Best and worst: What we learned from Patriots' 27-14 win over Jets

FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots didn’t fall into a trap game on a short week.

Mike Vrabel’s squad extended their winning streak to eight games with a 27-14 win over the Jets on “Thursday Night Football.” The Patriots are now 9-2 on the season and in sole possession of first place in the AFC standings, at least until the Broncos play Sunday afternoon.

Like many games played Thursday night on short rest, this was a sloppy game, though the Patriots’ offense and defense still showed moments of brilliance in the win over their AFC East rivals.

Surprise, surprise: The Patriots’ defense started slow, allowing a 5-yard touchdown run from Jets quarterback Justin Fields on the game’s opening series. The 14-play, 72-yard drive lasted 8 minutes and 4 seconds. The Jets passed the ball just three times for 16 yards and picked up 56 yards on the ground.

It’s fair to say the Patriots’ offense responded well, going on their own 13-play, 69-yard drive, assisted by a personal foul penalty on Jets cornerback Jarvin Brownlee Jr., who slammed wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the turf late after a catch. Drake Maye was a perfect 5 for 5 before rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson scored on a 7-yard run, getting pushed into the end zone by half the Patriots’ offense.

The Patriots’ defense quickly forced a three-and-out, putting their high-powered offense back on the field. Henderson scored on another 7-yard touchdown run after an eight-play, 83-yard drive that saw Maye complete a 23-yard pass to tight end Hunter Henry and two straight 19-yard targets to Mack Hollins. Maye began the game 9 of 9 for 97 yards.

After another Jets three-and-out, the Patriots picked up one first down before punting following a third-down drop from Diggs. The Jets followed that up with another three-and-out. The Patriots were set to punt before an illegal contact penalty from the Jets gave them life. It didn’t wind up mattering when kicker Andy Borregales missed a 45-yard field goal wide right.

Diggs dropped another pass on third down, forcing the Patriots to punt on their opening drive of the second half. The Jets were pushed back by intentional grounding and personal foul penalties before punting again.

Maye then put together a magnificent drive, going 4 for 4 with a touchdown pass to Henderson to put the Patriots ahead 21-7. The Jets responded by cutting the Patriots’ lead back down to 21-14 with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Fields to John Metchie after rookie safety Craig Woodson slipped and fell in coverage, leaving the wideout wide open on a blitz.

The Patriots settled for a 44-yard field goal from Borregales to go up 24-14 on their next possession.

The Jets and Patriots exchanged punts before a bad snap, recovered by outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings, gave the Pats the ball back inside their red zone. They settled for 26-yard field goal from Borregales to go up 27-14.

The Jets got inside the red zone before turning the ball over on downs. Safety Dell Pettus’ pass breakup on a target to tight end Jeremy Ruckert forced the turnover. Pettus made an impact every time he was on the field.

Best

— RB TreVeyon Henderson: The Patriots capped off their first two drives with 7-yard touchdowns from Henderson. He later added a 6-yard receiving touchdown. The rookie is off the races after last week’s breakout performance.

— QB Drake Maye: Maye helped his MVP candidacy in prime time, going 25 of 34 for 281 yards with a touchdown.

— WR Mack Hollins: Hollins has had a big week. He led the Patriots in receiving in Sunday’s win, then caught four passes for 64 yards on Thursday night.

— WR Stefon Diggs: Diggs led the Patriots in receiving with nine catches for 105 yards. He had two drops but made up for them by being Maye’s security blanket all night. It was Diggs’ third 100-yard performance of the season. He’s been everything the Patriots needed and more this year.

Worst

— Edge containment: There weren’t many issues with the Patriots on Thursday night, but their defense was letting Fields get by them on the edge with regularity on his way to an 11-carry, 67-yard, TD performance.

— S Craig Woodson: The rookie safety slipped and fell on a 22-yard touchdown catch from Jets wide receiver John Metchie.

— WR Kyle Williams: The rookie receiver owes Maye some completion percentage points. He didn’t have a catch on three targets.

What else we learned

— The Patriots tried to go heavy and dare Fields to pass on the opening drive, coming out in a heavy base defense. It didn’t work, and the Jets were still able to run at will. The Patriots’ lack of speed on the edges showed up when Fields took off with the ball.

— The Patriots used defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga as a fullback in short-yardage situations and guard/center Ben Brown as a jumbo tight end on their opening drive. With tight end Austin Hooper out, they had to get creative to put extra blockers on the field. We’ve seen Tonga at fullback, but Brown at tight end was new.

— Rookie defensive tackle Eric Gregory made his NFL debut with a run stuff on his first play.

— With Jack Gibbens banged up coming into the game, Jahlani Tavai took on a bigger role at linebacker.

— The Patriots used outside linebackers Harold Landry and Elijah Ponder off the line of scrimmage as inside linebackers at times.

— D’Ernest Johnson got the nod over Terrell Jennings as Henderson’s backup. Jennings didn’t finish Sunday’s game after injuring his knee, so it makes sense that he was limited on short rest.

— Defensive tackle Milton Williams injured his ankle, returned to the game but was later ruled out.

— Defensive tackle Christian Barmore registered his first sack of the season. Undrafted rookie Elijah Ponder recorded his second sack in as many games.