The New England Patriots offense showed some encouraging signs of progress Sunday in a 17-14 Week 2 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road.
This unit played poorly in the season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins, scoring only one touchdown and committing three turnovers.
After a week of watching film and making adjustments, the Patriots were much more efficient and balanced in Pittsburgh. New England found the end zone twice, turned the ball over only once and converted on nine of 17 third downs.
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Patriots quarterback Mac Jones completed 60 percent of his passes (21 of 35) for 252 yards with one touchdown and an interception, while the rushing attack picked up 124 yards (4.0 per carry). Jones didn't put up eye-popping stats against the Steelers, but he made more than enough plays to help the Patriots earn their first win of the season.
What stood out about Jones' performance?
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"I thought he had control of the offense all day long," former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel said on NBC Sports Boston's "Postgame Live". "Look, it wasn't perfect. There are going to be some throws that he misses, particularly the one where he got flushed out to his left and panicked and threw the ball right to a defender. Luckily it wasn't intercepted. But at the end of the day, the two things that really stood out to me at the end of the game -- it's the final drive, and we talked about the run game and how that closed out this game. But part of that was Mac Jones.
"They had the holding penalty that knocked them back to second-and-15. He goes through his progression, and he's hit the inside-under two or three times throughout the game, but they take that guy away. He continues through the progression and hits Lil'Jordan Humphrey on the outside-under. He makes it into a manageable third down situation. Now it's third-and-2, he drops back to pass again, he recognizes the coverage, they aren't accounting for him, so he takes off and scrambles for the first down to keep the drive alive.
"Those were really two of the biggest plays in the whole series. It just speaks to his processing ability and understanding the situation. Overall, I thought he played a really good game."
The Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens in their home opener at Gillette Stadium next week.
Normally, the Ravens have one of the top defenses in the league, but they were brutal in Week 2. Baltimore's defense allowed 42 points in a loss to the Dolphins, highlighted by Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa throwing for 469 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. The Ravens led 35-14 at the end of the third quarter and still lost.
Regardless of which Ravens defense shows up in Foxboro, it will be a great test for the Patriots as they try to build on the progress their offense made in Sunday's victory over the Steelers.