The New England Patriots got a touchdown pass from Mac Jones and had a much better running attack on Sunday afternoon, as their defense frustrated New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson for much of the game holding on for their first victory of the season 15-10 at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is the 15th straight win for New England over New York.
New England only had a 10-3 halftime lead, despite holding New York (1-2) to under 50 yards of total offense over the first 30 minutes. Chad Ryland had a 48-yard field goal for the Patriots with their first possession of the game, and they went up 10-0 early in the second when Jones found his backup tightend Pharaoh Brown wide open for a 58-yard touchdown on the fourth play of that drive. The Jets got a long field goal by Greg Zuerlin to get on the board, and the guests let them hang around when Ryland would miss two of his three kicks in the half including a 57-yard attempt in the final seconds.
New England (1-2) extended their lead to 13-3 when Ryland connected on a 51-yard kick early in the third quarter, and then both teams were forced to punt on their next three possessions each. Wilson engineered an 84-yard drive in the fourth to get New York within three, culminating in a 1-yard scoring run by Nick Bawden with 5:29 left to play. After the Patriots punted again, the Jets were backed up deep inside their own territory with a 3rd and 15 from their own 5-yard line. Wilson dropped back to pass in his own endzone, and was sacked by Matt Judon for a safety. New England would get the ball back again late with a chance to run the clock out with a first down, but instead went three and out giving the Jets one more chance from their own 17-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. Wilson completed a 29-yard pass to Garrett Wilson on first down, and then stopped the clock by spiking the ball with one second showing on the clock. The final desperation hailmary into the endzone was batted around, with Randall Cobb almost catching it but would slip near the goal line as it fell incomplete with time already expired.
Jones went 15-29 passing for 201 yards and a touchdown in the win. Zeke Elliott had 80 yards rushing and Rhamondre Stevenson added 59 on the ground, as New England rushed for a season-best 157 yards. Brown had two catches for 71 yards and the one long score, while Kendrick Bourne reeled in four receptions for 46 yards. Jabrill Peppers had six total tackles and Kyle Dugger had five to lead the defense. Judon had two sacks and Christian Barmore had one. Wilson finished 18-36 passing for 157 yards in the loss for New York, who has now dropped two straight games. The Jets were held to 38 yards rushing on 22 carries. Garrett Wilson had five catches for 48 yards, while Allen Lazard and Tyler Conklin both added three each for 39 and 26 yards respectively. New England is on the road again next Sunday when they head to Dallas to take on the Cowboys at 4:25 p.m.
Story by Chris Lessner
