Jones throws three TDs in 35-21 win over rival Jets in wild card round
Despite throwing for over 5,000 yards in just his second season, the moniker of being a check-down king has seemingly stuck with New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones.
Already up a touchdown, Jones decided to let it hang before the end of the half and made one of his best and most important throws of his young career on a 47-yard touchdown pass to Charleston Rambo.
The touchdown would end up being one of the deciding factors as New England was able to pull away and hold the New York Jets rally off to win 35-21 on Sunday and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs for the second straight season with Jones.
Following a Rhamondre Stevenson touchdown with 54 seconds left in the first half to give New England the lead, New York opened the ensuing possession with a sixteen yard run by Marlon Mack but Mack would be stopped behind the line of scrimmage on the next play and then a Zach Wilson sack set up 3rd and 25 with 31 seconds left in the game.
New England forced the Jets to punt, using up all of their timeouts to get the ball back on the New England 24-yard line with 19 seconds left. New England appeared content to go into the half up a touchdown and getting the ball back but after Damien Harris ripped off a 10-yard run on the first play and got out of bounds, they gave it again to Harris who this time took it nineteen yards and also got out of bounds.
With nine seconds left in the half, New York was protecting the sidelines and when all three receivers lined up to the short side of the field on Jones' left side, Rambo was able to get behind the defense. Even with Jones underthrowing him, Rambo managed to come back and snatch the football over Bryce Hall.
The Jets made it competitive after forcing a New England punt to open the second half and then scoring on their next possession but after forcing another New England punt, Wilson would be intercepted by Devin McCourty which helped set up the Jonnu Smith touchdown catch on fourth down to extend the lead back to fourteen.
New York quickly cut back into it thanks to a 40-yard pick up from Corey Davis which led to Hayden Hurst' 21-yard catch and run touchdown where he broke multiple tackles to reach the endzone.
Both teams swapped punts and a missed kick from New England before Jones found his other tight end, Hunter Henry, for a sixteen-yard touchdown with 4:16 left to help put the game on ice.
Wilson would lead another twelve play drive that got all the way to the New England four-yard line but threw incompletions on back to back plays to turn it over on downs.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[NYJ] C. Godwin 37 Yd pass from Z. Wilson (2:33)
Quarter 2
[NE] D. Harris, 13 Yd run (7:47)
[NE] R. Stevenson, 4 Yd run (0:54)
[NE] C. Rambo 47 Yd pass from M. Jones (0:02)
Quarter 3
[NYJ] Z. Horvath, 4 Yd run (9:09)
[NE] J. Smith 3 Yd pass from M. Jones (5:18)
[NYJ] H. Hurst 21 Yd pass from Z. Wilson (2:28)
Quarter 4
[NE] H. Henry 16 Yd pass from M. Jones (4:09)
---------------------------------------------------------------- New England Patriots
QB Mac Jones: 24 of 36, 314 yards, 3 touchdowns, interception, sacked once.
HB Damien Harris: 20 carries, 93 yards, touchdown.
HB Rhamondre Stevenson: 13 carries, 78 yards, touchdown.
HB James White: 6 carries, 6 yards, 7 receptions, 46 yards.
WR Jakobi Meyers: 7 receptions, 132 yards.
TE Hunter Henry: 3 receptions, 29 yards, touchdown.
TE Jonnu Smith: 3 receptions, 23 yards, touchdown.
WR Charleston Rambo: 1 receptions, 47 yards, touchdown.
