FOXBOROUGH, Mass — The New England Patriots did not put on their best showing against the New York Jets on Sunday, but they still came away with the victory.
"We're lucky to win, is probably where I'd start, but we're happy that we won. We'll enjoy it for about an hour, and then we're going to focus on the next task," head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game. "We just didn't play very well. We tried to beat ourselves, but we made enough plays in critical situations to help us get through here today."
Here are the top takeaways from the 26-19 victory:
1. A.J. Brown returns
The Patriots made a change before the game even began, with the offensive starters being introduced individually despite it being the defense's turn. And with that, it is normally quarterback Drake Maye who goes last, but today, he left that honor to Brown in his return for the first time since the season opener. And the crowd went crazy.
Brown was targeted by Maye on the opening drive, but the pass was batted down, resulting in a three-and-out. Then, on the second drive, he appeared to get his first catch of the game that went for nine yards, but the Jets challenged the ruling on the field of a completed catch, and it was successful.
It would take until there were less than two minutes remaining in the first half for Brown to record his first catch, which went for eight yards. But it was clear that the connection between the star wide receiver and Maye wasn't quite at its best yet. He finished the day with three receptions on 10 targets for 27 yards.
"I think he could’ve probably made a few more plays, come down with a few more plays," Vrabel said of the receiver's performance. "He's been out for a while. I know that he wanted to do well for his football team, and unfortunately it wasn't his best effort. I know that he knows that, and we have all the confidence in the world in AJ just to be able to finish those plays.
"AJ has high expectations for himself, and we have high expectations for him as well," he added. "So I'm confident that he'll come back and do a lot of things that help us here the rest of the season."
2. Injury bug hits the offensive line
In the second quarter, Morgan Moses remained down for a while after a play, with Vrabel and the trainers coming out to help him. He was eventually able to stand and walk off the field on his own, but he had a limp and was walking very slowly and gingerly. Rookie Caleb Lomu took over at right tackle. Moses was listed as questionable to return with an ankle injury. It looked like there was some hope he might return in the second half as he briefly came out of the locker room, but he quickly left again shortly after. At the end of the third quarter, he was downgraded to out.
Left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker also departed the game early with a hamstring injury. He was initially listed as questionable to return, but was later downgraded to out. Then, Ben Brown remained down on the ground and had to be helped off the field, barely able to put pressure on his right leg. With the help of the training staff, he went into the blue medical tent. He was ruled out with a knee injury soon after.
3. Romeo Doubs delivers highlight-reel moment... but it comes at a price
Once again, the offensive line gave Drake Maye enough time to eat a ham sandwich in the pocket, with the quarterback being able to allow for a deep play to set up. Romeo Doubs beat Jets cornerback Brandon Stephens, with Maye throwing it to him in the corner of the end zone. Doubs proceeded to make a diving catch for the score, with the 42-yard grab marking the longest touchdown reception of his career.
However, he was shaken up on the play, being able to walk off on his own after a few moments, but he headed straight into the blue medical tent. After a short time there, he departed for the locker room. Doubs was listed as questionable to return with a shoulder injury at the end of the first quarter, but was then downgraded to out in the third frame.
4. Charles Woods comes up big
Filling in for Carlton Davis and starting opposite Christian Gonzalez, Charles Woods saw an opportunity, and he took it. Geno Smith looked to throw deep to Kenyon Sadiq, but it was overthrown, and Woods managed to snag the ball and get two feet in bounds. Edge defender Gabe Jacas deserves some credit on the play as well, with the rookie getting pressure on Smith to force him to quickly make the throw.
This was Smith's first interception he's thrown this season.
"Bad read, bad play by me," Smith told reporters of the play after the game.
5. Defense bends but doesn't break on Jets opening drive
It wasn't the prettiest opening series for the Patriots defense as the Jets marched down the field fairly easily through the run and pass game, getting five first downs in the process. However, when they got into New England territory, that's when things started to look up.
It started with a nice tackle by Dre'Mont Jones on Isaiah Davis for no gain, followed by an incomplete pass by Geno Smith intended for Garrett Wilson. On third down, Smith hit Omar Cooper for a touchdown, but it was called back for offensive pass interference (there should also have been a hold called against the Jets as Milton Williams was held). New York was then faced with third-and-20, with Smith targeting Mason Taylor. However, Kevin Byard leaped up for an impressive pass breakup, making it so the Jets had to settle for a field goal.
