With a New England Patriots Week 11 game scheduled against the Atlanta Falcons, the hottest team in the AFC can maintain momentum. Here are some Patriots-Falcons predictions for New England.

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New England Patriots Week 11 Predictions

4. New England Patriots QB Mac Jones throws for fewer than 200 yards

The Patriots have been an impressive team this season, but it's happening mostly with their defense. Yes, Mac Jones has been legitimately good, validating much of the pre-draft hype.

For more insight on the Patriots' Week 11 matchup against the Falcons, listen below:

Yet, it should also be acknowledged that he is throwing low-risk, high-percentage passes and is generally not challenging secondaries down the field. There's nothing wrong with that, but it should affect how we assess Jones in a larger context.

Everyone can see that Bill Belichick is building this team around his defense, which is the smart play for a team which has a rookie quarterback. We can acknowledge that Mac Jones was clearly a better option than Cam Newton, but we can also say that the Patriots needed to be a defense-first team, allowing Jones to be a game manager who can get out of the way, make the safe play, not take too many chances, and generally learn on the job so that he can grow for the future. It's a sound plan, but it also means Jones will continue to be judicious and not risk very many downfield throws. This will keep him under 200 yards passing.

3. Patriots will lead 13-6 at halftime

The reality of Thursday Night Football is that since teams aren't coming off idle weeks — which they all should, if the NFL truly valued player safety and health — the very short turnaround will produce ugly football more often than not. We got the latest glimpse of this last week, when the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins played an unwatchable game. The Ravens were a clear favorite, but they got stuck in the mud. The Patriots just played a nearly flawless game against the Cleveland Browns, which suggests that in an NFL season when sustained quality has been largely elusive, we're going to see an ugly first half against the Falcons.

2. Pats' defense will get two takeaways from the Falcons

The cornerstone of the New England renaissance after the lost 2020 pandemic season has been Bill Belichick's defense. The Patriots confounded Justin Herbert and the Chargers. They flummoxed Baker Mayfield and the Browns. If they can do that, they will certainly handle Matt Ryan and the Falcons. So what if Ryan wants to avenge Super Bowl LI? He doesn't have the personnel on offense to match up with a lights-out New England defense. Atlanta will not be able to produce a turnover-free outing.

1. New England Patriots will beat the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11

While it won't be pretty — since when are Thursday Night Football games aesthetically pleasing to watch? — the Patriots have more than enough defense to ground the Falcons into fine powder. The Belichick blueprint will limit Atlanta to 16 points. Mac Jones won't need to be a superhero to win this game. He will just need to go through his progressions, find his checkdowns, make the safe play, be happy to punt the ball, play field position, and ride the percentages.

The Patriots will dare the Falcons to make home-run plays. Given what we know about these two teams, no one should expect Atlanta to rise to the challenge. The Pats are on fire, and they're breathing down the back of the Buffalo Bills. They won't let this very winnable game slip away.

Patriots 23, Falcons 16, in Week 11.