New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones did what he hadn’t been doing: he pushed the ball deep, attacking the New Orleans Saints defense with passes that traveled 20+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
It was what New England’s media and fans wanted to see. He’d stayed safe and cautious in the first two weeks of the season. When the Patriots fell behind quickly against New Orleans, New England forced Jones into a situation where he had to move the ball to help the Patriots stay in the game. So after attempting just five passes of 20 yards or more (we’ll call them deep passes from now on) in the first two weeks, he had 12 deep attempts in Week 3.
It wasn’t pretty. His final stats: 1 of 12 with an interception. After three weeks, his stats on deep passes were as follows: 5 of 17 (29.4%) and the interception. He is 76 of 103 (72.8%) for two touchdowns and two interceptions on passes that travel 19 yards or fewer.
Here’s the chart from Week 3.
Jones showed what he could do in the deep game. And it wasn’t much. Not only did he have issues with accuracy, but his pass-catchers were not always on the same page, with receiver Nelson Agholor — who is, in theory, the team’s deep threat — clearly miscommunicating on at least two routes. One of those interceptions led to an interception in the final moments of the game.
The Saints defense is one of the NFL’s best, and the Patriots needed the offensive line and skill players to be at their sharpest and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to be at his most creative. None of that happened. Jones’ first deep-ball-heavy game coincided with incessant breakdowns in pass protection (11 QB hits), multiple drops from his receivers and what seemed like uninspired play designs.
Jones wasn’t set up to succeed. He had to elevate the performance of those around him. The 23-year-old, understandably, couldn’t do that in his third NFL game. That’s why the Patriots have coddled him with the quick passing game as much as they can in the early stages of this season. New England will have to figure out how to better support Jones in these chaotic situations. Quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Patriots’ Week 4 opponent, have a habit of building quick leads.
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