The New England Patriots finish the regular season a perfect 8-0 on the road, overcoming injuries in an impressive 42-10 blowout win against the Jets in Week 17.
The New England Patriots have finished the regular season a perfect 8-0 on the road, overwhelming the New York Jets in a 42-10 blowout victory.
Coming into the game, the story was about the Patriots’ depth being tested. With WR Kayshon Boutte, WR Mack Hollins (placed on injured reserve on Saturday), LB Harold Landry, LB Robert Spillane, DL Milton Williams, DL Khyiris Tonga, DL Joshua Farmer (placed on injured reserve following the Baltimore win), and G Jared Wilson all ruled out on Friday, the Pats were set to be thin at multiple position groups on both sides of the ball.
On Sunday, none of that chatter seemed to matter, as the Patriots blitzed the Jets right out of the gates and wrapped this one up before the halftime buzzer. They led, 35-3, going into the break.
Patriots Offensive Performance
The Patriots’ offense set the tone and never looked back. They looked silky smooth, engineering six consecutive touchdown drives of 61, 85, 66, 74, 91, and 47 yards before finally being held out of the end zone late in the third quarter (when Joshua Dobbs was in at quarterback).
New England gained 344 yards on offense in the first half, which marks a season-high for any team in the NFL. It was the first time since 2009 that an NFL team scored 35+ points and gained over 300 yards of offense in the first half.
Even undermanned on the perimeter, Drake Maye delivered another MVP-caliber performance in Week 17. He opened the game hot, completing his first 11 passes for 159 yards and three touchdowns before throwing an incompletion.
He threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers in the first half. It was the first time since Tom Brady in 2014 that a Patriots’ quarterback threw four first-half touchdowns.
Maye finished the day 19-of-21 for 256 passing yards and five touchdowns. He added 22 rushing yards to that total.
He was on the field for six offensive possessions, and led a touchdown-scoring drive on each of them before being subbed out for Dobbs with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Maye’s five touchdown passes in the game set a new career-high, and he became just the fourth quarterback in franchise history to hit the mark (Steve Grogan, once, Babe Parilli, twice, and Tom Brady, six times). It was the first time a Patriots’ quarterback threw for five touchdowns in a game since Brady in 2017.
In the win, Maye joined Drew Bledsoe and Brady as the franchise’s third quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
Stefon Diggs was active early and often yet again, catching 6 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. All of his touches came in the first half, and the Patriots seemed content to rest him down the stretch.
Diggs grabbed his fourth touchdown of the season on a fourth-and-goal conversion that looked eerily similar to Danny Amendola’s two-point conversion in Super Bowl LI.
He now sits at 970 yards for the season, with the opportunity in Week 18 to become the Patriots’ first 1,000 yard receiver since Julian Edelman in 2019.
Efton Chism III also made an impact on the game, hauling in his first career reception on a slant and rumbling for 30 yards in the first half. He also became the fifth player to catch a touchdown from Maye on the Patriots’ opening drive of the third quarter — a nice showing in his first expansive action of the season.
On the ground, Stevenson looked explosive early, carrying five times for 45 yards in the first quarter, including a season-long 24-yard gain that set New England up in the red area. He opened the second quarter with a 22-yard touchdown reception.
Henderson led the backfield with 19 carries for 82 yards after clearing concussion protocol on Saturday. His better running came in the second half, when New England already had the game well in-hand.
Patriots Defensive Performance
Stopping Breece Hall was priority-one for New England going into Sunday’s game. The main concern in doing so was the lack of depth along the interior of the Patriots’ front-seven.
Hall quickly became a non-factor, as the Jets went three-and-out on their opening possession before Cook threw an interception to Jaylinn Hawkins on New York’s second drive. The interception by Hawkins was his third of the season, a career-best mark for the safety.
By the time the Jets saw the football again, it was a 21-0 game. Not ideal conditions for sustaining a rushing attack, but New York remained steadfast in keeping a balanced approach.
Hall became more involved in the passing game, catching two passes on the Jets’ first scoring drive, including a checkdown that he turned into a 21-yard gain. That chunk put New York in field goal range — they wouldn’t gain another yard on the drive and settled on making the game 21-3 early in the second quarter.
With more on his plate, Cook underwhelmed. He threw the early interception, and following that, the Jets were hesitant to let him push the ball downfield.
New York looked disinterested in competing early, and just didn’t have enough firepower to hang around. They even opened the second half with two fake punts — the first was a successful conversion on a three yard pass, the second was a rushing attempt that was blown up behind the line of scrimmage.
The Jets totalled just 77 yards of offense in the first half.
Their brightest moment in the game for New York was the first play of the fourth quarter, when Hall busted open a 59-yard touchdown run. That touchdown led to the eventual final tally at 42-10.
By the end of the game, Breece Hall accounted for 129 of the Jets 307 yards, and it couldn’t have mattered less to the result.
Whether it was the incompetencies of the Jets offense or a great performance by the Patriots defense is irrelevant; New England dominated this game in every phase.
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In a week where injuries were all the buzz, the Patriots once again proved that they are contenders in the AFC — seemingly regardless of who lines up around Drake Maye.
The win moves the Patriots to 4-1 in division play, and positions them one step closer to being crowned 2025 AFC East Champions.
That could now happen as soon as Sunday evening, as a Buffalo loss in Philadelphia clinches the AFC East for New England. They’re also still alive in the race for the first-seed in the AFC. To clinch that, they’ll need to win against the Dolphins and see the Chargers beat the Broncos.
At 13-3, the Patriots have secured a thirteen-win regular season for the eighth time in franchise history and the first time since 2017.
The win also marks the third time in franchise history the team has finished with an undefeated road record in the regular season (2007, 2016).
A miraculous season rolls on for the Patriots, who look just as dangerous as any team in the conference as we inch toward postseason play.
But first, a final home stand against Miami next weekend.