Tom Brady led the Patriots to wins in a lot of thrillers at Gillette Stadium during his time with the Patriots and it looked like Mac Jones might do the same on a day when Brady was celebrated by his former team, but the Patriots’ effort fell just short.
Jones connected on a fourth-down pass to rookie wide receiver Kayshon Boutte with 24 seconds left to play, but Boutte was unable to get both feet in bounds. That gave the Eagles the ball and the chance to take a knee to run out the clock on a 25-20 victory.
The Patriots took over the ball with just under two minutes left to play when Jalen Hurts fired incomplete on a fourth-and-two play near midfield. Jones connected with Kendrick Bourne and tight end Mike Gesicki to get into the red zone, but a sack by Eagles rookie Jalen Carter stunted their momentum before the failed pass to Boutte.
Jones helped put the Patriots in an early 16-0 hole by firing too high for Bourne on a pass that Darius Slay intercepted and returned for a 70-yard touchdown. Jones threw two touchdowns in the second quarter to get the Patriots back into the game and added a third to bring the Pats back within five points with 3:37 left to play.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts fumbled on a run to end the ensuing Eagles drive and the Patriots recovered in their territory. The drive moved in the wrong direction thanks to another Eagles sack and a delay of game penalty left New England with a fourth-and-17 from midfield. They opted to go for it despite having all three timeouts and the Eagles took over after an incompletion.
That led to the failed fourth-down conversion, which was the end of a fitful day for the Eagles offense. They punted four straight times after grabbing their early lead and scored nine points on three field goals after the break as drives broke down in New England territory. Hurts was 22-of-33 for 170 yards and a touchdown while also picking up 37 yards on the ground, but the Eagles only managed 251 yards overall.
Jones and Bourne connected six times for 64 yards and a touchdown and there were positive signs for the Patriots offense over the course of the evening. The rough start and the late missed connections served to sink their chances, however.
They’ll try to rebound at home against the Dolphins next weekend while the Eagles will have a quick turnaround before hosting the Vikings on Thursday night.
