New England Patriots: 3 bold predictions for Week 3 matchup

New England Patriots Bold Prediction No. 3: Mac Jones has up-and-down day

For the most part, rookie quarterback Mac Jones has been solid in his first two games with the Patriots. He’s kept his mistakes to a minimum, and has put the team in position to win both of their first two games. Sure, he hits the checkdown receiver a bit too often now and then, but he really hasn’t had to take too many shots down field early on in the season, especially after they easily dispatched the New York Jets last week.

It’s interesting though, that Jones had a much better game against a tough Miami Dolphins secondary than he did against a relatively inexperienced Jets secondary. Albeit, Jones didn’t really have to air it out against New York, but he never looked totally comfortable in that game. Hopefully Jones has put that behind him, because the Saints are going to offer him quite a challenge tomorrow afternoon.

The Saints, similar to the Patriots, boast a very deep secondary led by star cornerback Marshon Lattimore and veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins. They feature a number of secondary options, such as Bradley Roby, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Desmond Trufant, that can come in and shut down opposing receivers as well. They will surely throw some looks at Jones that he hasn’t seen before.

Jones will probably be forced to air it out more often than not in this one considering the Saints have one of the better run defenses in the league through two games. How he handles the Saints experienced secondary will be key in determining how this game plays out.

Ultimately, Jones will have an erratic performance. He throws for 250 yards and two touchdowns, but he also throws his first two picks of the season, one of which comes in the red zone. It will ultimately be up to the defense to decide whether or not those interceptions come back to hurt the Pats in this one though.