Miami Dolphins face “successful” road QB Mac Jones on Sunday

The Miami Dolphins will face second-year quarterback Mac Jones on Sunday. The media darling had a successful road campaign last year.

CBS Sports, via Twitter, pointed out that last year, Jones was one of the best road QBs racking up six wins in 8 road games.

At first glance, you would think that the Pro Bowl alternate QB and rookie sensation (sarcasm) was lighting up the stat sheet. Maybe not so fast. I mean if we are going to be critical of Tua Tagovailoa and his lack of play, shouldn’t we at least dig into the latest New England prodigy?

Here is a look at his road victories in 2021.

Week 2 @ New York Jets

• 22/30 186 yards
• TDs – 0
• Sacked – 3 times
• Interceptions – 0
• Completion % – 73.33

Week 5 @ Houston Texans

23/30 231 yards

• TDs – 1
• Interceptions – 1
• Comp. % – 76.67

Week eight @ L.A. Chargers

18/35 – 217 yards

• TDs – 0
• Interceptions – O
• Comp % – 51.43

Week nine @ Carolina Panthers

• 12/18 – 139 yards
• TDs – 1
• Ints – 1
• Comp. % – 66.67

Week 11 @ Atlanta Falcons

• 22/26 – 207 yards
• TDs – 1
• Ints – 1
• Comp. % – 84.62

Week 13 @ Buffalo Bills

• 2/3 – 19 yards
• TDs – 0
• Comp. % 66.67

This is not intended to be a knock on Mac Jones but clearly, he wasn’t the overall factor in the outcome of the game. He was asked to manage the game the best he could and New England through a very good defense and a solid running game was why the Patriots won those six road games.

The Patriots also beat the Panthers, 5-12, Falcons, 7-10, Jets, 4-13, and Texans, 4-13. The final road game win against the Bills was actually a very good bad-weather game plan by Belichick who took the ball out of his rookie’s hands and ran the ball down the Bills’ defensive throats while cutting off the Bills’ passing game entirely.

So why look at any of this? Simply because the media continues to inflate Jones’ ability and contributions. Jones didn’t make a lot of mistakes in his rookie season, none that truly hurt his team and he was the starting QB for a 10-win football team but Jones wasn’t the reason they won, he was the reason didn’t lose.

The Patriots and Jones will open against the Dolphins on Sunday and Miami will try and pressure the young QB into making throws he doesn’t want to make and Bill Belichick could very easily set the tempo of the game with a rushing attack that takes the onus of winning off Jones’ shoulders and puts his job at not making mistakes.

For Dolphins fans, we can relate. Tua has been given similar situations under Brian Flores and when Flores didn’t think Tua could lead the team, he pulled him to put in Ryan Fitzpatrick or benched him for Jacoby Brissett under the guise of injury.

Jones is going to be a decent QB but I wouldn’t say he is going to be a great one. While his win/loss record is driven into our heads, the reality is they won in spite of Jones’ play which was inconsistent and in reality, not all that impressive but all of that can be masked by winning.

Josh Boyer should be less concerned about how he will stop Jones but more concerned about how Bill Belichick will call a game that lessens his mistakes behind center.