Sunday’s game didn’t provide the hoped-for breakthrough for the New England offense under new coordinator Bill O’Brien, but the Patriots avoided an 0-3 start to the 2023 NFL season with a 15-10 victory over the New York Jets.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia made for wet, windy conditions at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“On a day like today, with the wind and the rain, you just got to be very smart and play smart football,” New England quarterback Mac Jones said.

Jones completed 15-of-29 passes for 201 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

For the former Alabama All-American, the most important stat was the one win.

“For sure, that was our goal,” Jones said. “No turnovers – we definitely did that. Offensive line did a great job of keeping me upright. Really proud of those guys and the backs for running hard. When we had to make plays we did, but definitely inconsistent.

“But got to be happy with the win. I mean, that’s all we came here for.”

Jones connected with tight end Pharaoh Brown on a 58-yard pass for New England’s only touchdown of the game with 11:38 left in the first half. It was the second-longest touchdown pass of Jones’ career, behind a 75-yard connection with wide receiver Kendrick Bourne on Oct. 17, 2021.

“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.”

The Patriots got a field goal on their first possession of the second half to take a 13-3 lead, then had as many offensive penalties and first downs for the remainder of the game with four of each.

New England had two chances to run out the clock in the final 2:19, but instead punted twice.

While the Patriots defense held the Jets to 171 yards (less than half of New England’s total of 358) and recorded a safety, New York still was in position to win on a Hail Mary on the game’s final snap.

“I knew today that in the conditions they were going to do a great job stopping the other offense,” Jones said of the Patriots defense. “I was really proud of them because they just kept going out there and doing it to the very last play.

“For me, just put more points on the board, and we’ll do that. Like I said, it was a tough day, but we got the win, and a lot of it was from special teams and defense.”

New England came into Sunday off two losses to open the season – 25-20 to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 10 and 24-17 to the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 17.

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“It’s kind of been like this three weeks in a row for us,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, “so it was good to come out on the good end of it.”

After recording 164 rushing yards in its first two games, New England ran for 157 yards with Ezekiel Elliott gaining 80 on 16 carries and Rhamondre Stevenson picking up 59 on 19 carries.

“The offensive line definitely brought it today,” Jones said. “I think they did a great job. Zeke and Mondre are definitely working well together.”

After avoiding their first 0-3 record since 2000, the Patriots play the Dallas Cowboys in their next game at 3:25 p.m. CDT Oct. 1 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.