One week after being called “soft” by their head coach, the New England Patriots let their play do the talking.

The Patriots earned a hard-fought 25-22 victory over the New York Jets in Sunday’s Week 8 matchup. 

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson scored the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left to cap off an impressive Jacoby Brissett-led drive. Brissett replaced starting quarterback Drake Maye after the rookie exited in the second quarter with a concussion.

It was far from a perfect day for Jerod Mayo’s group. New England’s wide receivers tallied seven drops, but second-year wideout Kayshon Boutte stepped up when it mattered most with two huge plays to set up Stevenson’s game-winner.

Jets QB Rodgers completed 17 of 28 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Garrett Wilson five times for 113 yards. Breece Hall ran for 80 yards on 16 carries, and Braelon Allen scored on a 2-yard run.

The New York Yankees were supposed to have the advantage in starting pitching. They were supposed to have more power than the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Bronx Bombers, even with their fundamental flaws, were supposed to make this an epic World Series.

Well, two games in, and you wonder if it’s going to be two more games and out. The Dodgers overpowered the Yankees, 4-2, on Saturday, and lead the World Series 2-0, confident when they return back to Los Angeles from New York, they’ll have a World Series trophy in their carry-on luggage.

The Dodgers, who came into the World Series with only three healthy starters, have outpitched the Yankees, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto never giving the Yankees a chance.

Yamamoto completely overwhelmed the Yankees, giving up just one hit in 6⅓ shutout innings, his longest outing since June 7 when he pitched seven shutout innings against these same Yankees.

The only mistake he made was trying to sneak a fastball past Juan Soto  in the third inning, which ended up going 386 feet into the Yankees’ bullpen. Yamamoto left to a raucous standing ovation by the crowd of 52,725.

The outing was even more painful for the Yankees considering they were one of the finalists for Yamamoto’s services when he left Japan last winter, only to be outbid by the Dodgers’ 12-year, $325 million offer.

It’s the 12th Fall Classic meeting between the Dodgers and Yankees, by far the most prolific of any postseason matchup. But this will mark the first meeting between these two teams since 1981. The Dodgers won the championship that season, but the Yankees have won eight of the previous 11 matchups. Since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, they are 2-2 in World Series against New York.

The Dodgers earned home-field advantage throughout the postseason by finishing with 98 wins, the best record in baseball. The Yankees won 94 games, the best record in the American League and third-best record overall, with the 95-win Phillies in between.

The Yankees beat the Guardians in five games in the American League Championship Series, clinching the pennant on Saturday night in Cleveland. It’s the first trip to the World Series for New York since 2009.