Image courtesy of Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – There’s domination and then there’s what the Patriots did to the Jets in the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon.

Utter humiliation.

Drake Maye needed just three quarters to throw five touchdown passes to five different receivers, completing 19-21 attempts for 256 yards en route to a 42-10 win that had the star QB out of the game with five minutes left in the third.

New England (13-3) heads home with an eye on the Bills and Eagles game. A Buffalo loss would hand the Pats the AFC East title for the first time since 2019. A win by Buffalo would mean New England would just need to beat Miami at home next week to lock it up.

The Pats also completed just the third unbeaten road season (8-0) in team history, joining the 2007 and 2016 squads to hold that distinction. Of course, both of those teams went on to play in February with very different results.

“Really proud of this football team and what they’ve been able to do,” said Mike Vrabel postgame.

“Coach said ‘unfinished business.’ You know, we wanted to go 8-0 on the road. That’s something we thought would be pretty cool,” added Maye. “In this league, it’s hard to win on the road and we accomplished that today. Just proud of the guys. We came out here, started fast and didn’t stop from there.”

This one was over by halftime, with New England holding a commanding 35-3 lead heading into the break.

The Patriots didn’t face a third down on their first two drives of the game. Both were seven plays, with the first one spanning 61 yards and ending with a two-yard TD pass from Maye to Austin Hooper. The second drive was an 85-yard march that ended with a one-yard TD run for Rhamondre Stevenson to make it 14-0.

Three plays later, Jaylinn Hawkins came up with an interception while playing deep center field. That soon turned into a 22-yard touchdown catch for Stevenson early in the second quarter, set up by a DPI call in the end zone against the Jets.

New York (3-13) got on the board with a Nick Folk field goal, making it 21-3 with 9:56 left in the half. 10 plays later – after Maye picked up a fourth down on a scramble – the Pats were faced with 4th-&-goal at the three. For those of you old enough to remember the screen in the Atlanta Super Bowl down by the goal line, Maye and Stefon Diggs (6/101/1 TD) ran it to perfection for a three-yard TD and a 28-3 lead.

After a quick Jets three-and-out, the Pats chewed up the majority of the final 1:48 and Hunter Henry’s 13-yard touchdown catch pushed it to 35-3 at the half.

New England had 23 first downs to New York’s three in the first 30 minutes and had 344 yards to the Jets’ 77. Drake Maye also passed the 4,000 yard mark during the half, joining Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady as the only other Patriots quarterbacks to achieve the feat.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say I’m in the conversation with them two,” Maye said with a smile modestly, referring to Bledsoe and Brady. “Those are probably the two best in Patriots (history), so it’s an honor to do that, but it takes everybody. It took everybody. Like we say in the offensive room, it takes everybody, 11 of us each and every play.

“Whether it’s me throwing for that many yards or throwing for 20 yards, whatever it takes to win, that’s the most important thing and the only thing I care about is our win-loss record. We’ve still got some work left to do and some games ahead that should be fun.”

New York opened the second half with a successful fake punt on their first fourth down, but then tried it again moments later and were stuffed near midfield. Corey Durden sprinted around the field imploring the Pats fans on hand – it was basically a home game at Gillette – to make more noise and they listened.

Six plays after that, Maye capped his day with a 10-yard touchdown toss to rookie Efton Chism III, marking his first NFL TD. Josh Dobbs came in for ‘mop up’ duty with 5:31 still left in the quarter and his team up 42-3.

Breece Hall ripped off a 59-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 42-10, the lone bright spot on another horrific day for the Jets. Hall finished with 111 yards on 14 carries.

TreVeyon Henderson quietly had 82 yards on 19 touches.

New England forced two more turnover on downs to ice things before heading back to Foxborough ever-so-close to a division title and still in the hunt for the top seed in the AFC.

“I think winning the division is what we’re focused on,” Maye said when asked if the team still has eyes on that top seed. “We’ve still got to win out to win the division. That was our mindset.

“If that means the one seed is at play, then that’s what we’re trying to do because we’re trying to win the division and win the AFC East.”