By Tiffany Williams –
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — If anyone is still questioning whether the New England Patriots are for real, Thursday night should put the last of that noise to bed. Four days after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28–23 on the road, the Patriots turned around on a brutally short week and punched the New York Jets in the mouth 27–14 at Gillette Stadium.
With the win, New England pushed its record to 8–2, marking the franchise’s longest win streak since opening the 2019 season at 8–0. That was the tail end of the Tom Brady era. This version, rebuilt, retooled, and led by Mike Vrabel, suddenly looks every bit as dangerous.
And inside Gillette Stadium, a rookie stole the show.
TreVeyon Henderson torched the Jets for all three Patriots touchdowns, announcing himself as a rising star in prime time. After New York marched down the field for a 7–0 lead on its opening drive, Henderson immediately punched back with a 7-yard score to tie it. In the second quarter, after a Jets punt, he bullied his way into the end zone from seven yards out again, dragging defenders with him while the Patriots sideline erupted.
His third touchdown came through the air — a 6-yard strike from Drake Maye, the first receiving touchdown of Henderson’s career — giving New England a 21–7 lead in the third quarter and total control of the game.
Henderson credited the offensive line for blowing open lanes on his early scores, and it was clear all night that New York’s front couldn’t handle the Patriots’ physicality.
Drake Maye didn’t need to light up the stat sheet. He just needed to manage the offense and let the run game and defense do their thing — and he did it with poise. Maye leaned hard on play-action, connected on key throws, and hit Stefon Diggs on a pivotal play-action strike that helped set up a touchdown. He extended plays with his legs when he had to and avoided the kinds of mistakes that have haunted the Jets all season.
On the other side, New England’s run defense — the best in the NFL — suffocated the Jets’ backfield and forced Justin Fields to throw. That’s been a disaster for New York all year, and Thursday was no different. Fields couldn’t get anything going in the red zone, hemmed in by pressure and unable to escape the pocket consistently.
The dagger came in the fourth quarter when linebacker Anfernee Jennings pounced on a fumble. The turnover set up a Patriots field goal that pushed the lead out of reach and sent Jets fans in the building toward the exits.
Say whatever you want about the Patriots after Brady. Say the dynasty died. Say the franchise lost its identity. But you can’t say Mike Vrabel hasn’t dragged this team back into the fight. After years of chaos — losing seasons, quarterback roulette, coaching upheaval — the 2025 Patriots look nothing like the aimless teams of the past four years. They look tough. They look confident. And they look dangerous.
Postgame, Vrabel praised everyone who helped pull off two wins in five days, saying, “Yeah, testament to our players, our staff. I thanked them so many times just being able to roll in there on Monday, have stuff prepared. You know, it’s hard to go on the road to Tampa, you know, and get your mind ready for that, but also in the back of your mind you’ve got a whole other box about what are you going to do against the Jets and being able to get on a plane, come home, get in late, but have that ready to go and have energy and a game plan ready for the players on Monday at 1 o’clock. Thank the trainers, thank the staff, the strength staff, everybody involved for getting our players ready to go for the game here in a short week.”
On Drake Maye, Vrabel didn’t hesitate: “I would say his performance in general has been what we expect. We have high expectations for Drake. He has high expectations for himself. He’ll continue to improve. I know that he’ll stay humble through this all. Again, as far as the performance tonight, I thought it was, again, in first view, pretty good. It was good enough to win. Took care of the football. We just have to continue to focus on the little things, operation, unforced errors throughout the offense. The only thing that really stops us is us offensively. So continue to do that. Let them enjoy a win on a short week. Like I told them, I’m excited we’re 9-2. I’m excited that I don’t have to see them until Monday.”
And when asked about Henderson, Vrabel lit up: “I would say the best couple of runs he had were there late in the game when it was tough sledding, and we’re in five-minute, and they know we’re going to run, and they’re blitzing and everything else. Looked like we were going to be short, and he’s able to knife through there and keep his pads down and pick up a huge first down. He’s executed, whether that’s a checkdown or a touchdown in the back of the end zone. No home runs tonight, but I thought he grinded out pretty much what was there. He’s helped us a lot of ways tonight and saw the power push touchdown, which was really cool. So I’m happy every time that guys can help us and they can get into the end zone, and Christian Barmore can finally get the sack that he’s been looking for. He has had a lot of pressures, and he’s been back there. They work really hard, and we want them to all have success.”
The Patriots are 8–2. Vrabel is building something real. And the AFC might need to wake up — New England is coming.