Drake Maye completed 19 of 21 passes for 256 yards and five touchdowns in the New England Patriots’ 42-10 demolition of the New York Jets on December 28, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to hit 90 percent completion rate while throwing for 250-plus yards and five scores in the same game. The road victory, coupled with Buffalo’s 13-12 loss to Philadelphia hours later, handed the Patriots their first division title since 2019.
New England’s offense scored touchdowns on six consecutive drives before Mike Vrabel pulled Maye midway through the third quarter with the game at 42-3. The Patriots led 35-3 at halftime and finished 8-0 on the road for the third time in franchise history.
Table of Contents
Six Straight Scoring Drives
The Patriots received the opening kickoff and marched 61 yards in seven plays, capped by Maye’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Austin Hooper. After forcing a Jets three-and-out, New England drove 85 yards in seven plays with Rhamondre Stevenson punching in a 1-yard score.
Jaylinn Hawkins intercepted Brady Cook on the Jets’ next possession, setting up Maye’s 22-yard touchdown strike to Stevenson that made it 21-0 early in the second quarter. The Patriots converted two fourth-down attempts on their next drive before Maye hit Stefon Diggs on a 3-yard screen pass for another score.
New England added two more touchdowns before halftime. Maye found Hunter Henry wide open for a 13-yard score after a roughing-the-passer penalty kept the drive alive, then connected with Efton Chism III on a 10-yard diving catch to open the third quarter.
Patriots Passing Attack
Player | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drake Maye | 19/21 | 256 | 5 | 0 | 157.0 |
Joshua Dobbs | 3/4 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 95.8 |
Patriots Receiving Leaders
Player | REC | YDS | TD | LONG | TGTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stefon Diggs | 6 | 101 | 1 | 31 | 6 |
Rhamondre Stevenson | 5 | 55 | 1 | 22 | 5 |
Hunter Henry | 3 | 49 | 1 | 23 | 3 |
Efton Chism III | 2 | 40 | 1 | 30 | 2 |
Austin Hooper | 2 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
Maye distributed five touchdown passes to five different receivers. Diggs recorded his fifth 100-yard game of the season, while the scoring catch gave Chism his first NFL touchdown. The performance pushed Maye past 4,000 passing yards for the season, joining Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe as the only Patriots quarterbacks to reach that mark.
“They don’t give me a vote,” Vrabel said of MVP discussion around Maye, “but there is nobody else we want as our quarterback.”
Ground Game Production
Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TreVeyon Henderson | 19 | 82 | 4.3 | 0 | 17 |
Rhamondre Stevenson | 8 | 47 | 5.9 | 1 | 24 |
Drake Maye | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 0 | 11 |
Henderson led the Patriots’ rushing attack with 82 yards on 19 carries, while Stevenson added 47 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts. New England totaled 155 rushing yards and controlled possession for 31:55.
Third Undefeated Road Season
The victory completed an 8-0 road record for New England, marking the third time in franchise history the Patriots finished without a road loss. The team previously went undefeated away from home in 2007 and 2016, both Super Bowl seasons.
Only San Francisco has matched three undefeated road campaigns since 1970, accomplishing the feat in 1984, 1989, and 1990. Vrabel became the second head coach in NFL history to go undefeated on the road in his first season, joining George Seifert’s 1989 San Francisco team.
“Coming in here and going 8-0 on the road, that’s a big thing for us as a young team,” cornerback Christian Gonzalez said.
The Patriots traveled to MetLife Stadium where red, white, and blue-clad fans filled large sections of the stadium, creating an atmosphere that resembled a home game for New England.
Jets’ Fourth Straight Blowout Loss
Brady Cook made his third consecutive start for New York but completed just 19 of 33 passes for 152 yards and one interception. The undrafted rookie has struggled since taking over the starting role, throwing one touchdown against seven interceptions across four games.
Player | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brady Cook | 19/33 | 152 | 0 | 1 | 56.6 |
Austin McNamara | 1/1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 79.2 |
The Jets attempted two fake punts on the same drive in the second half. Punter Austin McNamara completed a 3-yard pass to Malachi Moore for a first down on fourth-and-2, but four plays later on fourth-and-6, Isaiah Davis took a direct snap and was dropped for a three-yard loss.
