Patriots quarterback Mac Jones completes 19 straight passes
On the night of Tom Brady’s return to New England, rookie quarterback Mac Jones is looking to steal the headlines with his impressive performance. New Patriots quarterback Mac Jones completed 19 straight passes Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the most by a rookie quarterback over the past 30 seasons.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Jones is 28-for-35 with 252 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. On a night many expected the Patriots to lean on the running game, they have gone almost exclusively with the passing game, losing a yard in the run game.
Mac Jones is not the only Patriot throwing the ball well, his 103.8 quarterback rating ranks second on the team behind wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, despite the 19 straight passes. Meyers is 2-for-2 with 45 yards on a pair of trick plays, adding seven receptions for 63 yards.
Cheers and boos for Tom Brady
As Tom Brady returns to his former team’s stadium, he received an ovation while taking the field from the tunnels and boos when he began his first drive. As countless fans in the crowd wore their Brady jerseys to the game, Brady received a full ovation and chants of his name before the game began. After the Patriots punted on their opening drive, Brady took the field for the first time to boos from the stadium.
On a night full of multiple emotions and storylines for Brady and the fans, it’s hard to say how much of an impact they had on him early. On the Buccaneers’ opening drive, Brady completed two of four passes for 14 yards before punting.
On a 28-yard strike down the middle to wide receiver Mike Evans, Tom Brady passed long-time competitor Drew Brees, who was in attendance as a member of the NBC broadcast, for the top spot on the NFL’s all-time leader passer list.
As fans and players congratulated Brady and a graphic showed up on the jumbotron, the Buccaneers took a timeout for their quarterback to further revel in the moment. The road team came away with a field goal after another pass to Antonio Brown put the record in the rearview.
Tom Brady passed Brees’ mark of 80,358 career yards, which he chased over the final years of their careers until the old NFL record holder retired this offseason.
With one record down, there is still one more milestone for Brady’s career at stake during the game. If Brady can beat the Patriots, he will be the fourth NFL quarterback to have a win against all 32 NFL teams. Drew Brees, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning are the only other three quarterbacks to accomplish the feat.