Patriots Blow Out Jets 54-13, Get First Home Victory Of 2021 Season
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots spent all week feeling bothered by last week's loss to the Cowboys. A visit from the New York Jets was just what they needed.
The Patriots scored on all five of their first-half drives -- four for touchdowns -- en route to a 54-13 victory over the Jets.
With the win, the Patriots improve to 3-4 on the season, while the Jets drop to 1-5. After losing their first four home games of the season, the Patriots finally earned their first win in Foxboro.
Mac Jones completed 24 of his 36 passes for 307 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Damien Harris rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, while Brandon Bolden led the team with 79 receiving yards and a touchdown as a receiver out of the backfield.
The game began with some trickery from the Patriots, as receiver Kendrick Bourne threw a touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor for the first score of the game.
New England's defense then forced a Jets three-and-out, leading to the possession that ended with a Damien Harris touchdown run. Harris helped set up that score himself with a 32-yard run earlier in the drive.
The Patriots stretched it to a 17-0 lead, with Nick Folk successfully kicking his 300th career field goal.
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson suffered an injury in the second quarter and did not return. Mike White, making his NFL debut in place of Wilson, threw a touchdown on the first drive of his career.
The Patriots then marched 73 yards on 12 plays for another touchdown, this one a catch-and-run from Brandon Bolden.
Jones threw his second touchdown of the game before halftime, thanks to a tremendous effort from Hunter Henry.
That touchdown was Henry's fourth in the past four games.
With Wilson officially ruled out just after halftime, the Jets scored their second touchdown of the game on an end-around to Elijah Moore.
The two-point conversion failed, and the Patriots tacked on a field goal midway through the third quarter to make it a 34-13 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, after a J.C. Jackson interception (the Patriots' second pick of the half), the Patriots stretched the lead to 41-31 on a Harris touchdown run. It was the first multi-touchdown day of Harris' career.
J.J. Taylor later scored the first touchdown of his career. A missed PAT made it a 47-13 lead for New England in the fourth quarter. With Brian Hoyer in the game at quarterback late in the fourth quarter, Taylor scored his second touchdown, making it a 54-13 lead.
The Patriots head out to Los Angeles to face the Chargers next week.
