11 takeaways from Patriots’ primetime victory over Giants on Monday

FOXBOROUGH – What a night at Gillette Stadium.

For the first time since 2022, Monday Night Football came to Foxborough, with the New England Patriots hosting the New York Giants.

Given the number of injuries the Patriots were dealing with, New England lived up to the next-man-up mentality, with each player taking advantage of their opportunities. And it was certainly an action-packed game.

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So let’s move on to the takeaways from the Patriots’ 33-15 win over the Giants:

1. Marcus Jones does it again

After the Giants’ punt on the first drive, Marcus Jones picked up where he left off. The cornerback caught the ball and dodged every New York player, taking it into the end zone for a 94-yard touchdown.

It was his third touchdown this season, with two punt returns and a pick six.

2. Christian Elliss flies Jaxson Dart

After being out for two weeks, the hope was that Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart would better protect himself from big hits. But that wasn’t the case.

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During the first quarter of Monday’s game, Dart held the ball and attempted to run for the first down, trying to stay inbounds despite a large number of Patriots defenders rushing right at him. As a result, Christian Elliss delivered a massive blow that sent Dart out of bounds.

But due to the distance Dart ran, Giants TE Theo Johnson returned fire and was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Meanwhile, the officials did a good job recognizing that it was a free kick, without penalizing Elliss.

3. No Abdul Carter in the first quarter

Giants star rookie Abdul Carter was out in the first quarter of Monday’s game. He finally took the field in the second quarter, recording a zero-yard sack on Maye, but that called into question why he was sidelined.

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According to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, Carter was benched for “missing all or part of a team responsibility,” marking his second time in three games under interim head coach Mike Kafka.

4. An MVP pass from Drake Maye and an impressive effort from Kyle Williams

Maye continues to impress this season and made an incredible pass to rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams in the second quarter. The quarterback threw a perfectly placed ball to Williams, who made a great effort to catch it and go two feet into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown.

Those “MVP” chants at Gillette Stadium only got louder after that.

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5. Giants K Younghoe Koo completely misses football

It was an interesting piece to say the least.

Patriots punter Bryce Baringer punted, giving the Giants prime field position, and Dart put them in field goal position. Younghoe Koo came out to attempt the 47-yard field goal, but no one was prepared for what happened next.

It appeared that Koo completely missed the ball as he tried to kick it, and as a result the play was scored as a 13-yard sack to Jeremiah Pharms.

After the play, the broadcast showed Dart on the sideline, who was seen saying “Oh my God” after that missed field goal attempt.

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6. Red zone struggles continue (at first)

On the Patriots’ first drive, Drake Maye led the team down the field and got them into the red zone with a first-and-goal from the Giants’ six-yard line. But the struggles in the red zone were present again.

Maye handed the ball to TreVeyon Henderson for no gain, then hit the running back for a two-yard pass. Subsequently, the quarterback targeted Diggs in the end zone, but the pass was incomplete and with that, New England was forced to settle for a field goal. Including this drive, the team had made 42 trips to the red zone, but only came away with 23 touchdowns (per Mike Reiss of ESPN).

However, New England responded late in the first quarter when Maye hit Kayshon Boutte for a three-yard touchdown.

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But this problem was present at other points in the game. Specifically in the fourth quarter, the Patriots were forced to settle for a field goal with less than three minutes remaining after Henderson’s run lasted just one yard, followed by an incomplete pass to Hunter Henry, then a two-yard run from Maye.

Ultimately, the Patriots finished 1 of 5 in the red zone.

7. The Patriots finally get an opening stop

They finally did it!

Although they missed some key pieces of defense, the Patriots really lived up to the next-man-up mentality, and they didn’t miss a beat.

The Giants got a first down after Dart hit Darius Slayton for an 11-yard gain. But afterward, Dart was sacked by Harold Landry for a five-yard loss, followed by a quarterback pass to Wan’Dale Robinson for six yards. On the third down conversion, Dart targeted Robinson again, but only got two more yards, forcing a punt.

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8. Christian Elliss leaves everything aside on the field

In addition to his huge hit on Dart, Elliss made another major play that forced a turnover. After Kyle Williams’ touchdown, Andy Borregales threw the ball to Giants returner Gunner Olszewski. As he ran, Elliss made a big tackle that caused the ball to be lost and Elijah Ponder recovered.

9. The Patriots show the Giants how a fourth down conversion is done

The Giants made an interesting decision late in the first half. They initially lined up to go for it on 4th and 1, but that was just an attempt to draw the Patriots offside. Instead, they took a timeout and New York decided to punt him.

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Considering they were down 20 at the time, many wondered why this particular decision was made. And what made things even worse was that on their first drive out of the half, the Giants tried to rush on 4th and 6, and the pass attempt failed, resulting in a turnover on downs.

So, of course, the Patriots had to show them how it’s done a little later, going for it on 4th and 6, where Maye hit Stefon Diggs for 10 yards.

10. Andy Borregales makes history despite an uncertain night

Given the Patriots’ issues in the red zone, kicker Andy Borregales was tasked with adding numerous points to the Patriots’ total. And after his fourth field goal of the night, which was a 23-yard attempt, he officially entered the team’s record book.

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Borregales now has 105 points in his rookie season, which is a new franchise record. It was previously held by Stephen Gostkowski, who finished with 103 points in his freshman year.

However, in addition to making four field goals, Borregales missed his 45-yard attempt, going wide left.

11. Drake Maye almost had his first 300-yard game this season

So close and yet so far.

Drake Maye had an impressive performance against the Giants, but failed to surpass 300 passing yards.

Maye finished 24 of 31 for 282 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.

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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: 11 takeaways from the Patriots’ prime-time win over the Giants