While the New England Patriots have been on a tremendous run this season, it’s also been a grind. They have the latest bye week in the NFL – Week 14 – and didn’t even have their mini-bye until mid-November.
Before finally getting some extra rest next week the Patriots had one more game left, at home on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants. They made the most of the opporutunity with a 33-15 win. They now go into the bye week off a win, riding a 10-game winning streak, and holding the top seed in the AFC playoff picture.
The Patriots got going right from the jump, which included a rare strong start from the defense. We’ll start there in this week’s takeaways…
Inspired first quarter
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Slow starts had been a problem for the Patriots the past few games. It sounds like heading into this one, changing that was a point of emphasis.
“Starting fast. I think starting fast when it’s planned, that’s what we wanted to do,” quarterback Drake Maye said after the game when asked what surprised him and what didn’t in this game. “I think we had some play designs that Coach had, and we practiced all week that worked. And I think that’s the biggest thing, is that we knew they had a new coordinator calling it for the first time, so they’re going to bring some stuff that we didn’t expect…From there, Coach [Mike Vrabel] saying no naps.”
It was an inspired first quarter from the Patriots in all three phases. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first 14 minutes of the game, and never really needed to look back.
That was particularly notable for the defense. They prevented points on the opponet’s opening drive for the fourth time this season, and forced an opening drive punt for just the third time.
Special teams sparks
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The rare opening-drive punt from the Patriots’ defense was quickly rewarded. Marcus Jones returned the kick 94 yards for a touchdown, giving the Patriots an early 10-0 lead.
It was a high-level return by Jones, even by touchdown return standards. He displayed all of the traits teams look for in an elite punt returner – vision, patience, balance, and speed. On the return he broke a tackle around the 50-yard line to make the final defender miss, after weaving his way through traffic.
Coming into the game, Jones needed one more punt return to his 75 for his career, which would qualify him as the NFL’s all-time leader in punt return average. He hit that number in style and after two more returns on the night, now has a career average of 14.6 yards per return. That puts him well ahead of George McAfee, the previous record-holder who averaged 12.8 yards per return during his career with the Chicago Bears in the 1940s (the record has previously been broken only for the player to later drop below the 12.8 yards per return).
That wasn’t the only area where special teams provided a spark for the Patriots. Terrell Jennings opened the game with a 39-yard kickoff return, but kick coverage is where the unit really popped. Late in the second quarter Christian Elliss (more on him in a bit) and Marte Mapu combined for a big hit on returner Gunner Olszewski, forcing a fumble. That allowed the Patriots to add an exra field goal inside the two-minute warning.
While the Patriots used special teams to build momentum, the Giants’ special teams did the opposite. The one time it looked like they might be getting their footing in this game was early in the second quarter, when they scored a touchdown then forced a Patriots three-and-out. After getting the ball back they drove into field goal range, however kicker Younghoe Koo missed the ball on his field goal attempt, resulting in holder Jamie Gillan getting tackled for a 13-yard loss. The Giants wouldn’t find the end zone again until closer to garbage time in the fourth quarter.
Christian Elliss sets the tone
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“I thought he was just going to go out of bounds, but then I saw him tiptoeing. So I was like, ‘Stay in bounds. What am I supposed to do?’ We play hard on defense,” Elliss said after the game. “That’s all I was trying to do is just do my job and hit anything in the whites.”
It wasn’t just the highlights, either. Elliss has a busy day, leading the team with a season-high 10 tackles. He also had a pass breakup on the final play of the game. After a slow start to the season, Elliss had been building to this game over the past few weeks.
Cory Durden revenge game
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Dec 1, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots defensive tackle Cory Durden (94) celebrates after a play during the fourth quarter against the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium.
The other standout on the Patriots’ defense in this game was defensive tackle Cory Durden. With Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga both out the Patriots’ run defense got gashed last week. That changed in this game in large part due to Durden, who recorded two run stuffs and was in the backfield regularly.
Durden also played with a ton of energy, helping give the Patriots an edge in what was a chippy game early. Throughout the season Durden has shown to be a high-motor player, but he seemed to take that to another level this week against his former team – something Vrabel discussed postgame.
“That game meant a lot to him,” Vrabel said. “They told him that he wasn’t good enough to play for the Giants and we thought that he was good enough to play for the Patriots.” The Giants cut Durden during final roster cuts back in August, and he signed with the Patriots’ practice squad before being added to the active roster a week later.
The bye week will give Tonga, who is dealing with a chest injury, more time to get healthy, and Williams will remain on IR at least for two more games. In the meantime the Patriots will need to continue to lean on their depth at defensive tackle, with Durden being a key part of that.
Drake Maye gets everyone involved
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What was really impressive about Maye in this game was how much he spread the ball around. Eight different Patriots players recorded at least one catch, with seven of the eight having at least two.
Hunter Henry led the way as Maye’s go-to-guy once again, especially on third downs. He finished the game with four catches for 73 yards.
Maye’s two touchdowns went to Kayshon Boutte and Kyle Williams. Boutte had four catches for 35 yards, building on what was a quiet game last week in his return from a hamstring injury.
After picking up a first down on one of his catches Boutte checked out of the game, creating an opportunity for Williams. Williams made the most of it, toe-tapping in the end zone after hauling in a deep throw from Maye for a 33-yard touchdown on his lone catch of the game. It was a good ‘stay ready’ moment for the rookie receiver who at times has not been on the same page with his quarterback this season.
Perhaps most importantly, part of the reason Maye was able to spread the ball around so well was he had time. Despite starting two backup offensive linemen on the left side of the line in Vederian Lowe and Ben Brown Maye was pressured on just 10 of his 36 dropbacks, with just four on 21 dropbacks in the first half. Of those 10 total pressures four were on Maye himself according to PFF’s initial charting, while one was on running back TreVeyon Henderson.
Goal line woes remain
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If there’s one area for the Patriots to work on during the bye week coming out of this game, it’s their continued issues in the red zone offensively. After struggling on the goal line last week in Cincinnati the Patriots scored just one touchdown on five red zone trips, including three that reached ‘goal to go’ situations (although one red zone trip was an end-of-half situation where the Patriots kicked a field goal with the clock running down).
Once again the run game was the main issue, as the Patriots couldn’t punch the ball in on the goal line. They tried more of a run-pass balance this week but on the pass plays, either Maye couldn’t connect with receivers in the end zone, or he threw in the flat where the defense stepped up and made the tackle.
On their one successful red zone trip, the Patriots struck fast. Maye hit a 36-yard pass to Henry who got open on a sail route, then on 1st & goal from the three he hit Boutte on a quick out for the score.
The question is how they can hit on those kinds of plays with more consistency. The bye week is a time when teams often ‘self scout’ and work on their own internal issues rather than focusing on a specific opponent, and their red zone struggles may be on the top of that list after the last few weeks.