Foxborough, MA — The Patriots cruised into their much-deserved bye week with a 33-15 victory over the Giants at Gillette Stadium on Monday night.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has several phrases that have caught on in the locker room. On Saturday, the Pats coach wore a vest at his press conference that had "no naps" etched into the fabric courtesy of head equipment manager Preston "Stick" Rogers. With the injuries mounting and a late bye week looming, New England could've taken a nap heading into their week off against the Giants.

Instead, the Patriots were the far more energetic team, thumping the Giants in all three phases, including a 94-yard punt return touchdown, a forced fumble on a kickoff, clean pockets for QB Drake Maye (25% pressure rate), and a legal tone-setting hit stick by LB Christian Elliss on Giants QB Jaxson Dart in the first half. New England was flying around the Gillette Stadium field, with some old-school hitting on Monday night, setting up a hat-and-T-shirt game in which the Patriots could clinch the AFC East with a victory over the Bills in Week 15 after their bye.

"I think our guys certainly did. I think our fans did. I think our team did," Vrabel said when asked if the Patriots fed off of Elliss's hit on Dart. "I'm happy to be at the bye. Happy to be where we're at. Continue to improve. We have to finish better, but at least we came out ready to go. We focused on being aggressive and attacking and keeping that mindset, and I think we did."

The other top storyline from the Patriots 10th straight win is Maye, who continues to build an MVP resume by leading the first 11-win team in the NFL this season. Down two starters on the offensive line, the Patriots needed an MVP performance from Maye to get a team that felt in some ways like it was limping into the bye after playing for 13 consecutive weeks. He responded by going 24-of-31 for 282 passing yards and two touchdowns to lead his team to victory. With Week 13 now in the books in the NFL, Maye ranks second among 33 qualified passers in EPA per drop-back behind only Packers QB Jordan Love following another stellar performance vs. the Giants (+0.27).

Before we get to the takeaways, a few minor nitpicks, which are more big-picture in nature, with an eye toward games with bigger stakes. The Patriots red zone offense continued to struggle on Monday night, going 1-for-5, including three drives stalling inside the Giants five-yard line. Vrabel also said the team needs to "finish better," pointing to leaving the door slightly ajar in a two-score game in the fourth quarter. We'll discuss the red-zone inconsistencies over the next two weeks, but, for now, it's time to enjoy another impressive win.

Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots improve to 11-2 with a win over the Giants in Week 13.

1. Play of the Game: Marcus Jones's 94-Yard Punt Return Touchdown in the First Quarter

The Patriots emphasized starting fast against a Giants team that has built several double-digit leads this season, opening the first quarter with 17 straight points to build a commanding lead.

Within that 17-point quarter was another Jones masterpiece on a 94-yard punt return touchdown, his second punt return score of the season. From this perspective, Jones has a good case to be the best punt returner in the history of the NFL, and that's not hyperbole. Obviously, Hall of Famer Devin Hester is a legend, but Jones had the highest yards per punt return average in NFL history (13.6), and then padded that average with 124 yards on three punt returns vs. the Giants (41.3 average). Truly, Jones is one of the best to ever do it.

On Jones's 94-yard touchdown this week, it was surprising to see Giants punter Jamie Gillan punt the ball down the middle of the field short of the goal line, giving Jones a chance to return it. He then went for the first 40 yards or so, getting good downfield blocks from LB Marte Mapu, OLB Caleb Murphy, and CB Miles Battle to spring him. From there, Jones does the rest, breaking a tackle attempt by Gillan to beat the punter, who was the last line of defense.

"My main thing was, 'do not get tackled by the punter.' But I would say also, the field was kind of shrinking, so I was trying to stay up and do my guys right for sure," Jones said

Jones's teammates praised his ability to change games as a punt returner, with WR Stefon Diggs calling Jones an All-Pro caliber player. Fellow defender Christian Gonzalez also added, "As a defense, it's always get the ball to Drake or get the ball to Marcus." For the Patriots, Jones is a game-changer as a returner, and he's a pretty darn good nickel corner as well.

2. QB Drake Maye Continues Adding to His MVP Resume in Win Over the Giants

Although his first-career 300-yard game continues to elude him, most of the metrics are in Maye's corner when it comes to being the MVP frontrunner after 13 weeks.

On Monday night, the Patriots quarterback was once again in complete control, logging zero turnover-worthy plays while piling up several big-time throws against the Giants defense. Along with posting an EPA in the 81st percentile (+0.31), Maye registered a 67.9 total QBR out of 100. Maye is now top-five in the league among quarterbacks in passing yards, total EPA, EPA per drop-back, QBR, and passer rating – an efficiency juggernaut.

