3 Reasons Mac Jones Must Be Benched for Week 7

Mac Jones blew it. Again.

For the third time this season, Jones had a chance to be the hero with the ball in his hands late in the fourth quarter. And for the third time, he failed, taking a devastating safety that sealed the New England Patriots' 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Patriots are now 1-5 with Jones under center this year, and they can't afford to give him another start in Week 7. Here are three reasons why Jones shouldn't start against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

1. He's Too Turnover-Prone

As a quarterback, one of your top priorities needs to be taking care of the football. Throwing interceptions or fumbling the ball is the ultimate drive-killer, ending your offensive possession and giving your opponent the ball (usually with good field position).

In that regard, Jones has been far too turnover-prone recently. He's thrown a whopping 5 interceptions over his last 3 games and has been picked off at least once in 5 of 6 games so far this season. He's also fumbled twice during his last 3 games, having trouble hanging onto the football as well.

When you're throwing the ball directly to the other team that often and having ball security issues, you can't be a starting quarterback in the NFL. That's especially true of a game-manager like Jones, who relies on accuracy rather than a big arm to move the chains and sustain drives.

When you have a playmaker like Josh Allen or Justin Herbert who fires the ball downfield, interceptions come with the territory and are part of the risk/reward trade-off for big plays. With Jones, however, he's simply making poor decisions (like throwing back across the field) and wildly inaccurate throws.

Belichick typically doesn't have a problem benching players with turnover problems (like Demario Douglas in Week 2), so it's bizarre that he's given Jones such a long leash in this regard. The fact that he still got picked off and took a safety against a lackluster Raiders defense in Week 6 should be the final straw.