Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.) — The New England Patriots reminded everyone why the New York Giants do not belong on primetime TV, at least for the time being.
Quarterback Drake Maye and head coach Mike Vrabel put a shellacking on the Giants, 33-15, on Monday night. Maye improved his case for the NFL MVP, moving into pole position as the betting favorite. New England sits at the top of the AFC, and the Patriots certainly appear to be the most complete team in their conference. The Giants must want this season to simply end. It’s a bad year that only seems to get worse.
Here are my takeaways:
1. The game slowed to a complete halt for Maye
There’s that saying: “The game is too fast for [insert young quarterback].”
Maye is too fast for the game right now. This dude is unstoppable. He’s seeing the game with speed, ease and confidence, and the Giants had absolutely no answer. How could they? He was ripping the ball into tight windows and sending the ball downfield with astounding accuracy. And for all the (legitimate) conversation about how Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes have struggled without a supporting cast, Maye has lifted his lackluster unit. He doesn’t have an elite receiver. He doesn’t have an elite tight end. His offensive line was missing two starters.
And yet he continues to dominate: Maye finished 24-of-31 for 282 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 15 more yards.
His touchdown to rookie receiver Kyle Williams was the perfect example of how Maye is simply operating at another level — an MVP level. Maye put the ball along the sideline where Williams could toe-tap and score the 33-yard score.
2. Jaxson Dart, for the love of all things good, please take better care of yourself
I know, I know. This is more of a piece of advice than a takeaway. But Dart isn’t going to make it to Year 2 if he keeps playing like this. In his first game back from a concussion, the young Giants’ franchise QB told ESPN’s Eli Manning (before the game) that he wouldn’t abandon the run — but that he’d be smarter and safer when rushing for yards.
Well, that didn’t happen.
Dart took one of the biggest hits I’ve seen a quarterback take in years without a flag. He was trying to scramble along the sideline for a few extra inches and linebacker Christian Eliss came in to teach Dart a lesson.
“He told me that if he was near the sidelines, he would run out of bounds. He lied to me,” Manning said on ESPN’s “Manning Cast.”
Maye had this problem last year. He, too, suffered a concussion and ran too much on a bad football team. It’s not smart.
If Dart can’t stay healthy, how in the world will he turn this organization around?
3. It’s fun to talk about QBs, but special teams told the story of this game
If you watched only the special teams plays from this game, you would’ve had a strong understanding of how dominant the Patriots were.
It started with cornerback Marcus Jones’ 94-yard punt return touchdown. It was his 75th career punt return, which qualified him for the all-time record. And he was immediately No. 1 in league history with 14.6 yards per punt return. I’m not sure everyone knows how terrific Jones is, but he’s trending toward being an all-time great.
Then there was that moment where Giants kicker Younghoe Koo looked like all of us — or at least me — off the first tee on a round of 18. Koo chunked his field goal attempt, striking the turf but not the ball. You have to see it to believe it.
To add literal injury to insult, the Patriots appeared to knock out Giants kick returner Gunner Olszewski, who fumbled the ball and gave it to the Patriots at the 27-yard line.
It was bleak for the Giants on special teams. And it was a microcosm of how uncompetitive this game was.
4. The Patriots might enter the playoffs as the AFC’s Super Bowl favorites
It’s easy to imagine the Patriots winning three of their next four games and finishing with the No. 1 seed. It’s easy to imagine Maye all but locking up his MVP candidacy during that span. It’s possible Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow will not be in the playoffs.
Even if all that doesn’t happen, New England should have a fairly straightforward path to the Super Bowl. It might be Josh Allen and the Bills who stand most prominently in their way.
Maye and New England have come a very, very, very long way from where they were at this time last year. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t respect the quality and consistency of their play. It’s happening again. The Patriots have an elite quarterback and an elite coach. They could establish themselves as perennial Super Bowl contenders as soon as this year.
It’s all smiles for head coach Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye in New England. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
4 ½. What’s next?
The Patriots (11-2) have a bye to rest up, and it comes at a good time, given two of their top offensive lineman — left tackle Will Campbell and guard Jared Wilson — are set to miss extended time with injuries. And just as important, it’ll help to have extra time to prepare for what might just be their biggest game of the season: at home against the Bills. Allen and company can still win the AFC East, as good as Maye and Vrabel have been.
The Giants (2-11) will continue to look to the draft (and the website Tankathon, where they can see their projected draft position). Yes, they have a game against the lowly Washington Commanders next week. But it’s possible Jayden Daniels could return, and that would make it difficult for New York to grind out its third win of the season. No, there’s not much hope left in the year. It’s time for the Giants to start thinking about their next coach — and the guy they’ll pick in the top 5 selections of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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