The New England Patriots fell 28-13 to the New Orleans Saints Sunday afternoon, behind three picks thrown by the arm of Mac Jones.
Three straight three-and-outs opened the affair for New England offensively. The Saints grabbed the first points getting into the end-zone on their second drive, although the Pats got a spark of luck as Aldrick Rosas missed a 52-yard field goal in the following drive.
In New England’s first drive that was not a three-and-out ended in a blocked punt, which led to yet another missed kick from Rosas as he shanked a 36-yarder wide to keep it 7-0.
The Saints would receive the ball right back, however, as they picked off Jones and got into the end-zone after just three plays to make it 14-0. New England finally got on the board following the touchdown pass from Jameis Winston, as Nick Folk booted a 45-yard field goal. New Orleans ended the first half with the ball.
On the first play of the second half, Jonnu Smith bobbled a pass from Jones, and it was picked up in the air by Malcolm Jenkins who took it to the house to make it 21-3. Smith had four drops.
From there, the Pats were only able to salvage a field goal and a touchdown. Jones found Kendrick Bourne for a 26-yard score but Jones threw another interception with just under ten seconds left in the affair. New Orleans would find its into the end-zone once more as the final score sat at 28-13.
New England Patriots running back James White carted off
RB James White was carted off the field after a six-yard run that was a first down, as the Patriots back suffered a hip injury in his only touch of the ballgame.
Stats and notes
- Jones was 30-for-51
- Damien Harris had just six carries, eight touches
- The Patriots tallied just 49 rushing yards, just 21 if you take away Jones’ 28 yards on the ground
- Hunter Henry had his first solid outing of the season, making five catches for 36 yards
- Bourne also had his first strong outing as a Patriot — the receiver had six catches 96 yards which included the 26-yard touchdown that was mentioned earlier
- Jakobi Meyers had nine catches for 94 yards
- Smith was targeted six times, only made one catch for four yards — one of his drops led to a crucial interception as mentioned above, and the other one of his drops was also blatant — on two other targets, he had his hands on each balls but could not corral it although it may have not been considered drops
(Photo of Mac Jones by Elsa/Getty Images)