10 lessons learned from Patriots vs. Giants in NFL Week 13

The New England Patriots crushed the New York Giants at home on Monday Night Football, winning their 10th game in a row with a final score of 33-15. It was a true team win, with the Patriots playing superior football in all three phases of the game.

Let’s get into our lessons learned from the game.

Christian Elliss was a menace

It was clear that the Patriots came out and played with a physical edge on Monday night. The guy leading that charge was linebacker Christian Elliss.

He had a bone-crunching hit on Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart along the sideline that got a big reaction from Dart’s teammates. He also knocked Gunner Olszewski out of the game with a hard hit on the kickoff team in the late first half, which forced a fumble; it was one of three tackles that he had on special teams. He also had a pass deflection to finish the game, which was very fitting based on how well he played.

Marcus Jones can’t stop making plays

Marcus Jones is now officially the best punt returner of all time, statistically speaking. He entered Monday night with 74 career punt returns, which left him one short of the threshold to be recognized in the official record books. His 75th career punt return was a pretty good one; he took the kick back 94 yards for his third career punt return touchdown and second of the season.

As a consequence of that runback, plus two more returns totaling 30 yards later in the game, Jones is now the all-time leader in career punt return average.

Jones is simply electric, and a threat to take the ball back to the house every time he touches it as either a punt returner or cornerback. Locking him down might end up being one of the best moves the Patriots made in the last few years.

Special teams was a major difference

I mentioned the punt returns by Marcus Jones and the fumble caused by Christian Elliss, but that wasn’t the only edge that the Patriots had on special teams. They also got a good return by Terrell Jennings on the opening kickoff, before he left the game with a head injury.

Andy Borregales also went 4-for-5 on his field goals (even though his miss was pretty bad). The best, and most hilarious play, however, came courtesy of Giants kicker and one-time Patriot Younghoe Koo. While attempting a field goal trailing 17-7 in the second quarter, Koo simply kicked the ground instead of the ball. Their holder had no idea what to do, and was taken down for a loss of 13 yards and a turnover on downs by Jeremiah Pharms Jr.

The Patriots were not perfect in the kicking game — Borregales’ miss plus a Bryce Baringer shank stand out as negatives — but they were still very good. Especially in the playoffs, the Patriots need every edge they can get. Being able to have an edge in multiple facets of the game is, naturally, big.

Bryce Baringer needs to be more consistent

Speaking of Bryce Baringer. Ever since the Patriots drafted him in the sixth round in 2023, he has shown off his impressive leg. He also, however, continued to struggle with consistency — Monday’s 22-yarder in the early second quarter was a prime example of that.

Sometimes, he gets off a booming punt, and makes it next to impossible for the returner to get any yards. Other times, however, he delivers mishits. That type of inconsistency is something that could sink the Patriots in the playoffs, or make it more likely for the team to start looking for some competition next offseason.

Drake Maye continues to make his MVP case

Drake “Drake Maye” Maye continues to impress this season, and with Matthew Stafford turning the ball over three times in a loss to Carolina this weekend might have taken the lead back in the MVP race. Maye finished the night 24-for-31 with 282 passing yards and a pair of passing touchdowns. Both of his touchdowns were thrown perfectly, too.

It’s difficult to imagine making a better pass than the one he threw to Kayshon Boutte for their first-quarter touchdown connection. He put it in a spot where, even though the defender had great coverage, there was simply nothing he could do. Then, he continued to show why he’s one of the best deep ball throwers in the league, when he hit Kyle Williams for a 33-yard TD down the sideline.

He just makes it look so easy.

Actually, one of the things I have been most impressed with is how he makes some of the easy plays. Throwing the ball away instead of throwing it into trouble, like he did when he escaped a possible sack by Brian Burns; making sure to protect himself when running, which he did multiple times while being chased down near the sideline.

Whether or not he wins MVP is immaterial, he’s playing at a level that is good enough to win multiple playoff games. That is what matters more than anything.

The offense spreads the wealth

One of the things about Drake Maye is his willingness to throw the ball to the open player. He showed that again on Monday night, completing passes to eight different receivers. Not only does he like to throw to the open guy, but the receivers themselves get open consistently, and make plays on the ball.

They may not have the true No. 1 receiver that some teams have, but they have multiple guys who have the ability to step up at different times. The offense looks great right now, and having a wide array of options makes it more difficult to stop. That should bode well for them in the playoffs, when depth becomes ultra-important.

Red zone offense is still a problem

The Patriots offense moved the ball at will for the vast majority of Monday’s game, until they got into the red zone. The Patriots went 1-for-5 in the red area again on Monday night and continue having a hard time turning opportunities into touchdowns.

Luckily, Andy Borregales has done a nice job in converting his field goals, so they haven’t come up totally empty-handed, but they really need to start turning those red zone trips into touchdowns. In games like Monday night against a team like the Giants, it’s not something that ends up costing the Patriots, but, in the playoffs, against better competition, it’s something that could certainly come back to bite them.

Depth linemen step up

The Patriots were missing two core players from both the offensive and defensive lines, and so they had to rely on the depth they have at those positions. On offensive, both Vederian Lowe and Ben Brown played well, and did a nice job both protecting Drake Maye and opening up some running lanes for both Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.

With both Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga out on the defense line, the Patriots were able to get contributions from Joshua Farmer, Jeremiah Pharms Jr, Elijah Ponder, and former Giant Corey Durden. Solid play from the backups at these positions was big on Monday, and the Patriots’ ability to control the line, on both sides, for most of the night, is a big reason why they were able to win so convincingly.

Jaxson Dart’s play style is not sustainable

Looking briefly over to the other side of the field, the New York Giants.

Jaxson Dart is an exciting rookie quarterback, and has the ability to make some sensational plays. He also has a tendency to put his body in danger. Look no further than Christian Elliss’ second-quarter hit: Dart stayed up on the sideline and got absolutely crushed by Elliss. It was an unnecessary play by the young passer; he should have simply stepped out of bounds a few yards earlier to prevent the big collision he took.

He also waited too long to go down and almost took a big shot from Harold Landry earlier in the game. Landry made a nice play to avoid hitting him, but it was closer than it needed to be. I’m still not sure if he can be a franchise QB, but I do know that, if he doesn’t do a better job protecting himself, he’s never going to be healthy long enough for the Giants to figure out if he can be.

They need the bye week

The Patriots are heading into their bye week off of a 10-game winning streak, and with their two hardest remaining games looming right after.

Mostly, it is an opportunity for players to get healthy, and to take a little bit of a breather after playing 13 straight games to start the season. The hope is that the momentum continues when they come back off the bye, because they have a real chance to get the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Additionally, they will have something to look forward to when they come off the bye, because, assuming the Bills win next weekend, the Patriots have a chance to clinch the AFC East with a win over Buffalo in Week 15.