– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — Even with a 10-game winning streak and a pending division title in sight, the New England Patriots have been scrutinized by the nit pickers and “there’s someone wrong on the internet” trolls for their lack-of-challenging schedule — as if they had anything to do with the schedule-making process — and it almost feels as if only a perfect game would satisfy the remaining non-believers heading into the postseason.
Perfect? Well, Drake Maye had you covered on Sunday.
Maye completed his first 11 passes on his way to throwing for five touchdowns as the Patriots reached the end zone on six consecutive possessions to start the game in their 42-10 romp over the New York Jets inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The five touchdown passes went to five different receivers, with Stefon Diggs going for 101 yards receiving on six catches and one score.
New England moves to the cusp of its first division title since 2019, needing a win in the season finale at home against Miami or a Buffalo loss later on today against the Philadelphia Eagles to break the Bills’ five-year stranglehold on the AFC East.
The Patriots win also completed a perfect 8-0 record on the road, the third time in team history it finished undefeated away from New England.
Maye’s final touchdown pass, on a roll-out and throw to Efron Chism III from 10 yards out early in the third quarter, was the second-year signal-caller’s final pass before sitting out the rest of the game, and allowed him to finish with a 157.0 quarterback rating after posting a 156.5 mark in the first half when he threw for four of his scores.
A naysayers’ outlook: 156.5 and 157.0 isn’t perfect; 158.3 is perfect.
Rest of the football world’s outlook: these Patriots are scary good, no matter who their opponent is. Oh, and they may have the league’s Most Valuable Player to boot heading into the postseason.
Somehow, not everything with the Jets was an abject disaster. Breece Hall ran for 112 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown on the initial play of the fourth quarter, allowing the running back to go over the 1,000-yard mark first time in his career. Hall also becomes the first Jet running back to go over 1,000 yards in a season since Chris Ivory in 2015.
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