The Patriots and the Jets share a division, but they haven’t been rivals for years and that isn’t changing this year.
Mac Jones threw two touchdowns,Damien Harris ran for two scores, and J.J. Taylor ran for two more in the fourth quarter as the Patriots ran their winning streak over the Jets to 12 straight games. The 54-13 win moves the Patriots to 3-4 on the season and marks both their first home win of the year and their highest point total of the season.
Jones was 24-of-36 for a career-best 307 yards and Harris posted 106 yards on 14 carries. It’s a season-high for Harris and he’s now topped 100 rushing yards three times this season. The Patriots picked up 554 total yards of offense in the unit’s best performance of the season by a wide margin.
The Patriots also got a touchdown pass from wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who hit Nelson Agholor to open the scoring in the first quarter of the game and provide a hint that everything would be working for New England on Sunday.
The Jets failed to score points in the opening quarter for the sixth time in six tries this season. Their offensive situation got even worse in the second quarter when rookie quarterback Zach Wilson had to go to the locker room with a knee injury after a hit by Patriots pass rusher Matthew Judon. He was ruled out of the game at halftime and his status for Week Eight and beyond will be a hot topic at head coach Robert Saleh’s postgame press conference.
Mike White made his regular season debut in relief of Wilson and threw a touchdown a couple of plays after entering the game, but couldn’t sustain that early success. He finished 20-of-32 for 202 yards and two interceptions and the Jets’ lack of an experienced backup will likely become a topic again for Saleh.
Whoever is at quarterback for the Jets next weekend will face the Bengals. The Patriots will try to get to .500 in Los Angeles against the Chargers.