Maye began cooking in the first half with an excellent bit of coverage manipulation to hit TE Hunter Henry on the corner route in the Patriots sail concept for 36 yards. The sail concept is when a vertical route clears out the sideline for the deep corner pattern, and the flat (check-down) creates a three-level passing concept. Maye recognizes that the flat corner is trying to split the difference between the corner and check-down, so he throws a pump fake to the flat to get S Tyler Nubin to bite, creating the passing lane to Henry for a huge play.

Later on, Maye put an exclamation point on a dominant first half with a 33-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Kyle Williams. The Giants are man coverage, so Maye attacks the backside of the coverage, which is essentially 1-on-1 on the outside. Williams uses a great release to beat Giants CB Paulson Adebo at the line of scrimmage, and Maye drops a dime in the bucket to give the Patriots a 24-7 lead in the second quarter.

With all due respect to Rams QB Matthew Stafford and others, Maye is the league MVP through Week 13. On Monday night, he elevated a banged-up offensive line and a group of skill players that many pundits felt was limited heading into the season. Now, maybe the scribes undersold the Patriots weapons, but a great quarterback elevates his supporting cast, and Maye has done that better than anyone this season.

With two marquee matchups against the Bills and Ravens on the horizon, Maye has a chance to put himself solidly in front of the pack in the race for NFL MVP.

3. Pats O-Line Delivers Solid Performance vs. Giants Talented Pass Rush

The Patriots offensive line came into Monday night's game down multiple starters, with rookies Will Campbell (knee) and Jared Wilson (ankle) sidelined with injuries, forcing New England to start two new faces on the left side of its offensive line.

Then, news broke pre-game that C Garrett Bradbury was also fighting an illness. Bradbury told reporters that there was never a doubt in his mind that he was playing. Still, their starting center was under the weather, while OT Vederian Lowe and G/C Ben Brown had to slide in for Campbell and Wilson on the left side. All of this, mind you, was going on with a scary Giants pass rush featuring stud pass-rushers Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Dexter Lawrence in town to face the Patriots third different offensive line combination of the season on Monday night.

Despite all that, Maye was only under pressure on 25% of his drop-backs on initial viewing, according to Pro Football Focus – an outstanding effort by the O-Line. Lowe was the only Pats linemen to allow multiple pressures, and he only allowed two while facing Burns and Carter in 26 one-on-one matchups. As for Brown, the Pats left guard only allowed one hurry and was called for a hold in a solid outing.

"The big thing with us was just communication, and I felt like we were on the same page tonight. I felt like we were both talking and knew exactly where we were going. Having all that communication definitely instills some confidence. Just working on that at practice and in the meetings, then translating that onto the field, I thought it went well," Brown told Patriots.com.

Lowe also added that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels emphasizes communicating with your "wingman" as an offensive line, or the blocker lined up next to you on the line. Lowe then added some insight into his approach to slowing down Burns and Carter on Monday night.

"Just getting off the ball. They make a lot of plays just beating guys off the snap, you know, especially Burns and Carter working the edge and then beating guys back inside," Lowe said. "Getting off the snap, staying inside out, allowing Drake to step up, running them by, letting Drake do what he does best."

Obviously, Brown and Lowe deserve the most credit for their performance on Monday night. However, McDaniels and offensive line coaches Doug Marrone, Jason Houghtaling, and Robert Kugler also had the Patriots top backups ready to play when called upon. After losing their two talented rookies in Cincinnati, a Giants pass-rush that is formidable on paper could've taken over the game. Instead, Brown, Lowe, and company stepped up and showed out vs. the Giants.

4. Patriots Defense Starts Fast While Limiting Giants Offense to 15 Points

Another positive development in the win was the Patriots defense forcing a punt on the Giants opening drive, snapping a streak of allowing an opening-drive score in three straight games.

The Patriots defense had allowed six opening-drive touchdowns and nine opening-drive scores, tied for most in the league. On Monday night, New England allowed one first down on New York's opening drive, getting off the field in five plays. Overall, the Giants had only 239 yards of offense and ranked 33rd percentile in expected points added per play (-0.08).

In the first half, the Patriots appeared to want to heat up rookie QB Jaxson Dart, blitzing the Giants quarterback on five of his first eight drop-backs. However, a 30-yard touchdown against an all-out blitz (cover zero) put an end to that, with the Pats only blitzing Dart 13 times total after an early blitz-heavy plan in the first half. After the touchdown to Slayton, Dart was neutralized, finishing the game with only 139 passing yards and a -0.13 EPA per play.

