Marcus Jones sparked New England with a pair of huge punt returns, including one for a touchdown, and quarterback Drake Maye accounted for three touchdowns as the Patriots beat the visiting Carolina Panthers 42-13 on Sunday afternoon at Foxborough, Mass.
Jones set a franchise record with 167 punt return yards on three attempts. Maye threw two touchdowns and added a rushing score against his hometown team.
New England (2-2) didn’t record its second victory last year until Oct. 27.
Maye was 14 for 17 for 203 yards. Hunter Henry and Mack Hollins caught his scoring passes. Stefon Diggs gained 101 receiving yards on six catches.
Trailing 42-6 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Panthers (1-3) were in danger of suffering the most lopsided loss in team history (43 points vs. the Raiders in 2000).
After driving for points on the game’s opening possession, Carolina didn’t score again until backup Andy Dalton’s 2-yard fourth-down pass to Mitchell Evans on the first play following the two-minute warning. Quarterback Bryce Young was 18 for 30 for 150 yards and a touchdown.
Jones returned a punt 87 yards for New England’s first points with 5:34 left in the first quarter. The Patriots also scored on their next three possessions, expanding their lead to 28-6 at halftime.
Maye, on the first snap of the second quarter, and TreVeyon Henderson both scored on 5-yard runs, while Antonio Gibson got into the end zone from 1 yard out.
That last TD drive of the first half covered only 14 yards after Jones’s 61-yard punt return.
To begin the game, the Panthers moved 76 yards, scoring on Young’s 7-yard pass to Tommy Tremble.
The Panthers have trailed by at least 17 points at halftime in all three of their losses.
Carolina’s Ryan Fitzgerald, whose extra-point kick bounced off the upright, missed on a 55-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter.
Maye threw 31 yards to Henry to open the second-half scoring.
The Panthers lost receiver David Moore to an injury on the first play from scrimmage.
–Field Level Media
