Patriots

sive player of the week.

“Well, the quarterback makes a big difference,” Belichick said. “They’ve gotten other players back on both sides of the ball. Coach Gase had the bye week and probably had an opportunity to get some things reworked. That was obvious in the Dallas game that their execution and some of the things they were doing they were just more efficient at and looked better doing them.”

It was a big boost for what had been a badly struggling Jets offense. Darnold’s day was highlighted by his 92- yard touchdown throw to Robby Anderson, the longest offensive play in the NFL this

season and the second-longest in franchise history.

Now, Darnold and the Jets hope to use that momentum to get something going against the Patriots’ top- ranked defense at MetLife Stadium in a prime- time showdown. New York is also expecting linebacker C. J. Mosley, sidelined since injuring his groin in the season opener, to return Monday night.

“You’ve got to continue to grind,” Darnold said. “We know that after a good win, you’ve got to come right back in here because we got a tough one Monday night against the Pats. We know what our job is, we’ve just got to come in and get back to work.”

The Patriots are off to a 6- 0 start for the fourth time in team history, with a chance to get to 7- 0 for just the third time. They

also have a chance to sweep the two-game regular-season series against the Jets for the fourth straight year.

Brady is 28-6 against the Jets in the regular season, including seven straight wins. He’s also 16-7 in Monday night games, including 2- 0 against New York. Meanwhile, Belichick is 18-8 on Monday nights — but just 9-7 in those games on the road.

“Monday night is always a high-energy game,” Belichick said. “We’ll point to that and know it’s always tough downthere in NewYork. So, we need to have a goodweek here and be ready to go.”

Here are some other things to know for the latest Patriots- Jets showdown:

BEEN A WHILE The Jets and Patriots play on a Monday night for the eighth time, and New

York leads those matchups 4-3.

The previous time the AFC East rivals squared off on “Monday Night Football” was in 2010, when New England cruised to a 45-3 victory.

It’s also the first time the Patriots are playing a Monday night game on the road against the Jets since 2005, when they won 31-21.

THIRD-DOWN DOMINANCE

The Patriots entered Week 7 allowing a leaguelow eight points per game. One of the reasons is how stingy their defense has been on third down.

New England has held teams to an NFL-low 10 of 73 (13.7 percent) conversion rate in those situations. The fewest third downs allowed in a 16-game season is 49 by the 1991 New Orleans Saints.