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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Patriots managed just one touchdown in Sunday’s grind-it-out victory over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
It was scored by a third-string tight end who spent all spring and summer with the Indianapolis Colts.
Pharaoh Brown was the last person New England fans expected to be spiking the ball in the end zone during their team’s first victory of the 2023 season. Certainly, no one saw him racing 58 yards through the Jets’ defense for the Patriots’ longest offensive touchdown in nearly two years.
No one outside of the Patriots’ locker room, that is. Speaking after the 15-10 victory, Brown and quarterback Mac Jones both said they weren’t at all surprised their second-quarter hookup went for six.
“Surprised?” Brown said. “No, I wasn’t surprised.”
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Why not? Because the Patriots had prepared to attack New York with that exact play call. Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien frequently utilized heavy formations in the opening quarter as part of a run-heavy game plan, with Brown either playing as a third tight end or moonlighting as a fullback.
Then, on the fourth play of New England’s fourth possession, O’Brien dialed up a play-action shot play. Jones lined up under center, faked a handoff to Rhamondre Stevenson, then turned upfield and hit a wide-open Brown up the right seam.
Brown, who had 5 yards of separation from the nearest Jets defender, caught the ball in stride around the 40-yard line and did the rest himself, outrunning a half-dozen would-be tacklers and diving across the goal line.
“We had some great running plays that we were doing (that gained) 5, 6 yards,” said Brown, who signed with the Patriots just before the season. “It was a great freaking sell by the line with the play action. They bit, Mac threw a great ball and that was just kind of how it developed. I think it was a testament to how we were running the ball early on.”
It was Brown’s first catch in a Patriots uniform and his first touchdown since 2020, when he was playing under O’Brien with the Houston Texans. The 58 yards it spanned were more than he’d amassed in all but one of his 57 career games entering Sunday. He caught another pass in the third quarter to finish with a career-high 71 yards on two targets.
“It was just a little play-action play,” Jones said. “We kind of knew it was going to work, and he made a great catch. We worked on that in practice, and it worked in the game, so that’s what we want.”
Jones, unlike Brown, wasn’t willing to share the reason for his confidence.
“I’m going to keep it to myself,” the QB replied when asked why he knew the play would work.
After Jones attempted 54 and 42 passes in Weeks 1 and 2 — narrow losses to Philadelphia and Miami — the Patriots leaned more on the ground game against a stout Jets defense. Their 157 rushing yards on 40 attempts nearly equaled their total from the first two games combined, with Ezekiel Elliott leading the way with 16 carries for 80 yards.
“We wanted to come out and be physical with them, which we did,” Brown said. “We wanted to come out and take care of the ball, which we did. And I wanted to impose my will on them, which we did. I think it was just run game, run game and then play-action, and it kind of opened up. You saw that throughout the game.”