Although the Patriots got burned by blitzing in the first half, the pass defense was mostly in control on Monday night. However, New York ran the ball fairly well, adding to a four-game trend of the Pats run defense taking a step back as injuries mount on the D-Line. New England played without NT Khyiris Tonga (chest) and standout DT Milton Williams (ankle), and the Giants had a 48% rushing success rate, including a 75% late-down success rate.

Again, these are all first-world problems for an 11-win team. Still, the slumping run defense and necessity to blitz to generate pressure without Williams are notable trends worth monitoring.

5. Patriots Rush Offense Breaks Through Late in Matchup vs. the Giants

Coming into Monday night's contest, we highlighted a weakness-on-weakness matchup between the Giants historically bad run defense and the Patriots rush offense.

New York entered the week as the 32nd-ranked run defense in yards per carry (5.9) and expected points added, while New England was 30th in EPA per rush. On Monday night, the Pats finished with -0.10 EPA per rush but had a 44% success rate, with RB TreVeyon Henderson rushing for 67 yards on 11 attempts (6.1 average). Plus, with the Pats leading 30-15 in the fourth quarter, Henderson broke off his biggest run of the night to close out the game.

Late in the fourth quarter, Henderson broke off a 26-yard run on a duo scheme with some nice vision between the tackles. On duo, the back reads the MIKE linebacker through the double-team blocks and then runs away from the linebacker. In this instance, Henderson sees the MIKE play the A-Gap while rookie EDGE Abdul Carter crashes down inside, creating a cutback lane for the speedy rookie to cut to daylight.

Although spreading out the workload is important, Henderson has emerged in the second half of the season as the Patriots most effective back, logging three explosive runs on Monday night.

6. WR Kyle Williams Hits Giants CB Paulson Adebo with a 'Skippity, Pop, Pop' Release

Along with their second-round running back, the Patriots rookie wide receiver is beginning to emerge with his big-play ability, adding another dimension to New England's passing offense.

Williams's role and target share have been somewhat limited in his rookie season, playing behind veterans such as Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, and DeMario Douglas. Some might've started to write off Williams, who was getting limited practice reps with Maye during the week, leading to some poor routes where the rookie wasn't where the Pats QB expected him to be. On Monday night, Williams was right where Maye wanted him on his 33-yard touchdown. Speaking to Patriots.com, Williams broke down the touchdown in the post-game locker room:

"We saw man-to-man. We talked about it during the week that if we get man-to-man, we're going to take advantage of it. Shoutout to Drake for taking the shot, great ball placement. At that point, it was just up to me to make the catch," Williams said. Asked about his route release at the line of scrimmage, Williams added he hit Adebo with a "a little 'skippity, pop, pop,' crediting his basketball background for his release moves.

Although that was his only catch in the game, Williams's sudden release and vertical speed flashed big-time on his touchdown, which is hopefully a sign of things to come for the Patriots.

7. Rookie Elijah Ponder, DT Cory Durden Flash as Pats Build Depth on D-Line

The Patriots would love to get Tonga and Williams back soon, but it has been good to see their depth pieces step up to fill some giant shoes on the defensive line. Ponder registered his third sack in the last four games, while Durden logged two run stuffs with some good dirty work.

"Durden's been playing a lot for us, and we brought him over here from the Giants practice squad, or from the Giants. They let him go. And that game meant a lot to him. They told him he wasn't good enough to play for the Giants, and we thought he was good enough to play for the Patriots. So I'm happy for him. Made some plays and continues to help us," Vrabel said.

Based on their recent performance, the Patriots should be able to lean on Durden and Ponder as rotational pieces when Tonga and Williams return.

8. Near-Perfect Night for the Patriots Special Teams Minus Two Blemishes

When you return a punt for a 94-yard touchdown and force a fumble on a kickoff to put the offense on a short field, the special teams are doing something right. The Patriots easily won the matchup against the Giants, and that was a huge part of the win. However, K Andy Borregales missed a 45-yard field goal, and P Bryce Baringer had a 22-yard punt. Borregales was 4-of-5 on field goals and made all three of his extra points, but the 45-yard miss didn't look right off his foot, while Baringer's short punt was also notable.

Ultimately, the Patriots have a few minor things to clean up during their bye week as they gear up for games against the Bills (Week 15) and Ravens (Week 16). Welcome back to a world where it's about fine-tuning things for hopefully a deep playoff run – it's good to be back.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer