Categories
Breaking News

QB Mac Jones on Patriots seize control of AFC with win over Bills. Top 3 things we learned from Bills vs. Patriots

QB Mac Jones on Patriots’ windy win against Bills: ‘Just a crazy game’

From the goal posts to the players’ towels hanging from their wastes, everything was blowing every which way on a gusty Monday evening at Highmark Stadium.

 

who is Mac Jones ?

Michael McCorkle “Mac” Jones is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL).

(born September 5, 1998)

He played college football at Alabama, where he set the NCAA season records for passer rating and completion percentage en route to winning the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship as a junior. Jones was selected by the Patriots in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and became their starter at the beginning of his rookie season.

 

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area.

They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is 22 miles (35 km)[5] southwest of downtown Boston.

 

In an AFC East first-place showdown between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills, the wind took on a leading role as it swirled throughout and dictated how the game was played.

Employing a run-first, run-second and run-third approach, the Patriots imposed their game plan and their will upon a wild, wooly and windy night in upstate New York en route to a 14-10 win over the Bills.

Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, the frontrunner in the eyes of many to win AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, attempted just one pass in the first half and two in the second, with his three total attempts accounting for the least amount of passes thrown by a winning quarterback over the last 30 seasons, per NFL Research.

He completed two of them for 19 yards in New England’s seventh straight win, while counterpart Josh Allen completed 15 of 30 for 145 yards and a touchdown in a losing cause.

The wind blew away any hopes of modern-day, pass-happy football and bestowed upon the prime-time stage the opportunity for a winning, old-school approach that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels embraced in victorious fashion.

“They were what they were,” Jones said of the conditions. “For the offensive line to do what they did was incredible, they deserve all the credit in the world. And Josh for calling the plays that he called, knowing the environment. And knowing that, we knew we were going to be able to run the ball. The running backs ran hard; Rhamondre [Stevenson], Damien [Harris] and B [Brandon Bolden]. You couldn’t ask for better effort from those guys. It was just a crazy game to be a part of. We knew if we didn’t turn the ball over, we’d be good. It was just a weird day.”

It was a weird one to say the least.

Bills kicker Tyler Bass had the shortest miss of his career, as his 33-yard attempt blew off into the distance, closer to the fans than three points.

When the wind was with the kickers, kickoffs sailed through the back of the end zone. For Jones and Allen, throwing passes anywhere but short was a futile effort, as Jones’ one incompletion was his only deep attempt (10-plus air yards) and Allen was 3 of 13 for 59 yards and a touchdown on deep passes, per Next Gen Stats.

“Yeah it was difficult, I think one way was probably easier than the other,” Jones said of throwing in the gusty conditions. “I haven’t seen that much wind, probably ever, but it’s just a learning experience.”

While it was a learning experience for the Alabama product, it was a losing effort for a Bills team that had no answer for the Patriots’ rushing approach, which saw New England run the ball an eye-bulging 46 times for 222 yards.

 

Patriots QB Mac Jones speaks after RARE performance against Bills

Hear from Patriots QB Mac Jones after the win over the Bills on Monday Night Football.

5 big takeaways as Patriots seize control of AFC with win over Bills

The Patriots just won in a fashion only they might be capable of winning in, which begs the question: how can anyone stop them when they’re at full strength?

The New England Patriots are the best team in the AFC, and the rest of the conference just has to deal with it.

They proved it on Monday Night Football in a way only they could, knocking off the Buffalo Bills 14-10 in prime time to push their winning streak to seven games and their record to a conference-leading 9-4.

Offensively, New England beat the Bills on the road with a game plan Amos Alonzo Stagg would’ve been proud of, repeatedly throwing themselves against the Bills’ defensive front to the tune of 222 yards rushing on 46 carries.

Mac Jones completed two passes for 19 yards. In the year of our Lord 2021. And the Patriots won.

The Patriots’ conservative approach pays off.

