FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The contrast is positively painful if you’re a Jets fan.

Same as it was for the 19 years the Jets were tormented by the Patriots as Tom Brady toyed with their defense while their offense searched in vain for a quarterback.

Six years after Brady left New England, the Patriots have another bona fide star franchise quarterback, and the Jets still do not.

If you’re looking for the difference in the Jets’ 27-14 loss to the Patriots on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium, there it was slapping them in the face.

Drake Maye vs. Justin Fields.

If you’re looking for the difference in the 9-2 Patriots, who lead the NFL in wins, and the 2-8 Jets, there it is.

Maye vs. Fields.

“Give those guys a lot of credit,” Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said. “It is a well-coached team that has a quarterback that’s playing, really, really well.”

Dake Maye attempts a throw during the Patriots’ 27-14 win over the Jets on Nov. 13, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg

Maye, channeling his inner Brady, absolutely carved up the Jets defense, having his way with their depleted secondary.

He finished 25 of 34 for 281 yards and a touchdown.

Fields?

TreVeyon Henderson scores a touchdown during the Patriots’ win over the Jets. Charles Wenzelberg

He wasn’t as anemic as he was last week against the Browns, against whom he managed all of 54 yards passing, completing 6 of 11 attempts.

But Fields, who entered the game having failed to throw for 100 yards in three of the previous four games, simply doesn’t scare any defense with downfield passing, commanding zero respect.

He finished 15 of 26 for 116 yards passing and ran for another 67 yards and a TD on 11 carries.

Justin Fields runs with the ball during the Jets’ loss to the Patriots. Charles Wenzelberg

He played his butt off, and it still wasn’t good enough.

In fairness, there were several big drops, including the failure of newly acquired receiver Adonai Mitchell to haul in a well-thrown bomb by Fields on a key third down.

“There are some good things,” Glenn said of Fields’ performance. “We’ve got to have some guys make some plays for him, too. There are some plays out there that our guys got to make for him.”

When you’re as offensively limited as the Jets and Fields are, everyone around the QB must execute.

It looked promising early in the game, but then slowly unraveled as the night wore on and the Patriots seized control.

The Jets began the game looking like imposters, winning the opening coin toss and aggressively going against the grain by opting to take the first possession.

Glenn was clearly trying to make a statement.

And it worked for a little while as they opened the game with a monstrous 14-play, 72-yard drive that ate the first 8:04 off the clock to take a 7-0 lead.

The drive, on which the Jets made all four third-down conversions, ended in a 5-yard scoring run by Fields.

“That’s what good offense is supposed to look like,” running back said Breece Hall, who had 58 yards rushing but was targeted just twice in the passing game.

The drive featured deft use of Fields’ running ability, with several designed runs and some scrambles that kept the possession alive.

Then the Jets went away from using him in the running game for the rest of the first half.

Glenn later said he wants to be “calculated” with his use of Field running to avoid “putting him in harm’s way.”

The problem is that Fields is simply not a good enough passer to be a winning quarterback.

His only chance at success is using his legs.

The feel-good vibes from the 7-0 lead didn’t last long because the Patriots answered on their first offensive possession, tying the game at 7-7 on the first of two first-half scoring runs by rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson, who scored from 7 yards out.

After a Jets three-and-out on their second possession, the Patriots took a 14-7 lead on another 7-yard Henderson TD run.

Adonai Mitchell fails to catch a pass during the Jets’ loss to the Patriots. Charles Wenzelberg

The Patriots took a 21-7 lead on a 6-yard Maye scoring pass to Henderson, who had all three of New England’s touchdowns, halfway through the third quarter.

The Jets answered with a 22-yard Fields TD pass to newcomer receiver John Metchie III to cut the New England lead to 21-14 with 3:31 remaining in the third.

Patriots safety Craig Woodson fell down, leaving Metchie alone for the easy catch.

The Patriots went up 24-14 on a 44-yard field goal then they put it away thanks to a bad low snap by Jets center Josh Myers that Fields was unable to collect.

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The Patriots recovered at the Jets’ 11-yard line and got a freebie 26-yard field goal out of it for a 27-14 lead with 6:36 remaining.

“That’s on me,” Myers said. “The ball just kind of slipped. That obviously cannot happen. That’s absolutely on me.”

Myers had plenty of help the rest of the night from other players’ gaffes.

“The one thing that really just sticks out is detail,” Glenn said. “That’s a box that we didn’t check off today. I have very high standards for our team in general.”

Those standards were not met on this night.