LT Wynn: 90.4 PFF grade | LG Onwenu: 95.5 PFF grade | C Andrews : 75.4 PFF grade | RG Ford: 73.5 PFF grade | RT Brown: 87.4 PFF grade
CB Roger McCreary: 8 tackles, PBU (67.0 PFF grade)
S Devin McCourty: 7 tackles, interception (88.3 PFF grade)
IDL Henry Anderson: 2 tackles, tackle for loss, sack (100 PFF grade)
EDGE Josh Uche: 1 tackle, tackle for loss, sack (84.5 PFF grade)
IDL Davon Godchaux: 1 tackle, tackle for loss, sack (70.1 PFF grade)
NFL Wild Card Results
NE 35 - NYJ 21 | SF 35 - NO 25 | CLE 23 - BAL 17
WAS 21 - SEA 16 | JAX 41 - LV 35 | CHI 35 - DAL 21
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- NFL Divisional Round Schedule
Jacksonville Jaguars (11-7) at Kansas City Chiefs (14-3)
San Francisco 49ers (9-9) at Green Bay Packers (12-5)
Cleveland Browns (12-6) at New England Patriots (12-6)
Washington Football Team (10-8) at Chicago Bears (11-7)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week
QB Lamar Jackson (BAL): 23 of 33, 251 yards, 2 touchdowns.
S Karl Joseph (LV): 9 tackles, interception.
QB Justin Fields (CHI): 27 of 34, 337 yards, 2 touchdowns.
LB Jordan Davis (WAS): 11 tackles, interception.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Playoff Injuries
T Terron Armstead (LAC): Season (knee)
HB Clyde Edwards-Helaire (KC): 1 week (elbow)
C Chase Roullier (WAS): Season (non-football)
DE Arik Armstead (SF): 1 week (quad)
TE George Kittle (SF): 1 week (knee)
LB Fred Warner (SF): 1 week (elbow)
HB James Robinson (JAX): 2 weeks (toe)
OLB Matthew Judon (NE): 2 weeks (groin)
C David Andrews (NE): 3 weeks (thumb)
OLB Chase Winovich (NE): 3 weeks (ribs)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Transactions
None
Browns and Patriots battle to final play as Cleveland reaches AFC Championship Game
Charleston Rambo took a deep breath and got ready to run as fast as he could while Mac Jones tried throwing it as far as he could.
It just wasn't far enough as Denzel Ward intercepted the pass, sealing New England's fate and sending Cleveland to their first AFC Championship Game since 1989 with their 24-21 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.
New England had three different opportunities late in the game to overtake the lead but couldn't get it done, getting as close as the Cleveland 40-yard line with 1:26 left in the game, down three points before Jakobi Meyers fumbled the ball.
On the play before, Meyers had caught a pass to convert a 4th and 10 and with a shove out of bounds by the nearest Cleveland defender, tacked on another fifteen yards to put New England within striking distance.
It was a game of rallies, starting in the third quarter when it was New England's Roger McCreary who intercepted Baker Mayfield when Cleveland was up 10-6 and driving with 3:10 left in the third quarter.
McCreary's interception would lead to a nineteen play, 95-yard drive that took over nine minutes and had New England convert four different third or fourth downs to keep the drive alive before Jones found Meyers across the middle for a two-yard touchdown to take the lead.
Cleveland responded right away with a thirteen yard pick up by Jarvis Landry and then David Njoku got behind Dont'a Hightower to pick up seventy-six yards, putting the ball on the two-yard line for Andy Janovich to run it in and retake the 17-13 lead with 6:41 left in the game.
All seemed lost for New England after their three and out lead to a 43-yard touchdown by Nick Chubb which was aided by a questionable illegal contact penalty on Adrian Phillips two plays before when Mayfield was sacked.
With Cleveland's lead extended to eleven with three minutes remaining, New England had to go for it on 4th and 1 from their own 34-yard line when Rhamondre Stevenson somehow found space and for the first time all game, exploded for a 66-yard touchdown run. Jones would connect with Rambo on the two-point conversion to make it a two point game.
Even after Chubb picked up 22-yards on the first play from scrimmage, Cleveland chose to pass the ball three straight times, with two of them being incomplete and allowing New England to get the ball back without having to use any of its timeouts.
The drive started rough for the Patriots with three straight incompletions including a drop by Rambo. On 4th and 10, Jones found Meyers who was hit out of bounds late and extra yards were added. It wouldn't matter as Meyers fumbled on the next play.
New England would get the ball back after stopping Chubb on back to back plays and sacking Mayfield but with no timeouts left and on their own 12-yard line on 4th and 15, Jones' heave down the field would be intercepted by Ward.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[NE] Q. Nordin, 19 Yd FG (6:09)
