The New England Patriots put an exclamation mark on the competition with a 45-7 win over the Cleveland Browns. Rookie quarterback Mac Jones, who had the best game of his young career, stands out in the process.

Munich/Foxborough – The New England Patriots swept the Cleveland Browns out of their home stadium in Foxborough in week ten with a score of 45-7 and sent a clear signal to the competition after the half-time of the regular season had just passed.

The ease with which New England performed that day against a previously top-10 defence in the league in terms of run and pass defence and points allowed was impressive.

Rookie quarterback Mac Jones, who had the best game of his young career, convinced even the last critic with his performance.

Mac Jones dominates against the Cleveland Browns

The Patriots quarterback was unstoppable in the first half, completing 13 of 15 pass attempts for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

In total, he would manage three passing touchdowns and no interceptions for the first time in the NFL. No rookie quarterback has done that for the Patriots since their franchise debut in 1960.

After Jones produced at least one turnover in each of the last seven games, the 23-year-old was able to protect the football flawlessly on Sunday.

As a reward for the strong performance, Jones had already retired 8:51 minutes before the end of the game and handed over to backup Brian Hoyer for the final minutes – the game had already been decided long ago.

After the quarterback’s performance in the previous weeks, such a performance was not necessarily to be expected.

Mac Jones takes next step

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels acknowledged after the Browns win that the offense had gone through a “dry spell” at times over the past two weeks despite wins against the Los Angeles Chargers and Carolina Panthers. Jones himself, after only one passing touchdown from both games, stated that he could play better.

The media were already talking about the “rookie wall”, which Jones would have hit in the middle of the season and experienced a setback in his development.

The result, according to NBC Sports, was a change in Jones’ game to get rid of the ball more quickly and, among other things, to take the wind out of the sails of Cleveland’s dangerous pass-rush duo of Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney.

Mac Jones makes quick decisions

The result was an impressive performance of quick and accurate passing. According to Next Gen Stats, Jones took an average of 2.41 seconds per pass attempt against the Browns. That was just behind Ben Roethlisberger’s season best of 2.38 seconds.

What was particularly pleasing: Despite the change, his precision on deeper passes did not suffer either. A 26-yard conversion on a long third down attempt, the 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and a 19-yard strike to tight end Hunter Henry can be cited as examples. In all, six of seven pass attempts covered 10 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage.

Jones left a number of speechless faces behind him. And not just on the Browns’ side.

While everyone was talking about No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars before the season, Bill Belichick’s sophomore has catapulted to the top of his draft class in terms of performance and is already showing early signs that other playmakers usually need years in the NFL to achieve.

Mac Jones: The best quarterback in his class?

After ten days of play, Jones has already posted a passer rating of over 100 on at least 20 pass attempts five times, according to “CBS”. The other first-round picks from this year have yet to accomplish that feat once.

What Jones currently has over his draft year, besides the bare numbers: He doesn’t get distracted by the media or other sideshows and clearly puts his focus on the athletic.

This does not escape his teammates either: “Mac always seems confident. I don’t know what it is. He’s just spurred on in a different way, a completely different polarity,” explained receiver Bourne after the Browns game.

And went into further detail: “He’s just relaxed and I think that’s how we all have to play. He’s not thinking about the next play. He’s not thinking about the last play. He’s just thinking about the current play. You can go a long way in this league with that attitude.”

Safety Devin McCourty echoed the same sentiment, “All he cares about is football. He doesn’t care about any outside stuff. They did a good job over there at ‘Bama (Alabama College, ed.). He’s very focused and fun to watch.”

That’s exactly the joy of working together that you sense from everyone involved in New England these days. And the latest results make it clear: The Patriots are once again a force to be reckoned with after a transition year, even with an eye on the playoffs.

Patriots have postseason participation in their own hands

After Week 10, the Pats are in sixth place in the AFC with a record of 6-4 and are on course for the playoffs after winning four in a row.

In the process, important victories have been achieved against direct competitors for the hotly contested play-off places. The win against the Browns in particular could prove to be worth its weight in gold in terms of possible scenarios with the same record.

The Patriots not only moved ahead of the Browns with this win, but also secured the head-to-head tiebreaker. Should both teams finish the regular season with an identical record, New England would have the advantage because of this tiebreaker. The same applies to a possible tie with the Chargers.

And the bye week in the first playoff round is no longer out of sight. With a record of 6-3, the Buffalo Bills are just ahead of New England at the top of the AFC East.

They will play their division rivals twice more in the coming weeks. Hopeful Jones will then have to prove once again how good he really is already.