Heading into Week 17, the Patriots (13-3) were the definition of the walking wounded.
On Friday, head coach Mike Vrabel listed seven players that would be inactive for Sunday:
- WR Kayshon Boutte
- WR Mack Hollins (eventually added to the IR)
- OLB Harold Landry
- LB Robert Spillane
- DT Khyiris Tonga
- DT Milton Williams
- LG Jared Wilson
Regardless of how bad a season the Jets (3-13) are having, getting a win with that many key players out is no easy task.
But just like they’ve done on the road all season long, the Patriots took care of business at MetLife Stadium, beating New York 42-10 and putting themselves one step closer to their first AFC East division title since 2019.
If the Bills (11-4) lose to the Eagles (10-5) in the 4:25 p.m. ET window on Sunday, the Patriots will be getting off the team plane to hats and t-shirts as division champs. If Buffalo takes care of business at home, the Patriots will have to wait until next week to clinch with a win at home against the Dolphins (6-9).
Here are your Ups & Downs for Week 17:
Ups:
- Drake Maye: The MVP candidate made it look easy on Sunday, doing so without two of his three best receivers.
Maye was 19 for 21 passing, good for 256 yards and 5 touchdowns. He carried a perfect passer rating (158.3) late into the second quarter, finishing the day at 157.0. He didn’t have an incompletion until 1:39 remaining in the second quarter.
It was surgical, and it led to, yet again, Maye receiving loud “M-V-P!” chants on the road.
His performance was both so dominant and so efficient, that back-up quarterback Josh Dobbs was handed the huddle with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter.
In a week where his team needed him to be great given the current state of the roster, that’s exactly what he did.
In the first half, Maye eclipsed 4,000 passing yards on the season for the first time in his career, becoming just the third Patriots quarterback in franchise history to do so. Unsurprisingly, those quarterbacks are Tom Brady (11 times) and Drew Bledsoe (2 times). Probably safe to assume he’ll be passing Bledsoe on this list sooner rather than later.
Matthew Stafford might have an amazing touchdown-to-interception ratio, but it’s hard to argue anyone in the NFL is actually more valuable, in the truest sense of the word, to their team than Maye.
He probably won’t win the award, but he should.
- Rhamondre Stevenson: With the receiver room battered and bruised, this felt like a game where New England was going to lean heavily on their fifth-year running back.
Stevenson was up for the challenge, putting together yet another complete game both with his legs and his hands:
- 8 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown
- 5 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown
When it came to the ground game, we saw Stevenson have multiple chunk plays that have now become the norm for the 27-year-old, as this was the third straight game Stevenson has had a run of 15+ yards.
He’s hitting his stride in a real way at the perfect time on the calendar, with playoffs on the horizon where ground-and-pound can be a game-clinching dimension for offenses down the home stretch.
- Stefon Diggs: This dude, man.
Instead of trying to describe Diggs’ best grab on the day, let’s just take a look at the All-Pro doing his best Randy Moss impression:
It’s worth a second look:
Like Maye and Stevenson, Diggs was in a position where Sunday needed to be a day he showed up big as one of the team leaders. He did just that, following up his clutch day in Baltimore with
On the day, Diggs had 6 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.
His fourth grab of the day, which also happened to be his touchdown grab, got Diggs to the 80-catch threshold on the season, which triggered a $500,000 bonus for the 32-year-old.
Have to imagine he’ll be buying another one of these fanny packs with part of that check, right?
Like Stevenson, it feels like Diggs is peaking at the right time. With Boutte banged up and with Hollins on IR, his timing could not be better.
Diggs going over 900 receiving yards on the season makes him the first Patriots pass catcher to eclipse that number in a single season since Julian Edelman in 2019.
- Josh McDaniels: Let’s give the offensive coordinator.
Five straight drives to start the game. Five touchdowns.
Five passing touchdowns. Five different pass-catchers. That’s the first time that’s happened in Patriots’ franchise history.
Missing two of his top three wide receivers, along with his starting left guard who is already playing without the help of Will Campbell, yet still able to rack up 434 yards of total offense - 344 yards of that coming in the first half alone.
New England’s 32-point lead on Sunday is the largest first half lead they’ve had since Week 12 in 2012, which coincidentally also came against the Jets in a game we all fondly remember as the “Butt Fumble” game.
