This stat sums up absurdity of Patriots' last-second win over Jets originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There's winning ugly, and then there's the New England Patriots' 10-3 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.
The Patriots earned their 14th consecutive win over their AFC East rival despite neither team scoring an offensive touchdown. Marcus Jones saved the game from overtime, busting free for an 84-yard punt return touchdown with just five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to seal a dramatic Patriots win.
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How rare was the ending of Sunday's game -- and the game overall? Consider this stat: Patriots-Jets was the first game the NFL Research team could find in which a game's first touchdown was scored on defense or special teams in the final minute of regulation.
Sunday's contest was also the lowest-scoring game of the 2022 season and the first that didn't feature an offensive touchdown. The Jets' offense was horrendously bad, mustering just 103 yards of total offense and just two total yards in the second half. Quarterback Zach Wilson completed nine passes and New York punted 10 times.
While the Jets entered with a better record, this would have been an embarrassing loss for New England based on how poorly the Jets played on offense. Fortunately they have a special teams ace in Marcus Jones, who helped the Patriots make history while moving to 6-4 with seven games remaining.
