Patriots finish regular season with win over Jets

USA Today Sports photo

The Patriots picked a great time to put one of their most complete games of the season together.

New England wrapped up its regular season with a 31-3 win over the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium, securing the No. 2 seed in the process. The win also marked the team's 500th, the most all-time by an original AFL team.

Tom Brady and the passing offense looked sharp, as the future hall of fame quarterback four touchdown passes and 250 yards on 24-of-33 passing. The defense was also able to stifle rookie quarterback Sam Darnold all afternoon, holding him to just 167 yards through the air and the Jets as a team to 226 yards of total offense.

And on a day where the Pats probably wanted a fast start, that's exactly what they got.

After going three-and-out on their first drive of the game, Brady led a nine-play scoring drive that was capped off by a James White touchdown to make it 7-0. On the play before the touchdown, Brady found Rob Gronkowski for a 14-yard pick up, which is important to note seeing as Gronk did not register a catch against Buffalo last week.

The Jets responded later in the quarter with a Jason Myers 40-yard field goal to make it 7-3.

New England added on to its lead in the second quarter when Brady hit Rex Burkhead deep in the end zone to make it 14-3. On the ensuing Jets possession, Elijah McGuire fumbled and Devin McCourty recovered the ball inside the Jets' 10-yard line. The Jets defense was able to stop the Patriots on the following series, but a roughing the passer penalty gave New England a new set of downs. Brady capitalized by finding Phillip Dorsett in the back right corner of the end zone to make it 21-3.

After trading three-and-outs, the Patriots defense forced another turnover. Deatrich Wise Jr. strip sacked Sam Darnold and Kyle Van Noy ran it back for a touchdown, making it 28-3. Gang Green had an opportunity to put points on the board midway through the quarter but they were stopped on fourth-and-inches in the red zone.

Brady finished his day by throwing his fourth and final touchdown pass to Julian Edelman to make it 38-3. Brian Hoyer came in to finish the game with 2:15 remaining.

The Jets finish the season 4-12 but have a promising future with Darnold under center. They will likely part ways with head coach Todd Bowles, so they will be in the market for a new head coach soon.

The Patriots will have the wild card round off and will play in the divisional round in two weeks at Gillette. The time, date and opponent is TBD.

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