Mac's interceptions help spark Baltimore's comeback win over Pats
Even with a 7-1 record, New England's coaching staff felt that their offense wasn't playing winning football with fifteen turnovers through eight games, ranking them among the worst in the NFL.
Up a touchdown entering the fourth quarter, it reared it's ugly head. Mac Jones' two interceptions in the fourth quarter gave life to the Baltimore Ravens who were able to complete the 31-24 comeback win over the Patriots on Sunday to hand New England it's second loss of the night.
Following Damien Harris' touchdown to end the third quarter, New England has two chances to put it away as Baltimore would go on back to back three-and-outs but with 9:02 remaining, Jones' inexplicably threw a jump ball to five-foot-seven Rondale Moore in double coverage that was intercepted by Michael Ojemudia as it was badly underthrown.
Two plays later, Lamar Jackson found Marquise Brown for the 56-yard pickup to get the Baltimore fans into the game and the offense rolling, scoring six plays later to tie the game on Jackson's second rushing touchdown of the night.
Jones would throw another interception on the ensuing possession, this time to Marlon Humphrey on 3rd and 13. Former New England Patriot receiver Kenny Golladay caught a crucial third down pass to keep the drive alive, setting up J.K. Dobbins' 10-yard touchdown to take the lead with 2:48 left in the game. Jones would be sacked on 2nd and 10 on the next drive, forcing New England to punt the ball on 3rd and 23.
Baltimore's rushing attack was able to play keep away, twice picking up a first down on 3rd-and-7 and once more on 3rd-and-13 to seal the game away.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[BAL] L. Jackson, 57 Yd run (14:07)
[NE] H. Butker, 43 Yd FG (7:39)
Quarter 2
[BAL] C. Tyree, 20 Yd run (11:34)
[NE] C. Rambo 9 Yd pass from M. Jones (5:57)
[BAL] H. Duplessis, 36 Yd FG (1:30)
Quarter 3
[NE] S. McCormick 6 Yd pass from M. Jones (9:31)
[NE] D. Harris, 1 Yd run (0:49)
Quarter 4
[BAL] L. Jackson, 4 Yd run (5:42)
[BAL] J. Dobbins, 11 Yd run (2:44)
---------------------------------------------------------------- Baltimore Ravens
QB Lamar Jackson: 22 of 31, 254 yards, sacked 3 times, 4 carries, 67 yards, 2 touchdowns
HB J.K. Dobbins: 21 carries, 90 yards, touchdown, 8 receptions, 42 yards
HB Chris Tyree: 4 carries, 37 yards, touchdown
WR Kenny Golladay: 4 receptions, 44 yards
WR Marquise Brown: 3 receptions, 79 yards
TE Mark Andrews: 3 receptions, 43 yards
LB Patrick Queen: 9 tackles, tackle for loss
OLB Odafe Oweh: 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
CB Marlon Humphrey: 6 tackles, interception
DE Jordan Burch: 4 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, sack
CB Michael Ojmudia: 4 tackles, interception
Mac benched in Patriots win over Texans on Monday Night Football
The New England Patriots were cruising their way to a blowout victory over the Houston Texans on primetime heading into their bye week.
Mac Jones then fumbled the ball which was returned for a touchdown, threw two interceptions and New England found themselves in a dog fight once more with Jones being benched in favor of rookie George Abraham who was able to pull off the 34-31 victory on Monday night over the Texans to avoid complete disaster.
Abraham had a fumble of his own on his first day after replacing Jones with the game tied up, losing the ball as he braced for contact on a read option play. It was scooped up by former New England Patriot Jadeveon Clowney at the New England 48-yard line.
After picking up a first down to get the ball on the 38-yard line, a penalty and a sack on 3rd and 19 would kick all hopes of Houston taking the lead with 3:15 left in the game. With his second opportunity, Abraham got off to a hot start with completions of four, eight and fourteen yards to get New England in scoring position. Kenny McIntosh and Damien Harris then ripped off back to back runs of twelve yards to set up Harrison Butker's 26-yard game winning field goal.
Mac Jones and George Abraham did not meet with the media after the game but head coach Mike Tomlin clarified the decision to replace Jones as a situational one.
"Mac is still our starting quarterback," Tomlin told the media, "But the quarterback position is not exempt from the standard that we expect from our players and our goals as a football team which is to win football games. We felt in that moment, I felt in that moment, [Abraham] gave us the best chance to win the game based on the tenor of the game and we went with it, simple as that."
