On a rainy Sunday dominated by two Top 10 defenses, hapless offenses and tropical storm Ophelia, the New England Patriots have their first halftime lead of the season. Thanks to Mac Jones' touchdown pass to backup tight end Pharaoh Brown, the Pats lead the New York Jets, 10-3, at soggy MetLife Stadium in The Meadowlands.
Unlike the previous two weeks, the Patriots avoided falling in early hole. After trailing the Eagles 16-0 and the Dolphins 17-3, they took a 3-0 lead after the first quarter on rookie Chad Ryland's 48-yard field goal on the opening possession.
It was New England's first lead of the season.
The Pats dominated field position early and hold a whopping yardage edge of 216-39, but couldn't turn it into a significant lead. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson dropped a wide-open pass at New York's 40-yard line to stall one drive, and offensive lineman Cole Strange was called for a holding penalty to shut down another one.
Ryland also pushed a 48-yard field goal barely right to keep the lead at 3-0 early in the second quarter.
The Pats extended their lead to 10-0 on Jones' perfectly thrown 58-yard touchdown pass to a shockingly wide open Brown. On a three tight-end set, Jones froze the Jets with a nifty play-fake to Stevenson, then lofted his pass down the middle to Brown who eventually dove over the goal line with New England's biggest play of the season.
The Jets finally got on the scoreboard with Greg Zuerlein's 52-yard field goal 1:21 before halftime. The Patriots answered with a late drive, but Ryland's 57-yard field goal on the half's final play was woefully short and left.
Even with cornerbacks Jack, Jonathan and Marcus Jones sidelined with injuries, the Patriots' defense dominated the Jets. This was scheduled to pit the defense against Aaron Rodgers. Instead, Rodgers' season-ending injury and Bill Belichick's unit again exposed New York quarterback Zach Wilson.
New England has defeated the Jets 14 consecutive games, dating back to 2015.
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