Mac Jones made his NFL debut at home against the Dolphins on Sunday and looked liked he belonged in the big leagues.
He looked poised and in control for just about the entire game.
He was accurate and decisive. He completed passes to eight different receivers.
He gave the Patriots fans a lot to look forward to.
They may have lost the game, but they seem to have gained a very good quarterback for the foreseeable future.
Jones' impressive start made me wonder about how Tom Brady started his career for the Patriots, so I wanted to look back at his first start in the NFL and see how comparable it was to Jones' first start.
Although Brady did have 10 pass attempts in week-2 of the 2001 season, he didn't make his first start until the next week, since he entered the week-2 game vs the Jets after Drew Bledsoe was injured. He then made the start against the Colts in Foxboro the following week.
Here is the stat-line comparison from the NFL starting debuts of Mac Jones (2021) and Tom Brady (2001):
Completions/Attempts/Yards:
Jones: 29 of 39 for 281-yards
Brady: 13 of 23 for 168-yards
Jones: 1 touchdown pass
Brady: 0 touchdown passes
Completion %:
Jones: 74.36
Brady: 56.52
Interceptions:
Jones: 0
Brady: 0
Sacks:
Jones: 1 for -13-yards
Brady: 1 for -9-yards
Rushing:
Jones: 0 attempts
Brady: 1 for 2-yards
QB rating:
Jones: 102.6
Brady: 79.6
Looking at those numbers, everyone would prefer the stats that Jones compiled in his first start than those of Brady's. The big difference is that Brady came away with a 44-13 win and Jones left with a 17-16 loss.
Brady benefited from 177-rushing yards from the offense, including three rushing TD's from Antowain Smith.
The Patriots defense also produced four turnovers for the team on the way to their blowout win.
Jones on the other hand did get a decent effort from the running game that generated 125-yards with 0 TD's. The Patriots lost this turnover battle by a 2-0 total, and those two turnovers, for all intents and purposes, cost him the "W".
If you're a Patriots fan and are reeling from a loss that many thought they'd win, you can look back on only what Jones did in this game and come away feeling very confident in the future of the quarterback position in New England.
It's not fair to take too much away from just one NFL game, but after that one game, Jones appears to be the real deal.