The Patriots were far from polished, but they beat the New York Jets 26-19 on Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough for their third consecutive win. The Jets stayed close deep into the fourth quarter, leaving New England with only a one-possession lead late. The result moved the Patriots to 27-4 in their last 31 games against New York, which has lost 22 of 27 at Gillette since the stadium opened in 2002.
The Jets started better. They pushed into the red zone on the opening drive, but a touchdown pass from Geno Smith to Omar Cooper Jr. was wiped out by an offensive pass interference penalty on Tim Patrick. Kevin Byard then broke up a third-and-20 throw in the end zone, and Jason Sanders settled for a 42-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead. The Patriots went three-and-out on their first possession.
The momentum flipped quickly. Milton Williams and Christian Barmore sacked Smith on back-to-back plays to force a punt from the Jets' own four-yard line. Two plays later, Drake Maye found Romeo Doubs for a 42-yard touchdown, the longest reception of Doubs' NFL career. Doubs hurt his shoulder on the play and was ruled out.
The defense was bent for much of the day but delivered when it counted. Robert Spillane stopped Braelon Allen on a fourth-and-2 at the Patriots' 28, and New England stuffed a Smith quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 at its own 39, where a virtual measurement showed the ball just short. A 12-play drive ended with a 32-yard Andy Borregales field goal, and Maye hit DeMario Douglas in the end zone with 14 seconds left in the half to make it 17-3.
The second half was sloppier. A.J. Brown, back after missing four games with a high-ankle sprain, dropped two passes on third and fourth down, the latter a turnover on downs at the Jets' 40. Three plays later, Smith hit Cooper for a 48-yard touchdown. Rookie David Bailey then ripped the ball from TreVeyon Henderson, and the Jets recovered at the Patriots' 36 and kicked a field goal to trim the margin to 17-13 entering the fourth quarter.
New England answered with a 12-play, 68-yard drive capped by a seven-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Henry after a busted coverage. Borregales missed the extra point, making it 23-13. Charles Woods then intercepted Smith, the quarterback's first pick of the season. But Jamien Sherwood punched the ball loose from Douglas after a 40-yard catch, and Sanders added another field goal to make it 23-16 with 7:20 left.
Third-string running back Corey Kiner helped close it out. After a 15-yard pickup by Henry on third-and-13, Kiner ground out several tough runs as the Patriots used 6:08 and forced the Jets to burn all three timeouts. Borregales kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining. Kiner led the team with 57 yards on 11 carries. Sanders added a late field goal, but New England recovered the onside kick. The Jets scored only one touchdown on 11 drives.
Maye finished with 235 passing yards and three touchdowns and was not sacked, despite a banged-up offensive line. Over his last three games he has 10 passing touchdowns, one rushing score and two turnovers. Brown had three catches for 27 yards along with several drops, while cornerback Christian Gonzalez, also back from injury, shut down Jets receiver Garrett Wilson.
The injury list grew, though. Right tackle Morgan Moses (ankle), left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and guard Ben Brown (knee) all left the game, forcing New England to shuffle its line and eventually turn to Walter Rouse, its last available lineman. Left tackle Will Campbell returned after a knee scare the previous week and held up in pass protection.
