3 Takeaways from Patriots' Week 11 Win
For more than two decades, the New England Patriots have continually found ways to win against the Atlanta Falcons. On Thursday night, they had no trouble beating the Falcons once again.
New England went into Mercedes-Benz Stadium and cruised to a 25-0 victory over Atlanta. It was the Patriots' seventh consecutive win against the Falcons, a stretch that includes Super Bowl LI and means that Atlanta hasn't notched a win in the series since 1998.
The Pats controlled Thursday's matchup from the start. They built a 13-point lead by halftime and used a dominant defensive performance to hand the Falcons their first home shutout since 1988. The result saw New England improve to 7-4 this season, including 5-0 on the road.
Here are three takeaways from the Patriots' Week 11 win.
The Defense Dominated Again, Continues to Improve
The Patriots defense is among the best in the NFL, and the unit is on an impressive run. Over the past three games, the Pats have allowed only 13 total points. And they are giving up only 313.2 total yards per contest through their first 11 games of the season.
This was one of New England's most dominant performances of the campaign. Atlanta mustered only 165 total yards and 11 first downs, as it also committed four turnovers, all of which were interceptions that came on its final four possessions in the fourth quarter.
Devin McCourty and J.C. Jackson each picked off Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, whose night came to an early end. Atlanta put in backup Josh Rosen, who threw a pick-six to Kyle Van Noy. Then, Feleipe Franks entered for the Falcons and was intercepted by Adrian Phillips.
"I don't want to brag too much, but I feel like we got one of the best defenses in the league right now," Jackson said, per ESPN's Mike Reiss.
It's hard to argue against that claim right now.
Jones Efficient Again, Still Has Room to Grow
Mac Jones had another efficient performance as part of his solid rookie campaign, completing 22 of his 26 pass attempts and throwing for 207 yards and a touchdown. He also became only the third rookie quarterback to win each of his first five career road starts, with the other two being Dak Prescott and Ben Roethlisberger, per NFL Research.
However, Jones is still learning and gaining experience at this level. There were a few times that showed he's only 11 games into his pro career, such as when he tried to force a throw in the third quarter and was intercepted by Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell.
The Patriots only got into the end zone once (Jones' 19-yard TD pass to Nelson Agholor in the second quarter), having to settle for four Nick Folk field goals.
"We had plenty of good plays. We just, we didn't get enough points cause we had too many drive-stopping plays," New England head coach Bill Belichick said, per NFL.com's Grant Gordon. "You gotta avoid those plays in order to score in this league. We just didn't do a good enough job of it tonight."
Still, Jones is leading the Pats to victory more often than not, and that's what is most important. The offense could have put up more points Thursday, but it also didn't need to. And if Jones continues to improve, New England should find itself in the end zone more often in the future.
The Pats May Be Making Push Toward AFC East Title
With their five-game winning streak, the Patriots have firmly solidified themselves as a playoff contender in the AFC. That seemed unlikely after their 2-4 start to the year, but they have turned things around and would be one of the conference's three wild-card teams if the season ended today.
However, New England may not need to be a wild card if it continues trending in this direction. If the Buffalo Bills lose to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, they would drop to 6-4, which would put the Pats atop the AFC East.
New England and Buffalo still have to play each other twice this season (Weeks 13 and 16), and those games could be hugely important in determining which team wins the AFC East title. If the Patriots can come out of Week 16 as the division-leader, they have an opportunity to finish strong, with their final two regular-season games coming against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins.
For now, the Bills remain in control in the AFC East race, and it's possible they will beat the Pats and win the division title for the second straight year. But it's far too early to count out any New England team with Belichick at the helm, especially one that has been playing so well of late.