Everything that could go wrong, went wrong in the first half of the New England Patriots’ Week 15 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Patriots were shut out after surrendering 17 points — one touchdown stemmed from a blocked punt. Mac Jones couldn’t get the offense moving until the final minutes of the second quarter, but then he threw his first red zone interception of his career. On the Patriots’ first drive of the second half, Jones threw another interception.
Despite the horrendous start in a hostile environment, along with a 20-0 deficit after his second interception, Jones kept pushing. He had an incredible fourth quarter and nearly led his team to an unlikely comeback victory. The No. 15 pick finished the night throwing 26 of 45 for 299 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
On ESPN’s “NFL Sunday Countdown,” Rex Ryan discussed Jones’ ability to shake off a bad start and lead his team in the comeback attempt.
“I will say this about New England, about your Patriots: Look, I was laughing about the peashooter and all that type of stuff,” Ryan said, transcribed by NESN.” “But, he showed me that in the fourth quarter — that’s one thing he had to answer. Could he bring a team back? He did bring his team back. So, to me, that’s gotta be encouraging as well for the Patriots.”
Jones admitted the Patriots didn’t have a great week of practice and the team knew they started off flat. They’ll need to play much better to beat the Buffalo Bills in Week 16 and this game may give them the fuel to do exactly that.
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