Instant analysis from Patriots’ 33-15 win over Giants

On the first night of December, the New England Patriots became the first team around the NFL to reach 11 wins.

Head coach Mike Vrabel’s side defeated the New York Giants by a score of 33-15 to get there at Gillette Stadium.

Here’s a glance back on Monday’s 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff as the bye week awaits.

Maye cruises to 10 in a row

The road to an 11-2 record required a 10th win in a row. It also required Drake Maye.

The Patriots quarterback completed 24-of-31 passes for 282 yards against the Giants. Making the difficult appear easy, his night brought two early touchdowns and no turnovers.

Taking the field “11” personnel, New England’s opening drive stretched a dozen plays. It ended with a third-and-goal incompletion on a corner route and a field goal. That had been an all-too-familiar outcome in the red zone for a team ranked in the middle of the pack there entering Monday. But quickly back on the field with a 10-0 lead in hand, a fading goal-line touchdown to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was the result next time out. With that, the Patriots stood with 17 points through only 16 offensive snaps.

The 23-year-old MVP candidate under center kept cruising. Against the blitz, Maye connected with rookie wideout Kyle Williams’ track speed on the perimeter. A clean release off the line of scrimmage was met by perfect ball placement for a 33-yard touchdown strike to the Washington State product.

The score read 30-7 at halftime. Maye had a 143.1 passer rating as well as 10.4 yards per pass attempt by then. Heading out of it, he added a fourth-and-6 conversion to veteran wideout Stefon Diggs and spread the wealth to eight different targets by game’s end.

Fellow captain Hunter Henry again led the aerial attack with 73 receiving yards. A 36-yard pickup on a sail route was among them for the tight end, who had a touchdown nullified by offsetting penalties.

Unlocking a new starting five

The Patriots had been healthy enough to start the same offensive linemen for 10 of the season’s initial 11 games. But that run reached its end. With left tackle Will Campbell on injured reserve due to a knee injury and left guard Jared Wilson ruled out due to an ankle injury, a new combination was unlocked for Monday.

Without the rookies from LSU and Georgia, New England turned to 2024 starters Vederian Lowe and Ben Brown on the blindside. And while center Garrett Bradbury became a late addition to the questionable list because of an illness, the ironman of 778 offensive snaps remained next to right guard Mike Onwenu and right tackle Morgan Moses.

The Giants went on to notch three sacks during the visit to Foxborough. The latest No. 3 overall pick, Abdul Carter, got the first for no loss to force a punt. Zaire Barnes and Dane Belton also got in the column for New York.

Rookie swing tackle Marcus Bryant would be a healthy inactive in favor of recent 53-man roster addition Thayer Munford Jr., who reported as an eligible tight end in jumbo sets.

Backfield hits the century mark against NFL’s 32nd run defense

New York’s defense headed into Monday allowing an NFL-worst 157.2 rushing yards per game and 5.9 yards per carry. Behind a reconfigured offensive line, New England’s running backs combined to hit 107 yards on the ground while averaging 4.65 yards per carry.

Rhamondre Stevenson, who missed three games with a toe injury before easing back last week, regained the starting reins. The veteran lowered the pads and turned 12 handoffs into 40 yards while also chipping in 40 yards as a receiver. TreVeyon Henderson spelled him with wind in his sails. The No. 38 overall pick out of Ohio State posted 86 yards from scrimmage across 14 touches. A slicing, dicing long of 26 was reached in the closing minutes.

Rounding out New England’s backfield, Terrell Jennings returned the game’s opening kickoff 39 yards before heading from the blue medical tent to the locker room to be evaluated for a head injury.

Dart throws for 139 yards as red jerseys zero in

After two games gone, Jaxson Dart cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol ahead of Monday night. The Giants quarterback went 17-of-24 passing for 139 yards with one touchdown in primetime.

Continuing to test the boundaries, the scrambling first-rounder out of Ole Miss would be sacked twice by the throwback Patriots. Captain and sack leader Harold Landry III got the first off the edge. Undrafted free agent Elijah Ponder got the next for his third in a month’s span.

Back-to-back punts were how the game began for the Giants’ offense. But Cover 0, missed tackles and poor angles sent Darius Slayton through the secondary on an in-breaking throw. The veteran wide receiver, who later added a two-point conversion, faced little resistance on what became a 30-yard touchdown.

Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins had kept that scoring drive alive with unnecessary roughness just one play prior, yet bounced back on the next series to deflect a third-and-10 deep shot into the end zone.

New England began in the nickel defense. Carlton Davis III, fresh off critical deflections on the road, continued to have a hand at home. The cornerback room’s eldest statesman broke up a pass intended for tight end Theo Johnson and diagnosed another in the flat to running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. for a loss of three yards on third-and-3.

Durden makes first career start up front

September promotion Cory Durden got the call for his first career start next to Christian Barmore on the interior defensive line. A career-high in snaps followed for a player let go by New York at the 53-man roster deadline. So did tackles after gains of one and none.

The opportunity arrived with four-year, $104 million disruptor Milton Williams on injured reserve and nose tackle Khyiris Tonga scratched 90 minutes before kickoff because of a chest injury. Rookie defensive tackles Joshua Farmer and Eric Gregory were also involved in the rotation on a night that saw the Giants commit to the ground game.

New York’s running backs finished with 104 yards across 22 carries. But the NFC East visitors didn’t get back into the end zone until the final frame got underway. A direct snap on third-and-6 wound up as a 22-yard touchdown run for Devin Singletary.

Jones’ return headlines long night on special teams for Giants

An ankle injury resulted in Brenden Schooler missing his first game since the finale of the 2022 season. But there would be moves made on special teams by another past All-Pro and present Patriots captain.

Marcus Jones, who scored last week at Paycor Stadium on an interception return, broke off a 94-yard punt return down left sideline in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead. It went for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award nominee’s third touchdown of the season. Entering the evening averaging 13.6 yards per punt return in his career, he now finds himself qualified for the top spot league history.

The transitional phase continued to be eventful from there.

A Younghoe Koo field goal was kept off the board before it could be registered as an attempt. Stubbing his cleat into the turf, no contact with the football was made. Instead, the well-traveled Giants kicker would be sacked by well-traveled standard elevation Jeremiah Pharms Jr. for a loss of 13 yards. And as halftime approached, ex-Patriot Gunner Olszewski sustained a helmet-to-helmet collision on a kickoff return and was helped to the sideline. It went in the books as an all-linebacker sequence between a hit by Christian Elliss, a forced fumble by Marte Mapu and a fumble recovery by the aforementioned Ponder.

The reigning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week also had a leg in things. Patriots rookie kicker Andy Borregales converted on 4-of-5 field goals and 3-of-3 extra points versus the Giants. He split the uprights from 22, 30, 28 and 23 yards away. A pull wide left from 45 yards would be in the cards.