Image courtesy of the New England Patriots
FOXBOROUGH – At this point, why can’t they make a Super Bowl run?
New England throttled the Giants on Monday Night Football in an electric atmosphere, 33-15, winning a 10th straight game, reclaiming the best record in the NFL at 11-2 and showing they’re as good as – if not better – than anyone else in the league.
As the No. 1 seed gets closer and closer to becoming a reality, expectations for what the 2025 Patriots can actually do in January and (hopefully) February continue to elevate seemingly daily.
“I think it was about just being aggressive and attacking and trying to keep a competitive stamina throughout the game and a demeanor no matter what happened,” Mike Vrabel said postgame when asked about the message to his team all week when it came to playing a two-win Giants team. “And I liked the way we started and would like to have finished a little better. But we’re doing a lot of good things to help us win.
“And I know there’s some things we can do to continue to improve on.”
It was a truly perfect night at Gillette and for all intents and purposes, it was over around 9:45 p.m. when the Pats took a 30-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
New England opened with the ball, methodically moved downfield in 12 plays, but the red zone struggles continued (for now), unable to score with a 1st-&-goal scenario from the four, settling for an Andy Borregales 22-yard field goal. Five plays after a Giants punt, Marcus Jones did his usual Marcus Jones thing, running it back for a 94-yard touchdown. Jones became the fourth player in team history to run two punts back for TDs in a season, joining Troy Brown, Mike Haynes and Irving Fryar.
“Marcus [Jones] is just a fantastic returner, and I’m proud of the guys on that unit. They take a lot of pride in blocking for him,” said Vrabel.
Christian Elliss absolutely murdered Jaxson Dart on a (clean) hit along the sidelines on the next drive and the Giants ended up getting a personal foul call out of it as a mini brawl broke out. Five plays later, Drae Maye lofted a beautiful three-yard fade to Kayshon Boutte in the back right corner for a 17-0 lead and Gillette was rocking.
The Giants cut it to 17-7 early in the second on a 30-yard catch-and-run slant TD for Darius Slayton. The Pats punted for the first time on their ensuing possession, but when Younghoe Koo inexplicably jammed his foot into the turf attempting a field goal, his holder took the brunt of the punishment and Jeremiah Pharms Jr. was credited with a 13-yard sack.
New England pushed its lead to 24-7 moments later when Maye (24-31, 282 yards, 3 touchdowns) threw another absolute dime, this time to Kyle Williams in the back left corner for a 33-yard touchdown with 3:29 remaining in the half. It was another night full of ‘MVP! MVP! MVP!’ chants for the second-year gunslinger.
“Shoot, I wish it was all me. There’s a lot of people in this locker room, this organization, that play a big role in us winning games,” Maye said when asked about him ‘back-boning’ the team to 10 straight wins. “And shoot, just like you, showing up every day and making fun of you all for being in the locker room on a Friday asking us questions after practice, these guys are the same thing. They show up every day and they want to get better. And just proud of the guys and this team we have and love being around them.”
“I think he’s realizing what he can be and what the impact that he makes on this offense and being the conductor,” added Vrabel on Maye. “He’s hard on himself. I think that he challenges himself as well as his coaches. He means a great deal to this football team…very appreciative that he’s our quarterback.
On the ensuing kickoff, Elliss again made his presence felt when him and Marte Mapu combined to light up old friend Gunner Olszewski, who fumbled the ball. Christian Ponder recovered at the Giants’ 27.
The Pats settled for another Borregales field goal, but forced a quick-three-and-out. A chunk gain for a wide open Rhamondre Stevenson went for 36-yards, eventually setting up a 28-yarder from Borregales as time expired for the 23-point lead.
The second half was fairly uneventful, with the Patriots still leading 30-7 after three, thanks to a Giants turnover on downs and a Borregales missed 45-yard field goal in the quarter. Early in the fourth, Devin Singletary took a direct snap 26-yards for a touchdown and Slayton caught a two-point pass to cut it to 30-15, but Borregales added one late kick to close out the scoring.
A final turnover on downs for New York and two kneel downs from Maye sent the surging Patriots into their bye week atop the NFL, showing no signs of slowing down.
“Felt like a long time coming, but we’re here, and we have some important football after the bye week,” Maye added. “We’re looking forward to staying and getting healthy having guys that want to get better and get some guys back and make a push when football starts to count down the road.”