(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FOXBOROUGH – They’re still on board.
After a full week of turmoil and questions about both the staff and roster, the Pats showed they’re still willing to fight.
With Drake Maye out with a concussion after taking a hit in the second quarter, Jacoby Brissett entered the game. He wasn’t great by any means, but with the game on the line, the veteran QB led a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by Rhamondre Stevenson with 22 seconds left, putting the Pats up 25-22.
A few seconds later, the sideline jumped around and stormed the field like they had just won a playoff game.
Now at 2-6 and with a week full of controversy behind them, the Pats have a little bit of life heading down to Tennessee next week in what should be a winnable game, regardless of who is playing quarterback.
“I think this is a testament to me believing in myself and not y’all. I’m very aware of that,” said Brissett, who finished with 132 yards passing on 15 completions. “I was very fortunate to have this opportunity. To go out there and get a win with our guys, it was sweet. You can’t put it into words. I’m not trying to, like, be arrogant or nothing, but I’m very proud of myself today.
“I thought it was a good team win,” Jerod Mayo said. “I thought the guys, even though we were down a few guys, we always talk about the next man up mentality. The safeties definitely stepped up today, especially without having Dugger and Peppers back there. I thought the three of those guys did a good job. Going back to the next man up mentality, you lose Drake early in the game. I thought Jacoby was ready to go. Was it perfect? No. But at the same time I thought the operation was good. I thought he made some good throws. We just got to continue to build on that. I thought up front the pass pro was pretty good.
“I thought, again, the guys showed the resilience they’ve developed over the past few weeks. Really proud of the guys. There was a lot of noise and a lot of chatter. I’m very appreciative of just their attitude and professionalism on an everyday basis. I thought it was good. Look, I would say the guys on the special teams… I thought the energy overall was better. It’s good to get a win here at home in Gillette.”
Trailing 13-7 to start the third quarter, the defense forced a three-and-out. Marcus Jones followed that up with a huge 62-yard punt return, setting up the offense at the Jets’ 26. With Brissett in at QB for the concussed Maye, New England reclaimed a 14-13 lead five plays later on a three-yard touchdown run for Rhamondre Stevenson (20/48/2 TD)
The Jets answered with a quick six-play drive – mostly thanks to a 37-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers (17-28/233/2 TD) to Garrett Wilson – but, the drive stalled and New York settled for a 29-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein to take back a 16-14 lead with 7:54 left in the third.
The teams traded punts for the remainder of the quarter and headed to the fourth with the Jets still up by two.
The Pats still had life when Christian Elliss came up with a sack in New England territory on third down, forcing a Zuerlein 44-yard field goal attempt that was wide left with 12:39 remaining.
New England proceeded to put together one of its best drives of the season, moving 61 yards in 14 plays. There were two third down conversions from Hunter Henry (3rd-&-11) and Tyquan Thornton (3rd-&-9), but things stalled inside the five yard line. Still, a Joey Slye 23-yard field goal put the Pats back up 17-16 with 7:34 to go.
Rodgers did his thing on the ensuing drive, moving the Jets 70 yards in 10 plays. A one-yard Braelon Allen TD run and failed two-point attempt made it 22-17 Jets with 2:57 left, setting up the great finish.
“The start of the drive, everybody is like, no matter what, one play at a time, one play at a time,” Brissett of the game-winning drive. “That was the message before the two-minute started. Guys went out there and made plays. You kind of black out and play football after that.”
After both teams traded punts to open the game, Maye led a 10-play, 77-yard drive that lasted 6:08 and ended with the rookie QB scrambling for a 17-yard touchdown to the front right pylon.
Two pass interference calls – one very questionable one on Christian Gonzalez – on the Jets’ ensuing drive eventually led to Rodgers hitting Tyler Conklin with a two-yard dart. The PAT was no good, leaving the Pats up by one. On New England’s next drive that started in the final minute of the first and rolled into the second quarter, Maye took a hard helmet-to-helmet hit on a scramble from behind. He was able to finish the drive, but then headed into the blue medical tent and then the locker room with what the team termed a ‘head injury.’ Given today’s world of concussion awareness, it was rather stunning that he even finished the drive.
“I walked in at halftime and saw him. The competitor that he is, obviously he wanted to go back out there and play,” Mayo said of Maye. “But, there’s a protocol that he has to go through. Again, can’t wait to get him back.”
Meanwhile, the Jets marched downfield again and Rodgers hit Xavier Gipson for a one-yard touchdown to make it 13-7. Maye was officially ruled out with a concussion at the start of the second half.
Brissett entered to boos on the Pats’ next drive and the offense quickly went three-and-out. After forcing a punt late, New England got the ball back at its own 20 with 1:51 remaining in the half, but chose to run out the clock, bringing even more boos down as the teams headed to the locker room.
Those boos turned into roars as the clock hit 0:00 on Sunday afternoon. Are the Pats suddenly going to turn things around and become a playoff team after this win? Probably not. But, after all the talk of softness and guys not liking the coaching staff all week, it’s good to know that this team isn’t going to check out with nine games remaining.
“I’m proud of the guys in the locker room, how they approach each and every day no matter what is going on,” Mayo added. “It’s not just the media as far as noise. It’s family, friends, all of that. Social media. All of that stuff. Look, the guys hear it. At the same time just don’t listen to it.
“You just continue to go on the practice field and get better. I thought we did that.”