The New Orleans Saints took advantage of three Mac Jones interceptions on Sunday afternoon, en route to a 28-13 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
New England (1-2) didn’t get alot of production offensively in the first half, and visiting New Orleans took advantage of a blocked punt and the first interception of the season by Jones. The Saints went up 7-0 in the first quarter when quarterback Jameis Winston found running back Alvin Kamara on an 11 yard slant for a touchdown. The guests couldn’t take advantage of some good field position missing two field goals in the second, including one after Josh Bailey had his punt blocked by Andrew Dowell. New Orleans (2-1) did take advantage of an interception by Jones though, as he was hit as he released a pass and P. J. Williams returned it 46 yards to the New England nine yard line. Winston made it 14-0 when hit Marquez Calloway for a seven yard score. The hosts had a chance to get into the endzone late in the first half as they had a fourth down and short yardage at the Saints 22, but Hunter Henry was called for a false start and they instead settled for a 45 yard field goal by Nick Folk.
The Pats had the opening possession of the second half, but the first play Jonnu Smith couldn’t come up with a pass from Jones deflecting right into the arms of Malcolm Jenkins who returned it 34 yards to the endzone for a 21-3 Saints lead. Folk made it 21-6 with his second field goal of the day from 26 yards. New England slowed the New Orleans offense forcing three straight punts, and the Patriots finally found the endzone when Jones put one up for grabs for Kendrick Bourne near the sideline with 9:28 left to play in the game. Bourne came up with it and kept his balance, stretching the ball over the pylon before going out of bounds for a 22 yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-13. The Saints put it away with a 13 play drive following the Bourne TD, taking 6:45 off the clock and getting a Taysom Hill four yard scoring run on a direct snap with 2:41 remaining. Jones threw his third interception in the closing seconds.
Jones went 31-50 passing for 270 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. The rushing game struggled as Jones led the way there with six attempts for 28 yards, as the Pats were held to 49 yards on 17 rushes. James White left the game early with a hip injury and didn’t return. Bourne had six catches 96 yards, and Jakobi Myers had nine grabs for 94. Ja’Whuan Bentley had six total tackles, while Matt Judon had 2.5 sacks and two tackles for loss for the defense. Winston was 13-21 for 128 yards and two touchdown passes for New Orleans, who wins in New England for the first time since Week 14 of the 1995 season. Kamara had 24 carries for 89 yards and had the first quarter TD reception. Marshon Lattimore had eight total tackles and an interception to lead the Saints defense. New England will be at home again next Sunday night with a greatly anticipated matchup against Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 8:20 p.m.
