Mac Jones, Kendrick Bourne Forming A Great Touchdown Tandem For Patriots
FOXBORO (CBS) -- Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne have a really nice connection going for the Patriots at the moment. The duo had two more touchdowns during Week 12's win over the Titans at Gillette Stadium, giving the Patriots offense a huge spark in the victory.
After Matt Judon ended Tennessee's first possession with a third-down sack on Ryan Tannehill, Jones and company made the most out of the short field that the defense had gifted them. Jones needed just nine plays to lead the offense to the end zone, finding Bourne in the back corner on a third-and-goal pass to give New England an early 7-0 lead.
It was a perfect back-shoulder throw by Jones, and a beautiful catch by Bourne to give the Patriots their early lead. Bourne hauled in Jones' pass despite having Kevin Byard all over him in the end zone.
But the duo was not done for the afternoon. Not by a longshot.
In the third quarter, Jones hit Bourne with a short pass at the 38-yard line, and the receiver took care of the rest. Bourne showed off some serious playmaking ability as he broke tackles and tip-toed his way up the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown.
The score gave New England a 26-13 lead with 5:01 left in the third quarter. Jones is now up to 16 touchdown passes for his rookie season, and Bourne now has five touchdown receptions for the year. Three of those touchdowns have come in the last three games for Bourne.
Bourne had five catches for 61 yards on Sunday. Jakobi Meyers checked in with five catches for 98 yards, and also had a huge block on Bourne's long touchdown scamper. Jones spoke of the trust that he has in all of his receivers following Sunday's win -- and not just when they have the ball in their hands.
"I think our receivers play with a lot of passion and whether they get the ball or not they are doing their job and they have gotten consistently better at that. I can rely on any of them and we can rely on any of them," said Jones. "You can see them on the run game stuff getting blocks done and not getting them done but finishing people off and that's really important to the success of the offense. It's not just, 'Hey, when I have the ball, look at me.' It's, 'When I don't have the ball, see what I'm doing, too.' So they do a great job with that."
That's a good kind of trust to have, and the Patriots have a lot of it at the moment. Bourne Usually, this is where someone would say that the sky is the limit for the New England offense, but Bourne doesn't want to limit the unit's potential.
"I don't think there is a ceiling at all. We try to emphasize that," Bourne said Sunday. "[Matthew] Slater just talked to us after about not getting overzealous about ourselves. Nothing like that. Just being in the moment and playing each game, each week, and thinking about that game.
"We're onto Buffalo now and that's the focus," added Bourne. "That'll be good for us to just certify ourselves."
