Mac Jones and the New England Patriots have had a classic relationship arc. When Bill Belichick broke his historic bond with Tom Brady after the 2019 season, he was adrift. He had unproductive flings with Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham in 2020’s pandemic-disrupted season. But in 2021, Belichick decided to settle down again; he drafted Jones, who had just led Alabama to a national championship, with the 15th pick. Belichick and Jones’ first year together was a vision; Jones wasn’t a star, but he was the most productive rookie quarterback in a class that included Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Trey Lance (yikes) and Zach Wilson (double yikes). The Patriots made it to the playoffs, and though Jones had some limitations, he looked like Belichick’s partner for the long haul.
The situation gradually disintegrated in 2022 as Jones failed to progress, and it looks in tatters 12 weeks into the current season. In a 10-7 loss to a mediocre New York Giants team on Sunday, Belichick benched Jones for the fourth time this season, in favor of Bailey Zappe. The Patriots fell when kicker Chad Ryland missed a 35-yard field goal as time expired, but that may prove to be a long-term victory. Jones’ two interceptions and 89 yards on 12-of-21 passing helped the Patriots drop to 2-9. For the moment, they’re positioned to pick third overall in the 2023 draft. By playing miserably, Jones has given the Patriots a decent shot at drafting a superior successor to him next year.
Jones never had wowing physical ability, but his strength at Alabama was that he distributed the ball in rhythm to an extraordinary group of wide receivers and running backs who went on to their own NFL careers. Jones’ targets in Tuscaloosa included Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith (now a star with the Philadelphia Eagles) and Jaylen Waddle (now an even bigger star with the Miami Dolphins). In Jones’s first year with New England, Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels helped him get along despite a much more paltry receiving corps to lift him up. But McDaniels left for a doomed head coaching opportunity in Las Vegas before Jones’ second pro season, and New England’s receiving group remained underwhelming, and Jones himself regressed after his encouraging rookie season.
The 2023 season has only brought further decline. Jones is of course losing more than ever, but he’s throwing more interceptions, fewer touchdowns, and less productive average passes than ever before. Belichick has not liked his backup, 2022 fourth-round pick Zappe, enough to give him a start yet this season. And the coach is famously prickly and when reporters pry for information about which QB he prefers. But benching Jones, a recent first-round pick, four times in one season says all one needs to know about Belichick’s evaluation. Whether Jones starts going forward or not, quarterbacks who suffer that many benchings do not tend to have enduring partnerships with their coaches.
Jones’ future isn’t the only subject of New England speculation at the moment. Belichick’s status, too, will be up for discussion as long as the most accomplished coach in league history languishes in a failed post-Brady experiment. But no NFL coach would want Jones in his current state, and the Patriots could have a no-brainer this offseason in declining the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie contract. That would cause his deal to expire after next season. His time as the starter could run out much sooner.
MVP of the week
Jalen Hurts, quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles. The best quarterback duel of the season was the one Hurts staged on Sunday in a relentless Philadelphia rainstorm against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Hurts’s passing numbers weren’t exceptional – he completed 18 of 31 passes for 200 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. But he rose to the occasion when it mattered, and he ran for two more touchdowns – including a 12-yard keeper to clinch the game in overtime. Allen was also brilliant in a 37-34 loss, matching Hurts on the ground with two touchdowns (and 81 yards on nine carries) and another 339 and two touchdowns (and a matching interception) through the air. Allen made play after play and appeared unwilling to let the Bills lose. But when Hurts took the ball needing a field goal to tie in overtime and a touchdown to win, he didn’t give Allen the opportunity to punch back.
Video of the week
Bengals force a fumble on the Steelers. Looks like the ball was moving before the runner was down. #PITvsCIN pic.twitter.com/R5If1k0EfO
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) November 26, 2023
In the first-half of the Steelers’ game at the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh tailback Jaylen Warren fumbled the ball as he went to the ground. Diontae Johnson, the Steelers’ talented but inconsistent No 1 wide receiver, was standing nearby but made no effort to go after the loose ball. Johnson told reporters after the game that he didn’t see the fumble. Pittsburgh still won, 16-10, and moved to 7-4 in their first game after firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada. With co-coordinators Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan replacing him, the Steelers cleared the 400-yard plateau for the first time in 59 games – a feat they never once achieved under Canada. The Steelers only scored 16 points on all those yards, but baby steps.
Stat of the week
5-6. The Atlanta Falcons hold that record but somehow lead the NFC South after beating their rivals, the New Orleans Saints, on Sunday in Atlanta. The Falcons played an unusually stable game, gradually building their lead as the afternoon in their 24-15 win. Rookie running back Bijan Robinson, whose light usage by coach Arthur Smith has been a source of irritation for both Falcons fans and fantasy football players, carried 16 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. The Saints also have a 5-6 record, and for the second year in a row, a sub-.500 team may well win the division after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished top with an 8-9 record last season. Time for a ruling that teams with a losing record can’t make the playoffs, even if they win their division?
Elsewhere around the league
-- The Las Vegas Raiders have been a good story under interim head coach Antonio Pierce, who replaced the fired Josh McDaniels earlier in the month and won two of his first three games to keep Vegas within shouting distance of the AFC playoff picture. Sunday was a reality check as Patrick Mahomes brought the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to town. The Raiders fought gamely with backup-turned-starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell, jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, but found themselves outmanned. Mahomes had what for him is a fairly benign game – 27-of-34 passing for 298 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions – but the Chiefs didn’t need anything more in a 31-17 win. KC finished on a 31-3 run to move to 8-3. Vegas fell to 5-7, no longer on the periphery of contention.
-- Remember the Denver Broncos that conceded 70 points to the Miami Dolphins? And fell to 1-5? That would be not these Denver Broncos, who have won five in succession and have 15 takeaways in their last four games. Sunday’s victims were the Cleveland Browns, who lost another quarterback to injury – this time it was Dorian Thompson-Robinson with a concussion. Myles Garrett, perhaps the best player in the league this season, was also injured and the defensive end said after the game that he had felt a “pop” in his shoulder – he will undergo an MRI on Monday.
-- The Broncos are now 6-5 and contending for a wildcard spot in the AFC. But the team occupying the final wildcard place at the moment are … the Indianapolis Colts? Gardner Minshew’s team have rarely made the news this season but have kept on grinding out results, although their last three wins have admittedly been against the Patriots, Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers. Then again, their remaining schedule isn’t exactly terrifying either, with games against the Tennessee Titans, Bengals, Steelers, Falcons, Raiders and Houston Texans to come.
-- It’s easy to blame Aaron Rodgers’s absence, Zach Wilson’s ineptitude, Nathaniel Hackett’s playcalling or offensive-line injuries for the fact that the New York Jets offense – 99-yard pick-sixes aside – is unwatchable, the most recent evidence of which came in their 34-13 Black Friday loss to the Dolphins. But who decided to draft Wilson in the first place, failed to get a decent backup for a 39-year-old quarterback, caved to Rodgers’s request to sign has-been Packers and neglected to build a decent o-line? The rot starts at the top for the Jets, a depressing reality for their fans.
-- The 9-3 Baltimore Ravens have the best record in the AFC after a 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football. The hot seat got that little bit toastier for Brandon Staley as the 4-7 Chargers stumbled again.