- Efton Chism III: In Preseason Week 2, all of Patriot Nation was treated to a fun day in Minnesota from undrafted rookie receiver Efton Chism III - 6 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. While it was always a given that he wasn’t going to be a major part of New England’s offense in 2025, it was also clear in that moment that the 24-year-old was deserving of a roster spot.
Fast forward to Week 17, and there was finally an opening for Chism to get some snaps on offense with Boutte and Hollins missing from the lineup.
And on the second drive of the game for the Patriots’ offense, Chism came down with his first catch of his NFL career, grabbing a ball up the seam for a 30-yard gain.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 198 pounds, the Eastern Washington-product has had to scratch-and-claw for every opportunity in this game. A cool moment for one of the cooler stories on the roster.
Fast forward to the top of the third quarter, and Chism had his best two-play sequence of his young career.
On a 3rd and 8 from the Jets 27, Maye found Stevenson for a 17-yard gain. But it was traffic created in the middle of the field from a route by Chism that broke Stevenson free for the big gain.
That set up New England with a 1st and goal from the Jets 10, where Chism was at it again.
This time, it was a diving catch towards the right sideline for the first touchdown grab of his career, as Chism showed great awareness to get down low enough to complete the scoring play.
Does a game like this mean we’ll see more from Chism within the offense moving forward? I think that has more to do with the health of the rest of his fellow receivers.
With that said, it was a nice day for the fan favorite.
Downs:
- New York Jets: For the first time since the 2021 season, the Patriots scored four touchdowns on their first four offensive possessions, going up 28-3 with 3:01 remaining in the second quarter.
Of course, this speaks to Maye and Josh McDaniels being in their bag, but it also speaks to a level of ineptitude synonymous with the Jets football for the majority of their existence.
In addition to their defense being a sieve, their offense couldn’t get anything going with third string quarterback Brady Cook at the helm.
At the half, the Jets had managed just 77 yards of total offense, trailing New England 35-3. With the benefit of garbage time, New York was able to finish the day at 307.
When you completely mortgage your future on Aaron Rodgers and his buddies, and that plan blows up in your face after two injury-filled, mediocre seasons, you’re left with an incomplete team top-to-bottom that no coach would be able to succeed with in the wake of that chaos, let alone a first-time head coach in Aaron Glenn.
You have to appreciate the coaching staff trying to get creative on their first possession of the second half, successfully converting a fake punt on a 4th and 2 from their own 43. But when you attempt another fake punt just four plays later, it’s only logical that it’s going to be far less effective.
It was.
They got stuffed, and the Patriots’ offense was back in the end zone 6 plays later.
Through the television screen, it sounded like a Patriots’ home game by about midway through the second quarter. Can’t blame Jets fans for not wanting to sit through the house burning down.
- Andy Borregales: We need to have someone in this section, right?
With the rookie kicker missing a 41-yard field goal with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter, he ended a streak of six consecutive drives for the New England offense where points were put on the board.
In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. But selfishly, you always want to see quirky stuff like that stretch along as far as possible. A game where the Patriots’ offense puts up points on every possession of the game would be cool to see, even if it is against a garbage roster like the 2025 Jets.
Big picture, hard to have a lot of concerns about Borregales, who has been nails a majority of his rookie season.
- Run Defense: Like the missed field goal above, it doesn’t really matter for the final score on Sunday.
With that said, the Patriots did allow 164 rushing yards on 28 carries for New York. Almost all of that came from running back Breece Hall, whose 112 rushing yards on 13 carries highlighted just how overqualified he is to be associated with this roster. His 59-yard touchdown run at the top of the fourth quarter was special.
With no Williams or Tonga on the D-line and no Spillane at the second level, this phase of the game for New England will continue to be under a microscope. After this front seven started the season the way they did, it’s been a struggle down the stretch of the season as injuries have mounted - particularly since Williams hit IR ahead of Week 12.
The Patriots close out their regular season next Sunday, as they head back to Gillette Stadium for their Week 18 game against the Dolphins. Even if New England has the division clinched, the Patriots will likely still be playing as many starters as they can (health permitting, of course) with the No. 1 seed in the AFC still up for grabs.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.