The New England Patriots had the Cleveland Browns in the perfect defensive play-call for quarterback Mac Jones and receiver Kendrick Bourne.
The Patriots were one step ahead of the Browns in the red zone on Sunday during New England’s 45-7 win, thanks to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. On this particular play, which yielded the best throw of Jones’ career, the quarterback found Bourne at the perfect moment for a touchdown.
Bourne broke away from his cornerback, and had just enough separation for Jones to zip a high pass into the receiver before Browns safety John Johnson could make a play.
“Just a good play-call by Josh, setting it up well, doing a good job reviewing them over the week. We got the look we wanted and Mac threw a tremendous job, as he always does,” he said. “He put it in a really good spot. … Seeing the ball coming in and making the play.”
AIR BOURNE. @BournePoly11 went and got it for the TD!
📺: @NFLonCBS / Patriots app pic.twitter.com/HD3gVdydjI
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 14, 2021
It was an example of how well McDaniels called the game on Sunday. He and Jones had their issues earlier in the season, where they both seemed out of sorts and strayed away from what the Patriots did best. But this game seemed to go exactly as the Patriots planned. New England established the run and built around that punishing ground game — but just when they seemed to have a dominant upper hand there, they went to the passing attack, where Jones completed 9 of his first 10 passes.
“He did a great job. We talked about, like I said, practice and we saw a lot of those looks, and we just have to do it well in the game. It’s his job to call plays and it’s my job to execute them and everyone’s job to execute them. I think we are on the same page, and it’s great, and Josh has been a lot of fun to work with. He’s really competitive, like everybody in our offensive room, and we have a great group of coaches top to bottom, and we just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”
The Patriots built a quick lead, which put the Browns in a tough position. Cleveland, a physical team with a great rushing attack and defense, isn’t really built to make a comeback. They need to build a lead and hold it. So when the Patriots forced Baker Mayfield to get into the spread and throw the ball, the game was all but over against New England’s elite passing defense. That’s a credit to McDaniels, who helped set up his defense for success.
