However, in addition to the fleeting moments where things went awry, there were also too many smaller details that weren’t right in this game for Jones to have moments where his footwork slipped in the pocket, which led to him losing the ball, moments where the ball was misplaced A little awkward, sometimes hesitant, and Mac still feels limited when it comes to extended plays or second-reaction plays. When you’re a quarterback with Jones’ skill set, the intricacies of the position become more important as he needs to maximize every ounce of physical ability he has to offer. His footwork, upper and lower body mechanics, timing, decision making and ball placement in areas of the field he can access need to be consistent because he’s not like Mahomes or Allen where he can make up for small mistakes with haymakers. At the moment it’s a big task to be almost perfect around the edges.
Several factors beyond the quarterback’s control contributed to Sunday’s loss. We can defer to Belichick for his fourth-down and overall lineup decisions, or for O’Brien’s situational play calls (I didn’t like the third-down screens).
Ultimately, better-than-average quarterbacks find ways to win games, like ones where they have two chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter, and the greats overcome mistakes like early pick-sixes, drops, and the bad breaks that happen to them during a game and a season.
The offense put good things on film in the opening game (see audio breakdown above) that were so good that it’s too early to write this group off after a loss, especially when they’re missing pieces. Still, after giving Mac a pass because of last year’s coaching setup, I vowed this would be a no-excuses zone for Jones in year three. Mac was adequate, but he needs to be sharper on the details or the back and forth will continue.
Here are two other takeaways and quick film notes from the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles on Sunday:
1. How the Patriots defense destroyed Philly’s read-option systems
When you turn on the film after what was perceived as a dominant defensive performance, you often see all the plays the offense left on the field. In other words, it wasn’t as good as it initially seemed because the offense stinks.
While this wasn’t an Eagles offense that was firing on all cylinders early in the season, the Pats defense was solid in this game. Their defensive front won the match against an elite offensive line by pressuring QB Jalen Hurts on over 42 percent of his dropbacks, holding Philly to a 3.9 rushing average, and defensive play-caller Steve Belichick making mixed coverages on the back end to hold Philly -0.15 expected extra points per play (22nd percentile) – that was the performance against a top offense and MVP quarterback that everyone wanted to see.
In addition to some well-timed blitzes that resulted in positive plays for the defense, it was also encouraging to see that the Patriots had answers to the quarterback run game they had planned. The Eagles tried to destroy the Pats on the ground with repeated plays from losses to the Ravens and Bears in the 2022 season, where those two offenses utilized gap-read concepts such as counter-read. Gap reads are downhill systems that typically use pullers as lead blockers rather than zone read plays. In the past, gap runs have caused problems for New England’s two-gapping system.
Last season, the Patriots’ defense ranked 28th in the NFL, allowing 6.1 yards per designed quarterback rush attempt. On Sunday, the Eagles had just 46 yards on 13 carries with an option element for a 3.5-yard average, showing real progress for Belichick’s defense.