A mostly defensive game coupled with some incredibly bad offense has the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts on the verge of earning honors for the biggest snore-fest of the week.
Mac Jones is still missing throws, Matt Patricia is still calling weird plays and the offensive line is still a complete mess. Fortunately for the Patriots, things are an even bigger mess for the Colts right now, which has led to a 13-0 lead at the half for New England.
But the offensive statistics for both teams are astoundingly bad.
Neither team has over 100 total yards of offense in the first half of the game. At one point in the second quarter, the Colts were minus-seven in passing yards before the Patriots played soft coverage near the end of the half.
Both quarterbacks are getting slammed around like the inside of a pinball machine. Sam Ehlinger was sacked five times, and Jones was thrown to the dirt three times in the half.
Meanwhile, third downs have been seemingly impossible for the Colts to convert with their quarterback under constant pressure. They are 0-for-7 so far on third downs, while the Patriots are 2-for-8 on the chain-moving downs.
Ehlinger is making the second NFL start of his career without star running back Jonathan Taylor in the offensive backfield. The Colts also fired their offensive coordinator before this game.
The Patriots, on the other hand, are riding the coattails of their defense. Jones hasn’t looked great, but he also hasn’t looked bad enough to elicit the Bailey Zappe chants—at least not yet.