Prior to those interceptions, Jones had completed over eighty percent of his passes. He still finished with a 79 percent completion rate and 268 yards passing.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[NE] K. McIntosh, 4 Yd run (3:18)
Quarter 2
[HOU] A. Mattison, 3 Yd run (13:37)
[NE] D. Harris, 22 Yd run (10:31)
[HOU] J. Rohrwasser, 37 Yd FG (2:46)
[NE] C. Rambo 52 Yd pass from M. Jones (1:52)
[NE] H. Butker, 36 Yd FG (0:33)
[HOU] J. Rohrwasser, 48 Yd FG (0:00)
Quarter 3
[NE] K. Walker III, 1 Yd run (8:07)
[HOU] R. Jones II, 3 Yd run (1:35)
[HOU] R. Lambert, returned fumble 43 Yds -- 2pt (0:00)
Quarter 4
[HOU] J. Rohrwasser, 32 Yd FG (5:49)
[NE] H. Butker, 26 Yd FG (0:00)
---------------------------------------------------------------- Houston Texans
QB Baker Mayfield: 29 of 43, 295 yards, 2 interceptions, sacked 3 times
HB Alexander Mattison: 19 carries, 94 yards, touchdown, 4 receptions, 68 yards
HB Ronald Jones II: 4 carries, 20 yards, touchdown, 5 receptions, 27 yards
TE Will Dissly: 11 receptions, 72 yards
WR D.J. Chark Jr: 4 receptions, 54 yards
WR Quentin Johnston: 3 receptions, 48 yards
WR Brandin Cooks: 2 receptions, 26 yards
S Julian Love: 11 tackles
S Lewis Cine: 10 tackles, tackle for loss
LB Rashaud Lambert: 10 tackles, fumble recovery, touchdown
DT Gervon Dexter: 6 tackles, tackle for loss, forced fumble
CB Desmond King II: 4 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
CB Trent McDuffie: 4 tackles, interception
OLB Justin Rice: 2 tackles, sack, forced fumble
OLB Jadeveon Clowney: 2 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery
New England Patriots brass met with Mac Jones during bye week to ensure support
New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones met with head coach Mike Tomlin, offensive coordinator Marcus Brady and general manager Matt Groh to discuss Jones' future with the team as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
According to Schefter's report, the Patriots front office and coaching staff are still fully invested into Jones as the team's starter despite his recent string of poor performances which led to his benching in the fourth quarter of the Houston Texans game where Jones' three turnovers allowed Houston to tie the game up. It came on the heel of another primetime performance where Jones threw two fourth quarter interceptions to spark the Baltimore Ravens' comeback.
Jones' fifteen interceptions on the season are already the second most of his career, trailing only his 2023 season where he threw nineteen interceptions. During that season, his interception rate was 2.3% compared to 4.3% this season, making Jones on pace to throw for 25 interceptions should he remain the starter and play a full seventeen game this season.
This appears to be the plan currently with Tomlin addressing the media on Monday and confirming that coming out of the bye against Miami, Jones would be the starter and that there isn't a quarterback battle between Jones and rookie George Abraham.
Other news from the bye week:
DT Quinnen Williams 'bullish' on testing free agency
According to NFL Network's Ian Rappaport, the New England Patriots have put negotiations with pro bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams on hold after the Alabama product recently declined a six-year extension in the $100 million range.
Williams is coming off back to back ten-plus sacks seasons but so far this year, he's managed to get to the quarterback just twice in nine games with five tackles for loss. Williams has been thoroughly outplayed by Barmore who has ten tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks who New England locked up last season through 2030 although Williams slightly edge Barmore in the PFF grades.
Patriots to be without top linebackers Marshall and Winfield for few weeks
The Patriots signed veteran linebacker Jarrad Davis to their roster, releasing defensive tackle T.J. Slaton Jr. to make the roster space.
The Davis signing gives New England some depth at linebacker after losing both starting inside linebackers Trez Marshall and Gio Whitfield to shoulder injuries in the fourth quarter that will cause them to miss at least two to three weeks of action.
Marshall and Whitfield lead the team in tackles and tackles for loss with both being in the top five in terms of snaps played with them regularly being the 'green dot' players on defense that call the plays.
New England had previously signed Ja'Whaun Bentley and Jaylon Smith a few weeks ago to the roster so they should be ready to go with both Bentley and Smith having previously played for the team and being familiar with the scheme.
