Pats lose Maye, but snap losing streak with comeback win over Jets

FOXBORO — The New England Patriots lost quarterback Drake Maye to a head injury, but backup Jacoby Brissett led the team to a comeback win over the New York Jets in Week 8. Rhamondre Stevenson scored a go-ahead touchdown with 22 seconds left to lift New England to a 25-22 victory and snap the team’s six-game losing streak on Sunday.
While Sunday’s win wasn’t pretty, it was a good bounce-back game for the Patriots after head coach Jerod Mayo called them a soft football team after last week’s loss to the Jaguars in London.
Of course, all that matters is the health of quarterback Drake Maye. He suffered a head injury on a scramble late in the first quarter and did not return. That left Brissett to take over at quarterback for New England, and the veteran led the Patriots on two second-half touchdown drives in the victory. 
Brissett completed 15 of his 24 passes for 132 yards, while Stevenson ran for 48 yards and a pair of scores in the win. Stevenson’s go-ahead score came on a fourth-and-goal from the New York 1-yard line.
“It’s exciting. Winning in the NFL is hard,” Brissett said after the win. “I know y’all don’t think that, but it’s hard. The guys have worked hard throughout the season, going back to training camp. We’ve been in a lull. Things haven’t been going our way. But today the ball bounced our way. To celebrate that, experience that with the guys, it’s a great learning tool for young guys for one, but also for our team it’s like if we stay the course, stick with the process, sometimes you get lucky enough and the ball bounces your way.”
The Patriots overcame some costly drops by receivers thanks to a solid showing from the defense, which held New York in check for much of the afternoon. Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes but had just 233 yards through the air.
New York has now lost five straight, and hasn’t won since a Week 3 victory over New England in New Jersey. With the win, the Patriots are now 2-6 on the season and actually sit above the 2-6 Jets in the AFC East standings.
The Jets had no answers for Maye’s scrambling early in Sunday’s game, as the QB picked up 46 yards on three scrambles. That included including a 17-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give the Pats a 7-0 lead. 
But Maye took a helmet-to-helmet hit to the back of the head at the end of an 18-yard scramble in the second quarter, and left the game a short time later.
Maye was deemed questionable with a head injury, but was ruled out with a concussion ahead of halftime. It’s unclear how long Maye will be out for, but losing him for any time is a huge blow to the Patriots.
With Maye knocked out of the game, Brissett saw his first action since being benched for the rookie after Week 5’s loss to the Dolphins. The Pats went three and out on his first series under center, but the veteran made plays when he had to in the second half. 
Brissett had a pair of big third-down completions midway through the fourth quarter: a third-and-11 completion to Hunter Henry early for 12 yards and a fresh set of downs, and 14 yards to Tyquan Thornton on a third-and-9 that set the Patriots up at the New York 3-yard line.
But he didn’t put enough zip on a third-and-goal pass to Kendrick Bourne, and former Patriots defensive back Jalen Mills was able to knock it away from the receiver. The Patriots settled for a 23-yard Joey Slye field goal to take a 17-16 lead with 7:34 left.
Brissett got the ball back again with just under three minutes left and New England trailing 22-17. He picked up a first down with his legs on a nice 14-yard scramble on a third-and-9, and then hit Kayshon Boutte for 34 yards on a deep third-and-10 pass. A few plays later, Stevenson powered into the end zone for the game-winning score.
The Patriots trailed 13-7 at halftime and could have folded after losing their star rookie quarterback. Instead, they came out of the break with some fire.
The New England defense came out and forced a three-and-out, with Keion White forcing Rodgers to throw it away on third down with some great pressure. Marcus Jones then returned New York’s punt 62 yards to the Jets’ 26-yard line, giving the Patriots some life out of the break. 
The offense did its part after that stop, as Brisett and company needed just five plays to get into the end zone. After losing five yards on a first-down run, Stevenson racked up 14 yards on a short pass by Brissett when he made Sauce Gardner miss a tackle and got down to the New York 3-yard line. The running back powered it in on the next play, running over New York corner Isaiah Oliver in the process, to put New England back on top 14-13.
The Jets drove downfield on their next possession, with Rodgers hitting Wilson for 35 yards on the first play, but the defense kept them out of the end zone. Christian Gonzalez broke up a third-down pass by Rodgers to Adams just outside of the end zone, and New York settled for a 29-yard field goal to take a 16-14 lead midway through the quarter.
The Jets were threatening on their next possession, but Christian Elliss sacked Rodgers on a third-and-18 from the New England 18-yard line and Greg Zuerlein missed his 44-yard field goal attempt wide left to keep it a 16-14 game early in the fourth. It was the sixth missed field goal this season for Zuerlein, who also missed an extra point on Sunday.
The Patriots are now 1-3 at Gillette Stadium this season and Sunday’s win was their first victory at home in over a year. Patriots fans hadn’t seen a home win since Oct. 22, 2023 when the team beat the Buffalo Bills, 29-25.
The Patriots will now hit the road to visit the Tennessee Titans in Week 9. The Titans are 1-6 on the year after getting trounced by the Lions, 52-14, on Sunday.