Mac Jones set season high in sacks ... before halftime in Germany vs. Colts

BOSTON -- The Patriots hit the field in Frankfurt and actually put together a promising, productive opening drive.

Then it ended with a third-down sack, and the team settled for a field goal.

The first part of that equation -- the sack -- became the story of the first half for the New England offense, with Mac Jones getting sacked five times before halftime.

Entering Sunday, the season high for sacks on Jones was four, set back in Week 2 at home against Miami. Since then, Jones had been sacked less than two times per game on average, and he was sacked zero times last week against Washington. 

This week was a different story.

On the first third down of the day, both right tackle Mike Onwenu and left guard Cole Strange lost their matchups, leading to a collapsed pocket and a sack by Dayo Odeyingbo.

The second Patriots' drive also ended with an Odeyingbo sack, this time with right guard Sidy Sow getting beat cleanly, giving Jones little chance of escaping. Jones almost did, but Odeyingbo either grabbed Jones' ankle or subtly tripped him with his foot, leading to the sack. 

Odeyingbo got Jones again on the first play of the Patriots' next drive, which started after Bill Belichick opted to not keep a punt returner back deep, costing the Patriots about 18 yards of field position. This sack saw center David Andrews get overwhelmed and pushed right back into the quarterback's space.

The Patriots' next drive also ended with a third-down sack, this time due to Rhamondre Stevenson losing a 1-on-1 blocking situation against Tyquan Lewis.

And with Jones already at his season high in sacks, the quarterback took another one before halftime, this time while trying and almost escaping a collapsing pocket on -- you guessed it -- third down.

The four third-down sacks represented the most by a Patriots quarterback since Matt Cassel back in 2008:

Jones actually did find success passing when he was able to get passes away in the first half, going 10-for-11 for 105 yards. (Though, 30 of those yards came on a useless, stat-padding completion before halftime.) But a lack of protection was the story of the first half for the New England offense, as they hit halftime trailing 7-3, never even coming close to scoring after that opening drive.