Here's how Mac Jones' performances compare to QBs who have faced same opponents
BOSTON -- The Patriots won on Sunday, but it's difficult to use that game to reach any grand conclusions about Mac Jones.
The second-year quarterback played his first full game since Week 3, and he did so behind a porous offensive line. Jones was hit eight times, taking sacks on six of those, and generally had to rifle off some short passes to keep the offense moving. A defensive lineman got his hand on a pass that led to Jones' interception, and the quarterback was also bailed out by a roughing the passer penalty call that negated what would have been a crushing pick-six.
Taken as a whole, the quarterback performance was uninspiring but effective enough to win.
Sunday was Jones' fourth full game of the season, after he missed three games due to injury and then threw just six passes before being replaced by Bailey Zappe against Chicago last week. With that, here's a look at how Jones' performances against the Dolphins, Steelers, Ravens and Jets compare against other quarterbacks who have faced those same teams this season.
PASSER RATINGS VS. THE DOLPHINS
Lamar Jackson: 142.6
Joe Burrow: 115.9
Jared Goff: 108.1
Kirk Cousins: 104.2
Zach Wilson: 99.3
Josh Allen: 94.7
MAC JONES: 87.2
Kenny Pickett: 66.2PASSER RATINGS VS. THE STEELERS
Jalen Hurts: 140.6
Josh Allen: 134.1
Jacoby Brissett: 109.6
Tua Tagovailoa: 92.7
Tom Brady: 87.8
MAC JONES: 79.7
Joe Burrow: 61.7
Zach Wilson: 59.0PASSER RATINGS VS. THE RAVENS
Tua Tagovailoa: 124.1
Daniel Jones: 112.1
Jacoby Brissett: 106.5
Tom Brady: 89.7
Joe Burrow: 82.7
Joe Flacco: 74.8
Josh Allen: 68.4
MAC JONES: 62.1PASSER RATINGS VS. THE JETS
Joe Burrow: 114.9
Jacoby Brissett: 98.9
Lamar Jackson: 98.3
Aaron Rodgers: 88.1
MAC JONES: 79.9
Kenny Pickett*: 65.1
Skylar Thompson: 58.4
Brett Rypien: 56.9
Mitchell Trubisky*: 41.8*Trubisky started the game but was pulled at halftime for Pickett.
Passer rating obviously isn't an end all-be all. It ignores a tremendous amount of factors and really just distills a complicated sport into completion percentage, yards, touchdowns and interceptions. Nevertheless, it's a neat and tidy way of making simple comparisons.
And in that context, Jones ranked fifth out of nine quarterbacks who have faced the Jets, seventh of eight QBs vs. Miami, sixth of eight QBs vs. Pittsburgh, and eighth out of eight QBs against Baltimore.
Though the Mac Jones-Bailey Zappe noise has somewhat quieted down after Monday night's fiasco against the Bears, it would probably be fair to include Zappe's place among opposing QBs who faced the Packers, Lions and Browns, and then we can throw in the Bears, too. (Zappe didn't start vs. the Packers, but he entered after Brian Hoyer suffered a concussion on the Patriots' second drive of that game.)
PASSER RATINGS VS. THE PACKERS
Kirk Cousins: 118.9
BAILEY ZAPPE: 107.4
Daniel Jones: 100.2
Tom Brady: 98.4
Taylor Heinicke: 85.5
Josh Allen: 75.1
Zach Wilson: 73.8
Justin Fields: 43.7PASSER RATINGS VS. THE LIONS
Tua Tagovailoa: 138.7
Geno Smith: 132.6
Dak Prescott: 113.2
BAILEY ZAPPE: 100
Carson Wentz: 99.6
Kirk Cousins: 93.5
Jalen Hurts: 80.6PASSER RATINGS VS. THE BROWNS
BAILEY ZAPPE: 118.4
Joe Flacco: 110.7
Justin Herbert: 93.7
Baker Mayfield: 84.6
Mitchell Trubisky: 81.1
Lamar Jackson: 80.2
Marcus Mariota: 41.3PASSER RATINGS VS. THE BEARS
Aaron Rodgers: 131.1
Dak Prescott: 114.5
Kirk Cousins: 94.7
Daniel Jones: 76.1
Davis Mills: 70.4
BAILEY ZAPPE: 67.4
Carson Wentz: 66.3
Trey Lance: 50.3
MAC JONES: 16.7**Mac Jones played three series vs. the Bears.
Zappe ranked fourth out of seven QBs vs. the Lions, first out of seven QBs vs. the Browns and second out of eight quarterbacks vs. the Packers. The showing was much less impressive vs. the Bears, though, helping to make Bill Belichick's quarterback decision a bit easier for the Jets game.
In terms of takeaways, it's clear that Jones has been mediocre, but so has the offense as a whole. While the Patriots have not been the unmitigated disaster that some people might have predicted with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge runing the show, they're still in the bottom half of the league, ranking 17th in points, 20th in yards and 23rd in passing yards. They have the 29th-ranked red-zone offense, and they're tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions thrown. They're tied for 22nd with just eight touchdown passes, too.
Zappe's short-term influx of strong play certainly made things interesting for a bit, but his crash to earth against the Bears was in line with what should have been expected out of a fourth-round rookie being pressed into action early in his career. For better and for worse, Jones is the quarterback of the 2022 Patriots. And with half of the season left to go, the quarterback has left himself plenty of room for improvement.