This feels like the kind of thing you might only be able to pull off if you’re Navy, Army or a high-school team that had Derrick Henry on it: win a football game by doing nothing but run the football.

Seriously, though: at one point, the Patriots called 32 consecutive running plays before allowing Jones to throw the football with 6:51 left in the fourth quarter—his first and only pass attempt since his second-quarter throw to Jonnu Smith. Jones threw again on his next play from scrimmage, and that was it.

 

The defense wins the game—again.

After watching the Patriots refuse to let Jones put the ball in the air, watching Allen somehow cut footballs through the whipping winds for seemingly impossible throws felt troubling. Twice in the final quarter, Allen and the Bills’ offense moved the ball with disconcerting ease into the red zone. If they scored, it felt like the game would be over.

N’Keal Harry has found himself in his new role.

He might not be doing much in any other phase of the Patriots’ operation, but the former first-round pick sure can block.
Harry once again played an extensive amount on Monday night as essentially an extra tight end on the outside, leading the way for a bevy of runs both inside and outside the tackle box.

Lawrence Guy, Davon Godchaux finally get their chance to shine.

The big men on the offensive side of the football weren’t the only ones who got to be the center of attention for the Patriots.

Players like Godchaux and Guy rarely get praise much praise for their best skill — stopping the run — because of all the emphasis placed on getting after quarterbacks in the passing game. But with the Bills turning heavily to their running game due to unfavorable conditions for throwing, the two interior space-eaters cleaned up on Monday.

Kyle Van Noy keeps making big plays by doing all the little things.

Another day, another quietly dominant performance from Kyle Van Noy.

First, he essentially killed a Bills drive on his own by containing Allen in the pocket, forcing him into the arms of Judon for a minimal gain on a scramble, and then later drawing a holding penalty that wiped away a big pass completion by Allen and all but forced a punt.

 

also read :

 

 

Top 3 things we learned from Bills vs. Patriots | Week 13

Intentional grounding

The Patriots came into Monday night’s game with the 12th ranked rushing attack. Against the Bills, with the wind all but eliminating the passing game, New England dominated on the ground rushing for a season-high 222 yards on 46 carries lifting them to a potentially division-tilting victory over Buffalo.

Through the first half, New England attempted just a single pass attempt, which Mac Jones completed to Jonnu Smith for 12 yards. Their other 23 plays came on the ground to the tune of 149 yards for a 6.5 yards per carry average.

On a day when Buffalo’s defense knew what was coming their effectiveness in neutralizing it lacked consistency.

Red zone inefficiencies resurface

Despite some of the team’s up and down play over the last seven weeks when they’ve alternated between wins and losses, it appeared some of their red zone issues had been cleared up. Through their last three games, Buffalo’s offense had reached the end zone on 10 of their last 13 red zone possessions coming into their Monday night game with New England.

But in a wind-swept game in Orchard Park, Buffalo scored a single touchdown on four trips inside the Patriots 20-yard line, and it ultimately cost them the game.

“I think it’s just the familiar topic of shooting ourselves in the foot at inopportune times. We just seem to tend to do it at the absolute worst time. So, for us, there’s no finger pointing. I think if you ask everyone on this team, there’s plenty that they could have done to come out with a win, which we didn’t do.”


Division streak ends

The Bills squandered their opportunity to seize an inside track to the AFC East title on Monday night with the loss as they dropped their first division game in almost two calendar years. Their last divisional defeat came at the hands of the New York Jets in the season finale in 2019 (13-6), when Buffalo chose to rest starters, unable to improve their Wild Card seeding for the postseason.

In 2020, Buffalo ran the table, sweeping the division with a 6-0 record. They then won their first three division games of the 2021 campaign with victories over Miami (twice) and the Jets.

And while the Bills division winning streak ends at nine games, one short of the team record of 10 set in 1990-91, the loss could prove costly.

New England (9-4) is alone atop the AFC East with the Bills now a game and a half back at 7-5. Their division record (3-1) is just a half game better than the Patriots (3-2).