“Highly, highly disappointed in the way that we came out,” coach Aaron Glenn said. “Today was probably the one time I feel like our effort wasn’t as good as I want it to be.”
Jets Offensive Leaders
Player | REC | YDS | TD | TGTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
John Metchie III | 3 | 41 | 0 | 3 |
Isaiah Williams | 4 | 30 | 0 | 5 |
Adonai Mitchell | 3 | 22 | 0 | 9 |
Breece Hall provided the only highlight for New York, rushing for 111 yards on 14 carries including a 59-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. The performance gave Hall his first 1,000-yard rushing season.
The Jets fell to 3-13, losing their fourth consecutive game by 23 or more points. New York became the fifth team in NFL history to lose four straight by that margin in one season and the first since the 1972 Patriots.
Division Title Secured
Buffalo’s 13-12 loss to Philadelphia at 4:25 PM EST officially clinched the AFC East for New England. The Bills scored with five seconds remaining and attempted a two-point conversion to win, but Josh Allen’s pass fell incomplete.
The Patriots learned of the division title while riding the team bus back to Gillette Stadium. Players and coaches celebrated with AFC East championship hats and shirts that read “2025 AFC East Champions. Been There, Won That.”
The division crown ended Buffalo’s run of five consecutive AFC East titles and marked New England’s first since 2019, when Tom Brady was still the quarterback.
Complete Box Score
Team Statistics
Category | Patriots | Jets |
|---|---|---|
First Downs | 28 | 14 |
Passing First Downs | 16 | 6 |
Rushing First Downs | 9 | 7 |
Third Down Efficiency | 4-9 | 5-16 |
Fourth Down Efficiency | 2-2 | 2-6 |
Total Plays | 62 | 63 |
Total Yards | 440 | 307 |
Yards Per Play | 7.1 | 4.9 |
Passing Yards | 285 | 143 |
Rushing Yards | 155 | 164 |
Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
Interceptions Thrown | 0 | 1 |
Penalties-Yards | 2-20 | 5-53 |
Time of Possession | 31:55 | 28:05 |
Red Zone Efficiency | 5-5 | 0-2 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
- 10:42 – NE: Austin Hooper 2-yard pass from Drake Maye (Andy Borregales kick) – 7-0
- 5:06 – NE: Rhamondre Stevenson 1-yard rush (Borregales kick) – 14-0
Second Quarter
- 14:55 – NE: Rhamondre Stevenson 22-yard pass from Drake Maye (Borregales kick) – 21-0
- 9:56 – NYJ: Nick Folk 39-yard field goal – 21-3
- 3:01 – NE: Stefon Diggs 3-yard pass from Drake Maye (Borregales kick) – 28-3
- 0:31 – NE: Hunter Henry 13-yard pass from Drake Maye (Borregales kick) – 35-3
Third Quarter
- 8:16 – NE: Efton Chism III 10-yard pass from Drake Maye (Borregales kick) – 42-3
Fourth Quarter
- 14:51 – NYJ: Breece Hall 59-yard rush (Folk kick) – 42-10
Individual Statistics
Patriots Defense
Player | TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dell Pettus | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Jahlani Tavai | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Brenden Schooler | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jaylinn Hawkins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Jets Defense
Player | TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Qwan’tez Stiggers | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Malachi Moore | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Jamien Sherwood | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Quincy Williams | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Special Teams
Category | Patriots | Jets |
|---|---|---|
Field Goals | 0-1 (Andy Borregales) | 1-1 (Nick Folk) |
Punts-Average | 2-46.5 (Bryce Baringer) | 2-49.0 (Austin McNamara) |
Kickoff Returns | 3-77 (D’Ernest Johnson) | 4-114 (Kene Nwangwu) |
Road to the Playoffs
The Patriots close the regular season against Miami with the AFC’s top seed still available. New England needs a victory over the Dolphins and a Denver loss to Los Angeles to secure the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
At 13-3, Vrabel’s first season has already produced the franchise’s best record since 2016. The Patriots went 4-13 in each of the previous two seasons under Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo before the dramatic turnaround under their new coach.
