The Patriots came into their Week 8 matchup with the Jets, a disgruntled team in need of a big win to get them back on track and boost morale. The Jerod Mayo era was off to a rough start after a hopeful offseason, with players airing their grievances to the media and social media, specifically the wide receivers.
The drama has been a mainstay over the first seven games of the year and the hope was to see that not be an issue against one of their biggest rivals on Sunday.
Things started well with Drake Maye leading the team to their first touchdown of the day, running into the end zone himself, only for the air to be sucked out of the stadium when the quarterback suffered a concussion to keep him sidelined early in the second quarter.
That prompted many to believe the game was immediately over, and the Patriots had no chance to come back from the loss. But shockingly, Jacoby Brissett was up to the challenge and overcame the drops by his receivers and the flag-happy referees to lead the team to their second win of the year.
It's always sweet to see New England win nowadays since they happen few and far between, but it's even sweeter when it's against the team like the Jets and there's more reasons to celebrate than just beating a divisional rival.
The Jets playoff hopes are DOA after the Patriots sneak out the win in Week 8
Despite firing their head coach in hopes that would turn their season around and following that up by trading for Davante Adams, the Jets are still a mess and could not beat the 1-6 Patriots just five weeks after blowing them out on Thursday Night Football.
Instead, Rodgers went back to his recent form of not doing enough to get a win and taking no responsibility for his shortcomings. And now the Jets will have to deal with an uncertain future and an unhappy owner, on top of almost certainly missing the playoffs again.
It's something Patriots fans can celebrate since New York was lauded as a Super Bowl favorite all offseason and was believed to be back on that path after their win in Week 3. Instead, they're dealing with an all too familiar fate and watching from the outside as the Bills continue to reign supreme over the division.