Jets’ Foxborough nightmare continues as Drake Maye’s 3 TDs sink Gang Green

FOXBOROUGH — Different season.

Same house of horrors for Gang Green.

The Jets (2-4) left Gillette Stadium Sunday with another loss to the Patriots (4-2), unable to finish a comeback or find an answer for Drake Maye in a 26-19 defeat.

Maye’s three touchdown passes lifted New England to its third straight win on a sunny, 51-degree afternoon and dropped Jets head coach Aaron Glenn to 0-7 against AFC East opponents.

“There’s a number of things that I can point to that gave us some issues in this game,” Glenn said. “Really what it came down to is two things,  finishing on offense and detailing on defense is something that we have to be better at because I think we gifted two touchdowns that shouldn’t have happened.

“And I gotta do a better job defensively getting our guys ready to play and on offense, making sure exactly what it’s gonna take to finish.”

Geno Smith completed 20 of 30 passes for 252 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Braelon Allen, starting for the third consecutive week in place of Breece Hall (quad), rushed for 78 yards on 17 carries.

Maye completed 18 of 32 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns. A.J. Brown returned from injured reserve after suffering a right high ankle sprain in New England’s season opener at Seattle, but dropped four passes and finished with three catches for 27 yards.

The Jets’ defense forced three fumbles and recovered two, but couldn’t consistently pressure Maye. A week after recording eight sacks against the Browns, Gang Green failed to sack him once — even as Patriots center Ben Brown, left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and right tackle Morgan Moses left with injuries.

The Jets have lost 15 of their last 16 visits to Gillette Stadium, six by at least 14 points. Their lone victory during that stretch came in the 2023 season finale, Bill Belichick’s final game as New England’s head coach.

“They did a lot of good things,” Jets linebacker Demario Davis said. “I think Maye is a very savvy quarterback, and he’s proven that, and we knew that going in.

“He did a good job of getting rid of the ball. They were able to stay in favorable situations where he didn’t have to hold the ball long. He did a good job of extending plays, keeping his eyes downfield. So, you just have to give a shoutout to them, they did a good job.”

The Jets received the opening kickoff after the Patriots won the coin toss and deferred. Gang Green drove to the New England 14-yard line, where Omar Cooper Jr. appeared to score his first career touchdown on his return from an ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve.

But an offensive pass interference penalty against Tim Patrick wiped out the touchdown. The Jets settled for Jason Sanders’ 42-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

New England answered late in the first quarter when Maye found Romeo Doubs for a 42-yard touchdown. The Jets rushed only three, giving Maye plenty of time to find Doubs downfield and put the Patriots up 7-3.

Andy Borregales added a 32-yard field goal late in the second quarter to extend New England’s lead to 10-3. The Jets then went three-and-out, giving the Patriots another possession before halftime.

New England needed just 1:09 to carve up the Jets’ defense, with Maye finding DeMario Douglas for a nine-yard touchdown and a 17-3 halftime lead. Gang Green surrendered 10 points in the final 1:49 of the half.

The Patriots got the second-half kickoff but failed to extend their lead after Brown dropped two passes, stalling the drive. The Jets capitalized when Smith connected with Cooper for a 48-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 17-10. Cooper finished with six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Gang Green kept building momentum when David Bailey stripped Henderson at New England’s 36-yard line, and Jamien Sherwood recovered. But Smith took a third-down sack, and the Jets settled for Sanders’ 36-yard field goal to pull within 17-13 late in the third quarter.

Maye wrested back control early in the fourth, finding a wide-open Hunter Henry for a seven-yard touchdown. Borregales missed the extra point, giving New England a 23-13 lead.

The Patriots threatened to stretch that lead after Douglas caught a 39-yard pass, but Sherwood punched the ball loose, and Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered at the Jets’ 45-yard line.

Again, Gang Green couldn’t turn the takeaway into a touchdown. Sanders’ 40-yard field goal cut the deficit to 23-16 with 7:20 remaining. With 1:12 remaining, Borregales’ second field goal of the day, this time from 27 yards out, put the game on ice for the Patriots.

With 36 seconds remaining, Sanders made a 36-yard field goal to cut the deficit back to one score. But New England recovered the onside kick to win the game.

The venue will change. Until the Jets start beating their division rivals, the story remains the same.

After playing four of their first six games on the road, the Jets return to MetLife Stadium for consecutive home games, starting with the Dolphins on Oct. 25. The Jets will then host the Raiders on Nov. 1 before heading to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Chiefs on Nov. 8.

“It’s high man,” Garrett Wilson said about the Jets’ sense of urgency to turn their season around. “You never want to be at 2-4. So, we are trying to get out of the hole for sure.”