“He said it wasn’t a soft victory. Yes. He joked about it,” defensive end Keion White said.

The Jets are the biggest train wreck in the NFL today at 2-6 like the Patriots, but you have to be impressed with the Patriots' ability to hang tough and come through in the fourth quarter while playing with backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett. After falling behind twice in the second half, they had every reason to push again, but the players showed a lot of fortitude and mental strength as the game progressed. With the game on the line, the Patriots won at the line of scrimmage and made the play.

In the grand scheme of things, the win shouldn't do much more than hurt the Patriots' chances of getting the No. 1 draft pick. On Sunday, however, what was far more important was ending a six-game losing streak and not being defeated by the Jets for the first time since 2000. When the final whistle blew, several players on the field celebrated as if they had won the Super Bowl. The postgame locker room was even louder, and Patriots fans began chanting, “The Yankees suck!” as they left Gillette Stadium. For a few moments the glory days were back.

“Really proud of the guys,” Mayo said. “There was a lot of noise and a lot of chatter. I really appreciate her attitude and professionalism in everyday life.”

Only time will tell whether Sunday's win can serve as a building block for the rest of the season or is just an anomaly against a lazy team. Either way, the Patriots answered Mayo's challenge.

⋅ You have to feel great for Brissett, who came on in the second quarter when Drake Maye left with a concussion. Brissett completed 15 of 24 passes for 132 yards, including 90 in the fourth quarter when he led the Patriots 61 yards for a field goal and 70 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

The Patriots shouldn't have a quarterback controversy if Maye is healthy enough to play; He is clearly their best quarterback. But Brissett proved his worth by coming into the game cold and leading a win against a decent Jets defense. He would be a great asset to a playoff team.

⋅ Maye's concussion will likely spark debate about whether he should have been in the lineup or stayed out of harm's way as a rookie, but you won't see any criticism here. It's unfortunate that Maye suffered a bump on Sunday, but that's football.

Having seen Maye for three games now, he clearly gives them the best chance of winning. He was dynamic in his short stint on Sunday, throwing for just 23 yards but managing three big runs for 46 yards and a touchdown. Maye is the most exciting thing the Patriots have and looked like he was in for a big day before his concussion.

⋅ As for the Patriots' “softness” quotient: They only ran for 3.6 yards per carry; Take out Maye's scrambles and the running backs rush 25 times for 54 yards (2.16 per attempt). The run defense was better, holding the Jets to 4.0 yards per carry and just 3.0 yards per carry in the second half. Beyond Xavier Gipson's 40-yard return, kick coverage was good, and the team responded with a 62-yard punt return by Marcus Jones.

⋅ This decision will probably go down, but it was really disappointing to see Mayo kick a 23-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter instead of playing on four downs. Oddly enough, the Patriots didn't have Rhamondre Stevenson in the game on the first two downs and then threw a low-percentage fade pass before electing to kick.

The field goal gave the Patriots a 17-16 lead, but they had the opportunity to tie the game with a touchdown and instead practiced anxiously. The Jets then marched 70 yards for a touchdown to retake the lead.

Someone needs to challenge Mayo for not training gently.

⋅ A wide receiver group that has complained a lot lately about not getting the ball hasn't done much to help their cause. Tyquan Thornton dropped a catchable deep ball in the second quarter. Kayshon Boutte dropped a third-down pass over the middle on the same drive. Kendrick Bourne dropped a ball over the middle in the third quarter. Midway through the fourth quarter, Boutte suffered another drop even though Brissett's pass was behind him (and Boutte made up for it with two hard catches for 38 yards on the final drive). And Bourne couldn't get a deep ball late in the fourth quarter.

Overall, the wide receivers finished the game with seven catches on 16 targets for 78 yards. The only reliable pass catchers were tight end Hunter Henry (5 of 6 for 45 yards) and Stevenson (3 of 3 for 17 yards).

The defense also got involved in the drops, with safety Jaylinn Hawkins throwing off an interception late in the third quarter that fell right into his hands.

⋅ The Jets' signing of Davante Adams made life difficult for the Patriots' secondary. In Week 3, Christian Gonzalez shadowed Garrett Wilson for most of the game, holding him to five catches for 33 yards (and a touchdown). But Gonzalez had to cover Adams for most of Sunday, and Marcus Jones struggled to cover Wilson, allowing catches of 22, 26, 27 and 35 yards. That's the downside of being a 5-foot-8 cornerback.

⋅ Aaron Rodgers clearly wasn't himself with knee and hamstring injuries. He threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns, but didn't throw once, could barely move around the pocket and often threw on his back foot. He looked almost 40 years old.

“Hall of Fame quarterback. I hate to see him go out like that,” Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux said. “I could run him over and catch him. He doesn't look mobile at all. That’s good for us.”

⋅ The jets are pretty soft too. They missed an extra point and a 44-yard field goal. They left the big punt return to Jones. They were unable to contain Maye and allowed him to escape in three major battles. They allowed the Patriots, who had the worst offense in the NFL, to drive down the field twice in the fourth quarter to score points. They wasted three timeouts in the first quarter.

And I was really surprised that interim coach Jeff Ulbrich settled for a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter instead of going for it on fourth-and-1 from the Patriots' 11. This kind of tentative coaching won't help Ulbrich land a full-time job.

Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected].