The New England Patriots got two big punt returns from Marcus Jones and some big plays out of Drake Maye's offense to lead the team to a 42-13 blowout victory over the Carolina Panthers in Week 4. After allowing an opening-drive touchdown, New England ripped off 42 unanswered points for a much-needed blowout victory. 

Jones returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to spark those 42 unanswered points by the Patriots. The electric return man had 167 yards on his three punt returns to set a new franchise record in New England. 

Maye didn't have to do much with such a lopsided number on the scoreboard, but racked up 203 passing yards and two touchdowns -- plus a rushing score in the second quarter -- as he completed 14 of his 17 passes on the afternoon. The quarterback got some big plays out of his pass-catchers, with Stefon Diggs leading the charge with six receptions for 101 yards.

Diggs had receptions of 30 and 33 yards, while tight ends Hunter Henry had a 31-yard catch-and-run touchdown and Austin Hooper had a 24-yard reception. Rhamondre Stevenson also had a 22-yard rush and Antonio Gibson took a carry 21 yards to give New England a handful of explosive plays on the afternoon.

Asked to describe the team's offense after the game, Diggs said the Patriots were "explosive" on Sunday.

"I think we just wanted to come out and be us," he said. "It was a big thing, we wanted to be us."

While the Panthers are a bad football team, the Patriots needed a win after a disappointing loss to the Steelers last Sunday in Foxboro. New England hadn't won a game by 30-plus points since a 50-10 win over the Jaguars back on Jan. 2, 2022. Sunday was the first time the Patriots scored 28 or more in a half since late October of the 2021 season. 

Most importantly, the Patriots didn't turn over the football on Sunday, as they did five times last week against the Steelers. Penalties were once again an issue as New England was flagged seven times, but the now 2-2 Patriots outclassed the Panthers everywhere else on Sunday.

Here's how everything played out Sunday in New England.

Another slow start for the Patriots 

The Patriots got off to another lethargic start on both offense and defense. The Panthers got nine first downs before the Patriots moved the chains themselves.

Bryce Young and the Carolina offense scored first as the New England defense allowed a 7-play, 76-yard scoring drive after kickoff. Carlton Davis was flagged for a DPI on a second-and-2 where Young missed Tetairoa McMillan, and a few plays later, Young had all the time in the world to find a wide open Mitchell Evans for 16 yards. 

The Panthers put six points on the board a few plays later when Young found Tommy Tremble in the back of the end zone over rookie safety Craig Woodson, who got picked at the line. But it was only six points as Ryan Fitzgerald doinked his extra-point attempt off the left upright. 

The Patriots have allowed opponents to score a touchdown on their first possession three times over the first four weeks of the season.

Maye and the Patriots' offense did not answer Carolina's opening score, as they went three-and-out. Stevenson was the first running back and got a yard on his first down carry and TreVeyon Henderson gained six yards on second down. But Maye's third down pass to Kayshon Boutte was too high and was nearly picked by Carolina, setting up a New England punt.

Marcus Jones provided a special teams spark

How do you spark a team? How about an 87-yard punt return touchdown?

Jones made the gutsy call to field a punt at the New England 12 with a big group around him. But the explosive return man shed a pair of tackles and then took it to the house untouched for an 87-yard touchdown. 

Big plays led to a Drake Maye rushing touchdown

Big plays had been missing from the New England offense, but the Patriots got three of them on their second possession.

On the first play of the drive, a short pass to Austin Hooper turned into a 24-yard gain for New England. Two plays later, Antonio Gibson turned a handoff off a sweep into a 21-yard gain to set the Patriots up at the Carolina 29. On the next play, Stevenson ripped off a 22-yard run to get the Patriots down to the Carolina 7.

Maye found the end zone himself on second-and-goal from the Carolina 5 off a bootleg to the left, which put the Patriots on top 14-6 early in the second quarter. It was Maye's second rushing touchdown of the season, which capped off a six-play, 80-yard drive for the Patriots.

Patriots turned Panthers missed field goal into Henderson's first touchdown

After a 55-yard field goal attempt by Fitzgerald came up short for Carolina, the Patriots took over at their own 45-yard line. A 33-yard connection between Maye and Diggs put the Patriots at the Carolina 10, but they moved backwards when Hooper was hit with a 15-yard facemask -- New England's fifth penalty at the time.

The Panthers bailed them out though with some laundry of their own, as safety Nick Scott was flagged for tripping on a second-and-goal catch-and-run by Henderson from the Carolina 26. 

With a fresh set of downs, Henderson scored his first career touchdown two plays later from five yards out to give the Patriots a 21-6 lead with just under six minutes to play in the first half.

Another big return by Jones sets up another Patriots touchdown

After the Patriots' defense forced a three-and-out, Jones gave the offense a short field to work with. He took Carolina's punt back 61 yards on another excellent return, where he shed a few tackles along the sideline and nearly found the end zone again. But punter Sam Martin was able to trip Jones up enough that he fell down at the Carolina 14.

Just after the two-minute warning, Gibson took it in from a yard out to give the Patriots a 28-6 lead ahead of halftime. 

Maye finds Henry for 31-yard touchdown to start second half

The Patriots didn't mess around to start the second half (outside of two more penalties) and their opening drive ended with seven more points. Maye hit Boutte for 18 yards on the first play of the third quarter, and later hit Diggs for a huge 22-yard pickup on a third-and-15.

The Patriots capped off the drive when Maye found Hunter Henry with a short play-action pass, and the tight end snuck through the sleeping (or uncaring) Carolina defense for a 31-yard touchdown to put New England on top, 35-6.

It's hard to imagine the Panthers beat the Falcons, 30-0, just a week ago.

Pats play keepaway rest of way

The Patriots played a possession game the rest of the way, but they did get a few more big plays in the second half. Maye finished off the third quarter by hitting Diggs for 30 yards on a fourth-and-3, as Diggs enjoyed a breakout afternoon for New England. The reception gave Diggs 101 receiving yards on the afternoon -- his first 100-yard game as a member of the Patriots.

Maye hit Mack Hollins for a four-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put New England on top, 42-6. Six different Patriots found the end zone on Sunday.

The defense forced another turnover on downs on Carolina's next possession, and Josh Dobbs took over at quarterback for New England with 10 minutes left in the game. The Panthers scored a meaningless touchdown right out of the two-minute warning when Andy Dalton hit Evans in the end zone for a two-yard scored. 

What's next for the Patriots?

After a much-needed him win, the Patriots now hit the road for their next three games.

New England is in Buffalo for a Sunday Night Football showdown with the Bills in Week 5, and will then take on the Saints in New Orleans and the Titans in Tennessee.

The Patriots' next home game is in Week 8 when they host the Cleveland Browns.