It looked like there was a light at the end of the tunnel for the New York Jets after they notched back-to-back wins against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns.
The New England Patriots, however, rolled a big rock to cover the end of the tunnel on Thursday as they beat the Jets, 27-14, behind magnificent performances by Drake Maye and TreVeyon Henderson.
New York fell to 2-8, while New England won its ninth straight game to match its longest winning streak since 2019 and improve to 9-2, breaking a tie with the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos atop the AFC.
The Jets' defense couldn't contain the Patriots, who scored four touchdowns, three coming from Henderson, including a seven-yard pass from Maye. The fast-rising quarterback went 25-of-34 for 281 yards.
The Associated Press' Josh Dubow pointed out that the Jets have only tallied none takeaway this seaso, the fewest though 10 games in the Super Bowl era.
They surpassed the Las Vegas Raiders (2024), the Jacksonville Jaguars (2021), the Houston Texans (2020), and the San Francisco 49ers (2018), who all had five takeaways.
Coach Aaron Glenn found success as the defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions before joining the Jets in the offseason. He, however, has yet to instill a similar defensive intensity in New York.
The Jets are in the bottom half of the league's defensive numbers, allowing 26.8 points and 329.7 yards per game. While they are not necessarily awful, they leave much to be desired.
The Jets haven't been to the playoffs for 14 straight seasons, the longest active drought in the NFL.
