Patriots vs. Giants highlights: 6 moments that defined the Pats’ win

The New England Patriots jumped to an early lead on Monday night, and they never looked back. When all was said and done, they found themselves beating the visiting New York Giants 33-15 to improve to 11-2 on the year.

Here is a Patriots-centric view at some of the key moments of the game.

Moment No. 1: Punt return magic

Whereas the Patriots opened the game with a field goal, the Giants were unable to get into scoring range and had to punt to end their first possession of the night. Marcus Jones said, “thank you very much,” and 94 yards later found himself in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown. It also was his second punt return touchdown of the season, further bolstering his case to earn Pro Bowl recognition as both a punt returner and a slot cornerback.

Moment No. 2: Tone-setter

The Giants’ second possession did not go much better than their first. While they did not end up giving up a touchdown at the tail-end of it, they did see their quarterback take a pretty hard hit on a second down scramble attempt: Christian Elliss sent Jaxson Dart flying into his team’s bench area on a physical yet legal tackle. Dart’s teammates were not amused, but the only penalty thrown was against Giants tight end Theo Johnson for unnecessary roughness during the ensuing scuffle.

Moment No. 3: Boutte call

The Patriots capitalized on the Giants’ first punt of the night, and they did the same with the second. While not scoring instantly, they did eventually find the end zone after a five-play, 61-yard drive. Drake Maye and wide receiver Kayshon Boutte capped the series off with a 3-yard scoring connection that saw the quarterback put trust in his wide receiver to come away with the catch. Boutte did just that, hauling in his team-leading sixth TD of the season — and his first from closer than 16 yards out.

Moment No. 4: Turf toe

Tonight on “things you usually don’t see on the football field” is ex-Patriots practice squad member Younghoe Koo. The Giants had a chance to turn it back into a one-possession game midway through the second quarter, but their field goal operation was all out of sorts on a 47-yard try: Koo hit the turf rather than the ball, with holder Jamie Gillan trying to salvage the situation before being tackled for what officially went into the books as a 12-yard Jeremiah Pharms Jr. sack.

Moment No. 5: Going deep

The Patriots were able to capitalize on the Giants’ field goal gaffe. Just five plays later, Drake Maye found rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams down the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown — their second scoring connection of the season and fifth connection overall this year.

The deep touchdown to Williams gave the Patriots a 24-7 lead and also brought out the first “MVP!” chants of the night for quarterback Drake Maye.

Moment No. 6: Trucking along

The second half of Monday’s game was not quite as entertaining as the first, but it still saw some positive moments out of the Patriots — including TreVeyon Henderson showing no signs of slowing down. The second-round rookie finished the game with 67 yards on 11 carries, including a 26-yarder in the fourth quarter that helped the team eventually put the game away for good.