Yeah, not getting him involved in the passing game was a Matt Patricia mistake.
Notice how well the Vikings incorporated their new TE they got from the Lions?
We’re still waiting for that with Jonuu Smith.
Mac jones misses open guys all the time. But if Thornton had really been wide open he'd have more than 0 catches and 0 yards. Are we ready to say he's a bust yet? Patriots whiff on yet another highly drafted WR, not that surprising really.
No we're not ready to say TT is a bust yet, but knock yourself out. I hear there's some Hall of Fame of Giving Up Fastest somewhere in New England these days, don't let the other lemmings get ahead of you.
Between these 2 comments though I think we can see one of the problems... especially if combined with the 5 guys, 60+ yards stat from last night (a positive reflection).
To wit: everybody can't be "the guy" every game. There have been fewer balls to go around in many games. In this game, there were lots of them, and Mac was hitting the open guy... but between him, our O Line, and our coaches (however the blame game is being played that day,) somehow a rule has evolved, as I saw it phrased on here this week, that only one tight end can be a threat at a time.
I mean, okay. That said you look at the track team that was out there yesterday (the Meyers injury probably intensified this aspect,) it seems like 2 tight ends having big nights was an unlikely outcome. We got more out of H Henry than the Vikings got out of Hochenson though, so I don't understand the comparison there.
So all that said, Mac in a Slump isn't going to be the friend of proving out the value of two tight ends and a bevy of "number two" wideouts. If it were an elite QB on the way to a monster year, maybe. Maybe if he builds on last night, Mac10 looks more like that again by end of season. And yeah, I would love to see Tyquan come back off the milk carton in that development.