eight straight. That’s right — eight in a row. The Pats are now 9-2, sitting pretty atop the AFC East and making the rest of the division look like they’re playing JV ball.
The game started with the usual “here we go again” groan from the crowd when the Jets marched 72 yards on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. But that was about all Gang Green had to celebrate. From there, Maye and rookie sensation TreVeyon Henderson took over like it was 2007 all over again.
Henderson racked up three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) and joined Gronk as the only rookie in team history to hit the trifecta in one game. Maye was ice-cold efficient, completing 25 of 34 for 281 yards and a score, spreading the ball to Stefon Diggs (nine catches, 105 yards) like he’s been doing this for a decade. Diggs now has 39 career 100-yard games — and looks like he’s having the time of his life in Foxborough.
After the Jets’ early punch, the Pats countered with two long touchdown drives capped by Henderson runs to take a 14-7 lead at half. A missed field goal from Andy Borregales was the only blemish in an otherwise dominant first half. Maye came out firing in the third, hitting Henderson for a TD to make it 21-7 before the Jets briefly came back to life. Didn’t matter. The Pats slammed the door with two more field goals and a late fumble recovery that sealed it.
Mike Vrabel’s crew looks nothing like the sloppy squads of the past few years — disciplined, physical, and built for cold-weather football. Maye’s playing like an MVP candidate, and Henderson’s becoming a Foxborough folk hero faster than you can say “Do Your Job.”
Next up: the Bengals in Cincy. But for now, the Pats are 9-2, the Jets are 2-8, and order has been restored in the AFC East.
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