FOXBOROUGH – It’s not every year that a Week 7 game against the lowly Jets is a “must win” scenario for the Patriots, but that’s exactly what we had at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

With a real possibility that New England would be tied for last place if they lost to New York, the Patriots delivered the performance we’ve all been waiting for, manhandling the Jets 54-13.

New England racked up 551 yards of total offense, Mac Jones had his first career 300-yard passing game, Damien Harris posted his sixth career 100-yard rushing game and the defense gave up just 299 yards of total offense while forcing three turnovers.

By 2021 Patriots standards, it was a perfect day at the office.

“I thought our guys did a real good job today,” said head coach Bill Belichick. “Players were ready to go. Had a good week and came out and started, got off to a good start, played from ahead. Had a lot of production offensively and made some big plays on defense, a couple turnovers, stops, and the kicking game was solid, too. I thought we covered well and returned well on the opportunities that we had.”

Early and often in the first 30 minutes the Patriots offense looked like the one that fans had been clamoring for since training camp. New England sprinted out to a 31-7 halftime lead and never looked back.

Five plays after the opening kick off Kendrick Bourne threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor after a long screen pass to Jonnu Smith set up the creative play call from Josh McDaniels. After a quick three-and-out thanks to a Myles Bryant sack on third down, Damien Harris capped off a 7-play, 53-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run to make it 14-0.

The Jets missed a field goal on their next possession and Nick Folk made it a 17-0 game after one with a 38-yard field goal. The made kick was the 300th of Folk’s career, making him just the 35th player to ever accomplish that feat in the NFL.

The Jets ended up with a 1st-and-goal situation at the Patriots’ 2-yard line thanks to a 41-yard pass interference call early in the second quarter. Quarterback Zach Wilson was injured on the play and Mike White was forced to come in. On 3rd-and-goal, White tossed a 3-yard touchdown to Corey Davis who made a fantastic catch to cut the deficit to 17-7.

The Patriots’ ensuing drive was extended late when Jones scampered for 15-yards on a 3rd-and-10. Moments later a screen pass to Bolden went for a 15-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 24-7 with a little over five minutes left in the half. The Pats’ defense forced a turnover-on-downs at its own 28 with 1:55 remaining and the offense made it hurt. Jones led a methodical drive – buoyed by a pass interference call in the end zone after a failed 3rd-and-goal attempt – and a 1-yard TD catch by Henry soon thereafter made it a 24-point game at the half.

“I think the energy was really good,” said Jones. “We’ve made an emphasis to start fast, and that’s what every team wants to do when they get the ball, try and score a field goal or a touchdown. When we do that, it’s good, and when we don’t, we just have to keep playing. You’ve seen us do both, and we’ve just got to continue to come out, and the offensive line had great juice early on, and they played great. I don’t think I got hit but maybe one time on like a trick play or something. It was really impressive the way they played and came together, just everybody just playing together, all 11.”

The Jets scored on the opening possession of the third quarter thanks to a 19-yard touchdown run from Elijah Moore but failed on the two-point conversion, but it was the last time the Jets sniffed the end zone. Folk added another field goal in the third to make it 34-13 and Kyle Dugger came up with a shoe-string interception at the Patriots’ 33 to send the teams to the fourth quarter with New England up by 21.

“I think we got a little flavor of if we do everything right throughout the week and practice well and do our job in the game, it kind of translates over,” added Jones. “You just play together as a unit, as an offense, and then special teams played well, really good. The defense played great. It’s all three phases, and that’s what happens when you can do that.”

Five plays after a JC Jackson interception on the sideline, Damien Harris (14/106/2) rumbled in from the three to make it 41-13. After the defense forced a turnover on downs, Jones (24-36/307/2 TD) eclipsed 300 yards for the first time with a 46-yard strike to Bourne down to the one. JJ Taylor punched it in two plays later to make it 47-13 after Folk missed the PAT.

With Hoyer leading the final drive, N’Keal Harry made a ridiculous catch at the two to set up another goal-to-go situation and Taylor plunged in for one last dagger and the 54-13 lead.

Myles Bryant forced a fumble that Josh Uche recovered in the last two minutes to set up a final few kneel downs. The first home victory of the year was important for a number of reasons, but the way it looked – even against the hapless Jets – is what fans should be most confident about going forward.

“I think it just goes back to stacking days, and today we were focused on today,” said Jones. “That’s a result that showed. We came in and we had good energy, 1:00 kickoff, and we were ready to play. We’ve got to do that every time. It can’t be a one-time thing. Like I said, we’re not satisfied at all by any means. We have plenty of work to do, and plenty to get better at. It just makes it more fun when you can see a little bit of results, and then, like I said, focus on the process of the week and focus on how we can get better.”