Mac Jones passed for a career-high 307 yards and two touchdowns, Damien Harris rushed for 106 yards and two scores and the New England Patriots handled the visiting New York Jets 54-13 in an AFC East matchup Sunday afternoon.
Jones (24 of 36) earned his first home victory in his fifth start at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots (3-4) avoided their worst home start since a 6-0 loss to the Jets on Nov. 28, 1993 dropped them at 0-5 at Foxboro Stadium.
Jones also secured his first NFL victory in the Patriots’ 25-6 win at the Jets on Sept. 19. New England earned its 12th straight win over New York dating back to Dec. 27, 2015.
Jets starting quarterback and No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson exited with a knee injury in the second quarter and did not return. Backup Mike White made his NFL debut in place of Wilson and finished 20-of-32 passing for 202 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for New York (1-5).
Wilson was injured after taking a hit from Patriots linebacker Matt Judon while throwing a deep ball to the end zone. Wilson was 6-of-10 passing for 51 yards at the time of his injury.
Four plays after Wilson departed, White fired a 3-yard strike to Corey Davis for his first NFL touchdown pass to pull New York within 17-7 with 10:39 left before halftime.
New England led 31-7 at the half after a pair of Jones’ touchdown passes late in the second quarter. It was the Patriots’ largest first-half point total since scoring 38 against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 26, 2014.
New England’s first touchdown came on a trick play after wide receiver Kendrick Bourne lobbed a 25-yard TD pass to Nelson Agholor to make it 7-0 with 12:43 left in the first quarter.
Nick Folk’s 39-yard field goal with 14:10 left in the second quarter was the 300th made field goal of his career. The 14-year veteran and former longtime Jets kicker became the 35th player in NFL history to accomplish the feat.
–Field Level Media