New England Patriots: Mac Jones shocked the critics against the Browns
The Browns are a good team, but Mac Jones and the New England Patriots made them look below average with a performance reminiscent of his predecessor.
Ahead of the Sunday matchup between the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns, the pundits on NFL Gameday unanimously picked against Mac Jones and co. Safe to say, it most certainly got a reaction, as evidenced by the final score.
Powered by Jones’s leadership and essentially his ability to avoid the pressure for much of the day, New England went ballistic, resulting in a 45-7 win to move them to 6-4 on the season. How do those predictions look now?
Folks will also recall Panthers’ defensive end Brian Burns wishing fellow NFL defenders “happy hunting” on Jones. While Jones went down twice against Cleveland, once by Myles Garrett, the Patriots got the last laugh. The threat looks soft now.
Jones navigated with ease, going 19-23 for 198 yards and three scores, two of them to free-agent signee Hunter Henry. Don’t be disappointed with the yards. Three touchdowns are good enough, and all of them came at the right time.
Fellow rookie Rhamondre Stevenson led the charge on the ground with 100 yards and two touchdowns. Brian Hoyer would finish the contest with a touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers, his first-ever touchdown catch.
Baker Mayfield could only have wished for the same level of help and production. 11-21 for 73 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, but his day got worse as New England’s Matt Judon took him out of the game on a sack, one of five on the day for Bill Belichick’s unit. Cleveland’s running game did little to help. Without Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the backfield does not feel the same.
The New England Patriots and Mac Jones look like they have returned after a long slumber of disappointment, and that’s bad news for the league.
Last season’s 7-9 year and sluggish start to this year admittedly had several people thinking that the Patriots were just not the same squad again. But, as they have done for so long, they are good at making us eat our words. Sunday was just another example of that.
After Cleveland took a 7-0 lead, Jones turned back into his Alabama self and ran off 38 points before leaving the game and leaving the rest to Hoyer, who put the final seven on the board.
Granted, Jones won’t have blowout victories every game in his career, but given how much he has improved and the chip on his shoulder only growing with every win, it’s a true blessing.
We saw on draft day how Jones felt about being the last quarterback selected in the first round, evidenced by his stoic walk to the podium, almost reminiscent of his head coach’s strides onto the field.
Also, he had a target on his back after the Carolina game. It becomes more apparent by the day that the kid is looking for any motivation to prove his worth; it sounds a lot like his predecessor, doesn’t it? Although, Brady’s Bucs could not handle Washington.
Once again, the Patriots continue to prove why they know what they are doing. Last year looks like a mere hiccup. They once again have a quarterback that they can trust and rely upon. It does not matter that he is a rookie; he just looks like that guy.
Next up for the Patriots are the Falcons, who are coming off a 43-3 loss to Dallas. The green arrow seems to be back for New England, and it could not have come at a better time.