Takeaways from Jets’ dominant ‘TNF’ victory over Patriots

Led by a standout performance from quarterback Aaron Rodgers and a stout defense, the New York Jets defeated the New England Patriots on “Thursday Night Football,” 24-3. 

Here are five takeaways from the action:

Aaron Rodgers had his best game as a Jet 

Returning to MetLife Stadium for the first time since suffering a season-ending torn Achilles in the 2023 season opener, Rodgers looked like himself, perhaps for the first time in a Jets uniform. The future Hall of Famer led a solid offensive performance, finishing 27-of-35 for 281 yards (8.0 YPA) with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Most impressively, the 40-year-old looked 10 years younger, moving well in and out of the pocket, making accurate throws on the run and simply looking more like the quarterback the Jets thought they were getting a year ago. 

It’s still early, but Thursday night’s performance could be a sign of good things to come for Rodgers and company. 

Patriots took a risk by letting rookie QB Drake Maye play mop-up duty 

With the result well in hand for the Jets in the fourth quarter, the Patriots gave the 2024 No. 3 pick his first regular-season NFL action. Maye finished 4-of-8 for 22 yards but, most importantly, took several hard hits and was sacked twice during his only drive of the game.

There’s nothing wrong with giving Maye some playing time, but it was a risky move at best. Before he entered the game, the Jets made life miserable for Jacoby Brissett, posting 10 QB hits while sacking him five times.

Come next week, Maye should consider himself lucky to be back on the sidelines. 

Injury to RT Morgan Moses could hand Jets another big blow 

Moses went down after rolling his left knee up late in the third quarter. The 11-year veteran walked off the field on his own power, but the Jets ruled him out for the remainder of the game.

Despite how it looked, the severity of Moses’s injury is unknown. However, if he’s out for an extended time, it’d be two significant losses for the Jets in as many weeks after they lost edge rusher Jermaine Johnson. 

DL Will McDonald’s emergence continues

With Johnson out for the year with a torn Achilles, McDonald was among several players on the Jets’ defense that stepped up against the Patriots. The second-year defensive lineman finished with four QB hits and 2.0 sacks in Thursday night’s victory, paying tribute to his fallen teammate by pulling out his trademark celebration after taking down Brissett.

Following up on a 3.0-sack performance in the Jets’ 24-17 Week 2 win over the Tennessee Titans, the second-year defensive lineman now has seven QB hits and five sacks through the season’s first three weeks. 

Patriots offense was epically bad 

Before replacing Brissett with Maye and waving the white flag with 4:24 left, the Patriots had only 93 yards of offense. Over the final drive, they added a few to the total, finishing with a paltry 139.

Per Stathead, it’s only the 18th time in the franchise’s history that they’ve failed to top 140 yards in a game. Oddly enough, the last time the Patriots managed 139 yards or less in a game came in Week 18 last season against the Jets, when they posted only 119 yards in a 17-3 loss.