The Patriots entered Sunday afternoon’s big AFC battle with the Browns having won five games with rookie quarterback Mac Jones at the helm.
Three hours later New England had its sixth win of the season in dominant fashion, and make no mistake the 45-7 blowout of Cleveland came very much BECAUSE of Jones.
It not only showed the No. 15 overall pick taking his development to the next level, but it answered what may be the final question had by many a Jones critic. Sure, you can win with Jones but can you win because of him and the plays he’s able to make?
Question answered. You’re damn right you can, this star it is very much still rising.
Jones’s numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet. He completed 18 of 23 throws for 198 yards with three touchdowns and no picks for a 142.1 passer rating.
How he put up those impressively-efficient numbers, though, that’s what was so spectacular.
Jones led the Patriots on three scoring drives of 90-plus yards.
He made a habit – one that’s probably not a great long term plan – of converting in third-and-long situations against the NFL’s No.
3-ranked defense led by league sacks-leader Myles Garrett. At times he made it look easy, too.
He showed pinpoint accuracy when he needed, including throws down the field. There was the pretty 23-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne between Browns defenders at the goal line. Or dropping it in the bucket to Jakobi Meyers for a 26-yard gain on third-and-9.
Jones spread the ball around to seven targets, with five of those guys catching each pass thrown in their individual direction.
It was masterful. It was a sign of things still to come.
It was the stuff that wins more often than not in the NFL, the stuff that any team with true playoff hopes and dreams has to have in its arsenal.
And Bill Belichick’s Patriots now clearly have it, a budding franchise QB who can jumpstart an offense backed up in its own end already trailing 7-0 as was the case against the Browns.
Forty-five points later – 45! -- Cleveland never had a chance. And Jones injected even more hopeful hype into Patriot Nation.
“It was a complete offensive effort,” Belichick downplayed when asked about Jones, though his statement was accurate.
Sure rookie Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for 100 yards, filling in for Damien Harris.
Obviously it helps when your defense not only records another interception to set up a 5-yard touchdown run, but holds the opposition to 0-of-9 third down conversions until late in the fourth quarter while also knocking Baker Mayfield out of the game and tightening up the run defense after the opening Browns’ scoring drive.
But Belichick is a master of motivation. Master of manipulation. He builds his team and players up when they need it, as he did for when the Patriots struggled at times this season. Or he did for Cam Newton nearly all of last season.
When those players are cruising, though, and are held to a higher standard of execution and greatness, that’s when Belichick reins things in.
It’s something he learned at the side of Bill Parcells over the years.
Focusing on the entire offense rather than pumping the tires of his rookie QB is actually Belichick’s way of acknowledging how good the young passer was against the Browns.
Mac’s teammates, well, they’re a little more ready to pass the praise along to their young leader yet again.
“Mac always looks poised,” Bourne said. “I don’t know what it is. He’s driven a different way. He’s wired a different way. He’s just relaxed. I think that’s how we all need to play. He’s not thinking about the next play. He’s not thinking about the last play. He’s thinking of the current play. That mindset can take you far in this league. He’s good at just being in the moment.
“Mac is the leader. So we’re following him. He’s doing a great job.”
Following him to blowout victory in what was supposed to be a tough game.
He indeed did a great job, after week in which many outsiders called Jones a dirty player in light of his grabbing Panthers defensive end Brian Burns’ ankle following a strip sack in last Sunday’s win in Carolina. After some questioned whether Jones was hitting a supposed rookie wall or might be trending toward a typical rookie QB “dumpster fire” type game.
“He focused on football,” Devin McCourty said. “The guy, all he cares about is football. He doesn’t care any outside noise, anything. Obviously they did a good job with him over there at ‘Bama other than just winning national championships. He’s just locked in. And it’s been fun to watch. As rookie he understands the position of playing quarterback and being a leader.
And to me he just takes all that on. He doesn’t skip a beat. I keep saying we’re still trying to get him to have even more fun out there because he’s tough on himself.”
McCourty’s praise came with Jones watching from the side of the Patriots postgame press conference podium. After clearly having fun with his performance, the young QB thanked his safety teammate for the kind words but took his usual tact when he got to the podium himself.
“Overall, great team win and that's how you want to play the game of football,” Jones said, like his coach deflecting the QB praise. “I think it starts with the offensive line, they deserve all the credit in the world. We did hear a lot about obviously Cleveland's front and they have a good front and we have a really good offensive line, and I'm proud of them. And then obviously everyone making the plays that they were supposed to make, they did a great job and that's what happens when you play football like that. You score a lot of points.”
That’s true. But only when you have a really good quarterback pulling it all together. Doing what he needs to do to allow everyone else to … wait for it … do their jobs.
Jones proved against the Browns he can obviously be that guy. The guy to hit teammates in stride, put the ball where only they can make plays, stand tough in the pocket in tough spots and start the snowball rolling toward dominant victory. To look at a long field against a good defense and see opportunity not danger.
For two months the Patriots won more than they lost with Jones.
Sunday afternoon, in maybe their latest, greatest most impressive win of the season they were victorious in curb-stomping fashion BECAUSE of Jones.
His critics and future opponents would have to admit that, even if Belichick wouldn’t say it.