Falcons trounced again in 25-0 shutout by Patriots
Mac Jones passed for 207 yards as the New England Patriots stretched their winning streak to five with a 25-0 victory over the host Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night, Nov. 18.
Nick Folk kicked four field goals and Kyle Van Noy returned an interception for a touchdown and had two sacks for the Patriots (7-4). Jones completed 22 of 26 passes, threw one TD pass and was intercepted once for New England, which has outscored its opponents 175-50 during the five-game span.
Matt Ryan connected on 19 of 28 passes for 153 yards and two interceptions for the Falcons (4-6), who failed to score a touchdown for the second straight game. Atlanta has been outscored 68-3 in back-to-back losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New England.
The contest also marked the first time the Falcons have been blanked at home since falling 33-0 to the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 9, 1988.
J.C. Jackson, Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips also had interceptions for the Patriots, who outgained the Falcons 308 yards to 165.
New England has defeated Atlanta seven straight times, including overcoming a 25-point, third-quarter deficit to post a 34-28 overtime victory in the Super Bowl following the 2016 season.
The Falcons had chances to get back in the game but came up empty each time.
Trailing by 13, Atlanta was at the New England 16yard line late in the third quarter, but Qadree Ollison was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 with 52 seconds left.
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Ryan was picked off by McCourty at the New England 22. The Patriots cashed that into Folk’s 53-yard field goal to increase their lead to 16-0 with 6:39 remaining.
Folk added a 33-yard field goal with 1:55 left, and Van Noy intercepted Atlanta backup Josh Rosen and returned it 35 yards for his fourth career touchdown.
Jones completed 14 of 15 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown as New England led 13-0 at halftime.
Folk kicked a 32-yard field with 5:15 left in the first quarter before Jones made it 10-0 with a 19-yard scoring pass to Nelson Agholor with 13:44 remaining in the first half. Folk also booted a 44-yard field goal as time expired before the break.
Atlanta reached the New England 14 midway through
the second quarter but Ryan was sacked on third-and-1 by Van Noy for a loss of 13 yards. Younghoe Koo then connected on a 45-yard
field goal, but an illegalformation penalty nullified it, and Koo then narrowly missed wide left from 50 with 6:19 left.