The Morning After: Patriots finally in rhythm heading into bye week
The New England Patriots lassoed the Indianapolis Colts 26-3 in a dominating defensive performance. Life was miserable for Colts QB Sam Ehlinger as the Patriots sacked him nine times and forced an interception.
The Colts couldn’t get anything going with only 121 yards of total offense in a brutal road loss. The Patriots have improved to 5-4 with this win, and things are finally starting to look up.
Or are they?
It has been difficult for the Patriots offense to find any sort of consistency or rhythm with new play-callers and Mac Jones’ health this season, thus far. This week was only Jones’ fifth outing, and I thought he and the offense started to click late in the game.
The thing with Jones and any young quarterback is that they need to play with confidence and to get into a rhythm. It is extremely hard to do that when you change schemes and overhaul the offensive line in a year where the quarterback is forced to sit out for extended periods of time with a high ankle sprain.
Jones is back, and the goal is to continuously build each week. This week was a start, as Jones played turnover-free football and started to make correct reads, which is something he was struggling to do in his limited time on the field.
Patriots pass rush dominates again
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Matthew Judon continued his dominating streak with a three-sack performance, bringing his total to 11.5 sacks on the season, which is one short of his career-high from last year and the current lead in the NFL.
Josh Uche has started to come on as a situational pass-rusher alongside Judon as he found himself with three sacks as well.
The Patriots have been proving themselves week in and week out as one of the best defenses in the league, and it has to do with their 32 team sacks, which is good for second in the NFL, along with their 149 pressures on the season so far. It has all contributed to their success.
Mac Jones back on track
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Mac Jones was back in command and was tactical in his approach. He limited turnovers and didn’t make too may cringe-worthy throws this week, an improvement for the second-year quarterback who was entering this week with a three-touchdown-to-seven-interception ratio.
Taking a look at Jones’ spray chart by NFL Next Gen Stats, he distributed the ball well and managed to take what the Colts’ above average defense gave him. The offense started to string together some positive drives in the second half, and Jones looked like he was regaining confidence and control, which was obviously a welcome sight.
Based on the eye test, things are pointing up, and Jones is making good reads like he was doing all 2021. There is a long season ahead with the Patriots facing the second toughest remaining schedule. But things are heating up in the AFC East, and the Patriots are far from out of it.
Their DNA has always been defense and special teams, even with Tom Brady. As the season rolls on and the defense continues their surge, Jones should have an easier time trying to get back into rhythm and not need to rely on his arm to do it all, which is something he struggled with during the beginning of the season.
O-Line inconsistencies
The Patriots offensive line started the season rough, and then they started to string things together. But the last few weeks have been very shaky.
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Things have been so bad that rookie first-round draft pick Cole Strange was benched for Isaiah Wynn for an extended period of time. Although Strange has had an up and down season, the entire line has been inconsistent with the only bright spots being Mike Onwenu and David Andrews.
Trent Brown has been good, too, but he has been too inconsistent as of late, and it has hurt the offense’s rhythm.
If the Patriots want to go on a run here and capitalize on their strong defense, they’ll need to give Mac Jones more than 1.5 seconds (at least that’s what it looks like) to get the ball out. Hard-to-have plays develop when Jones is consistently forced to check down or out of throws.
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