He rose from 30 passes per game to 40+ (not counting a Week 17 win over Buffalo in which he only threw eight passes in a glorified exhibition), tripled his touchdown count for the season in a six-game span (from seven to 21), had back to back 400-yard, three-touchdown performances, and led the Pats to a 5-2 finish that still, somehow, ended outside the playoff bracket. There’s a noticeable jump when Belichick took the governor off his passing game engine in Game 10 suddenly Cassel had the green light. Jones will have to deal with the same variance as a rookie. Sometimes the Patriots won in spite of Cassel. A look at the two passers through their first four games of extended action paints a similar picture: He was broken in slowly before eventually settling into more pass-heavy schemes that featured more downfield throws.
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It’s easy to make the comparison to the last accurate, comparatively un-athletic quarterback from a blue-blood college program who got his number called after a short pro runway and won way more games than expected.Ĭassel led New England to 11 wins in 2008 after Brady tore his ACL barely two quarters into the season. He’s rarely had to throw an inexperienced quarterback into the fire for an extended period. He helped mold some potential Brady replacements into usable starters (Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett) and allowed others to play down to their mid- or late-round draft status (Ryan Mallett, Kevin O’Connell, Jarrett Stidham probably).
Jones executed Bill Belichick’s “new QB” playbook excellentlyīill Belichick’s track record of developing quarterbacks in New England is limited, mostly because he had the winningest passer in league history on his roster for two decades. So what’s the verdict? Is Jones, four games into his career the stoic general capable of leading New England out of the wilderness and back to the top of the AFC East? Or is he simply a re-skinned Alex Smith, checking down for four-yard gains and operating an offense that’s doomed if it gets knocked off schedule by a negative play?Īs you can probably figure, he’s a little of both. Tampa would rank second-lowest among all NFL starting QBs this season, beating out only Andy Dalton. Twenty-three of his 40 passes came within five yards of the line of scrimmage. He also only threw one pass that traveled more than 20 yards downfield against a ragged secondary. He drove the Pats into range for a potential game-winning field goal with 57 seconds left - even though we all know giving Brady the ball back with that much time was effectively a death sentence anyway. He threw for 275 yards and a pair of touchdowns despite inclement weather and a patchwork offensive line.
Jones earned widespread praise for keeping New England competitive in its eventual 19-17 loss to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in Week 4.
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When it comes to the Patriots’ quarterback situation, two things can be true:Ī) Mac Jones played with composure to give his team a reasonable chance to beat the reigning NFL champions in a primetime downpourī) An outsized chunk of New England’s biggest passing plays were thrown by a wide receiver
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