The Patriots needed to put the Steelers away. So they took the ball out of Mac Jones’ hands.
Their continued conservative handling of the second-year passer shows they don't trust him. That’s a much bigger issue than who’s calling plays.
New England capped its 17-14 win over the Steelers Sunday with a bruising 13-play drive that spanned more than six minutes. Jones completed a short pass over the middle to Lil'Jordan Humphrey; otherwise, the Patriots gained all of their yards on the ground. The clincher came when Damien Harris bulldozed through Pittsburgh’s undermanned defense for a 16-yard gain, thanks to excellent blocking from the offensive line.
That’s how the Patriots apparently want to win: punish teams with a power-running game. It worked Sunday, partially due to their great o-line play, and partially due to the Steelers’ ineptitude. They are seemingly afraid to push the ball down field. Mitch Trubisky just dumps it off.
The end result is a lot of screen passes that fall way short of the first-down marker, such as when Trubisky shoveled the ball to Najee Harris on 3rd-and-8 for a gain of two. But the Patriots got the ball back and committed a 3-and-out of their own. Jones couldn’t capitalize.
Statistically, Jones was OK Sunday: 21-of-35 for 252 yards with one touchdown and an interception on another 50/50 ball intended for DeVante Parker. Through two games, Parker has one catch for nine yards, and Jones has thrown two picks on jump balls to the struggling wideout.
Luckily for Jones, the Steelers bailed him out with a couple of crucial mistakes. Cornerback Cameron Sutton dropped an easy interception in the third quarter, and old friend Gunner Olszewski fumbled a punt return on the Patriots’ 20. An unnecessary roughness penalty pushed the Patriots up to their 10-yard line, and they scored on three plays. Harris touched the ball every time.
Jones also received help from Nelson Agholor, who finally made some big contributions. He outmaneuvered cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to grab a 44-yard touchdown that could’ve gone the other way.
Bill Belichick coached like he was trying to minimize the damage. On the Patriots’ first drive — their second straight strong opening sequence — they kicked a 28-yard field goal instead of going for it on 4th-and-2 from the 9. Midway through the fourth, the Patriots punted on 4th-and-2 from Pittsburgh’s 42-yard line. The kick landed into the end zone for a touchback.
The circumstances for Jones aren’t great. The Patriots entrusted their offense to Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, and seem to be moving forward with a banal game plan. On Sunday, they ran almost exclusively out of the shotgun with three wide receivers, and didn’t run a play-action pass until there were five minutes left in the third quarter.
Apparently, they don’t trust Jones to handle much more. There were no signs Sunday of the dynamic, Shanahan-type motion offense they were trying to instal over the summer. Instead, it was back to the basics.
Maybe it’s because they have a basic quarterback.
