Mac Jones Throws Interceptions -- One Of Which Was Very Ugly -- To Kill Consecutive Patriots Drives
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's been a great season for rookie quarterback Mac Jones. But it was not a nice evening in Indianapolis for him on Saturday.
The rookie quarterback killed the Patriots' chances of scoring before halftime with a brutal interception deep in Colts territory. The Patriots took a 17-0 deficit into halftime. But they got the ball to start the second half, and Jones had the chance to make up for that mistake and get the Patriots on the board.
Instead he threw another pick.
It wasn't pretty. And the Colts eventually won 27-17.
The first one was as bad as it gets. On a third-and-3 at the Colts' 15-yard line, Jones dropped back to pass and looked for Hunter Henry over the middle. The quarterback just did not see Darius Leonard, who read the quarterback's eyes and made what ended up being a very easy interception.
Had that drive ended in a Patriots touchdown, it would have reshaped the whole game. Instead, Mac threw the pick, and the 17-point deficit remained.
Coming out of halftime, the Patriots quickly faced a third-and-1. Jones looked for Brandon Bolden, running an out on the right side. But linebacker Bobby Okereke -- who said this week that the Colts wanted to make the Patriots one-dimensional and see what Jones could do -- had good coverage and picked it off.
Considering Okereke was the one who essentially dared Jones to beat the Colts this week, that one had to sting doubly.
The damage on that was almost mitigated, when the Colts missed their field goal on the ensuing drive. Alas, Brandon King was offside on the kick, giving Michael Badgley a second chance from five yards closer. Badgley made that kick, stretching the lead to 20-0.
On the Patriots' next drive, the offense stayed on the field for a fourth-and-1 play near midfield. Jones panicked a bit and launched a ball deep up the right side for nobody. It fell to the turf, and the Patriots had a turnover on downs, adding to the underwhelming night for Jones.
This was just the second multi-interception game of the year for Jones, and his first sine Week 3 against the Saints. From Week 4-13, Jones threw 14 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 71.6 percent of his passes.
And though Jones maintained the strong completion percentage on Saturday (he was 9-for-13 after the second pick), the turnovers were a killer.
Jones ended up being fairly solid after his picks, and he ended the night with 299 passing yards and two touchdown on 26-for-45 passing. But it was those two picks that really put the offense in a hole, and the Patriots never fully climbed out.
