Patriots showed no mercy in Atlanta

Backed by a ruthless defense, the New England Patriots are suddenly dominating opponents like they used to in the Tom Brady years.

Mac Jones threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor for what was the only touchdown produced by the offense in New England’s 25-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday.

New England’s defense took care of the rest, absolutely nullifying the Falcons, and the Pats strung together their fifth win.

New England (7-4) has allowed just 13 points in its last three games.

“We’re finding our style,” said linebacker Matthew Judon, who made another quarterback catch to put his season total at a career-best 10.5. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence.”

The Patriots didn’t look nearly as devastating as they did four days earlier, when they steamrolled the Cleveland Browns 45-7. However, that was enough against an anemic Atlanta offense that hasn’t scored a touchdown in nearly nine quarters.

This is New England’s best winning streak since starting the 2019 campaign with an 8-0 record in what ended up being Brady’s final year with the team.

“I feel like we have one of the best defenses in the league,” said cornerback J.C. Jackson, who grabbed one of the Patriots’ four interceptions.

The Falcons (4-6) were held scoreless for the first time since Dec. 13, 2015, when they fell 38-0 to the Carolina Panthers.

Matt Ryan was caught four times and had two of his throws intercepted. He thus had another disastrous performance, this time on primetime television.

It was only on Sunday that he had the worst rating of his career in the Dallas Cowboys’ 43-3 thrashing of Atlanta.

“It’s been a tough five days offensively,” Ryan said. “We haven’t thrown the ball well enough. We haven’t carried it well either.”