The offense had a slower start as well, proceeding to go three-and-out on their first drive.
6. Ugly start to the second half
Coming out of the half, the Patriots offense had a few good plays, aided by a 21-yard scramble by Maye. So, when they were faced with a 4th-and-5, Vrabel made the decision to keep the offense on the field and go for it. Maye then tried to hit Brown, but the receiver dropped the easy catch. As a result, it was a turnover on downs.
It didn't get better from there, as the Patriots' defense was caught sleeping. Geno Smith connected with a wide-open Omar Cooper for a 48-yard touchdown.
On the next offensive drive, TreVeyon Henderson fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by the Jets. But they got a bit of a break with some big-time defensive plays, including an 18-yard sack credited to Elijah Ponder on third down that forced New York to kick a 36-yard field goal. With this, the Patriots maintained a 17-13 lead.
7. Drake Maye to DeMario Douglas Connection Heating Up
Maye has a lot of confidence in DeMario Douglas, turning to the receiver in some key moments. The receiver finished with a touchdown, scoring. at the end of the first half to give the Patriots a 17-3 lead. Douglas also caught a big third-down pass from Maye, ensuring he got both feet down before falling out of bounds to move the chains. And there's more as Douglas was at the receiving end of a double-pass play, with Maye hitting Rhamondre Stevenson, who then threw it back. It looked like the target might have been set for Brown, but since he was double-covered, Maye went to Douglas instead for the first down.
However, he had one unfortunate moment, with Maye hitting him for a 40-yard gain. Douglas tried to gain some extra yards on the play, ducking and dodging defenders, but he was unable to see the Jets defender running from behind, who managed to punch the ball out. New York recovered and ended up scoring a field goal as a result.
8. An underrated, clock-killing drive
The Patriots had a chance to knock some time off the clock while also potentially going up by two scores, and they did just that. And a lot of it was thanks to the running of Corey Kiner.
Kiner, who is the Patriots' third running back on the depth chart, carried 8 times for 42 yards on that one drive, forcing the Jets to use up their timeouts. And what made this even more impressive was how many yards Kiner was able to gain with an offensive line that included their backup tackle and two third-string guards
"He runs hard. He runs hard, and it's the same way he's selling the kickoff returns," Vrabel said of Kiner. "We got three capable backs and you ride the hot hand. So should we have not rode him?"
As a result, the Patriots kicked a field goal, extending their lead to 10 points, making a comeback for New York possible but much more unlikely.
9. Some failed fourth-down conversions for the Jets
At the start of the second quarter, the Jets kept their offense out on 4th-and-2 given the success the run game was having, but Braelon Allen was only able to get a gain of one yard before he was brought down by Robert Spillane, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Then, on New York's next drive, the offense stayed out once again on 4th-and-1, with Smith keeping the ball this time. However, he was brought down for no gain, once again putting the ball back in the Patriots' hands.
10. Other notes
- Drake Maye went 18-of-32 for 235 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, along with four carries for 24 yards.
- Milton Williams finally got his first sack of the season, bringing down Smith in the backfield for a seven-yard loss. But his fellow defensive tackle didn't want to let him have all the fun, proceeding to bring Smith down on the next play, forcing a 4th-and-26 for New York. As a result, the Jets punted from their own end zone, with Marcus Jones returning it to the Jets' 47. The Patriots got an additional five yards with New York being flagged on the punt.
- Running back Corey Kiner had two nice kick returns on Sunday, one of which went for 31 yards and the other for 38 yards.
- After Maye connected with Hunter Henry for a 7-yard touchdown pass, Andy Borregales came out for the extra point and missed it. This was a considerable miss, as it made it a 10-point game rather than a two-touchdown deficit for New York.
- Some past winners from CBS' "Survivor" served as the Keepers of the Light, being introduced by the show's host Jeff Probst.
- Dre'Mont Jones was the Patriots' game-day captain. New England won the toss; the Jets called tails and it was heads, and elected to defer.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: 10 takeaways from the Patriots' 26-19 win over the Jets