Colts quarterback Daniel Jones struggled for a second week in a row. Have defenses found a blueprint to slow down Indianapolis?
Mac Jones played another solid game in the 49ers’ loss to the Rams, but reportedly, Brock Purdy could be back next week. Should the 49ers ride the hot hand?
The Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll, but they have a franchise quarterback. Now, they have to give the most important gift a young quarterback can receive: A great play-caller. Who should it be?
Concern with the Colts, Daniel Jones?
The Colts’ passing game struggled for the second straight week Sunday. For only the second time this season, Jones finished with negative expected points added (EPA) per drop-back. Last week, the Steelers condensed space for the Colts’ receivers with man coverage and got edge pressure.
This week, the Falcons took away inside-breaking routes by crowding inside zones and having their safeties play flat-footed and ready to jump in breaking routes in quarters. A trend to watch will be whether teams challenge Jones to beat them deep. Deep accuracy was an issue for Jones with the Giants, as he doesn’t have the strongest arm.
The Colts were able to beat the Falcons over the top for a touchdown against the Falcons’ quarters coverage.
5:51 remaining in the first quarter, first-and-10
On this play, the Colts had tight end Tyler Warren and receiver Alec Pierce running deep in-breaking routes. Warren’s route was designed to hold the safety for Pierce to get over the top.
Safety Xavier Watts took Warren’s route, so Pierce had room downfield.
Jones made the right read, but his deep ball tends to sail, and it gave time for Watts to get back. Watts didn’t make a play on the ball because Pierce made a spectacular catch.
Jones’ Week 10 passing chart from TruMedia
Overall, the Colts couldn’t get the ball to the intermediate in-breakers that they’ve feasted on all season. They won the game because Jonathan Taylor and the offensive line took over, but we’ll see if more defenses are willing to challenge Jones to throw deep against them. Jones ranks 27th-worst on off-target rate on throws of 30 or more air yards.
QB controversy in San Francisco?
Brock Purdy has now missed eight games this season. He did try to return in Week 4 but suffered a setback with his turf toe injury. In his absence, Mac Jones, whom coach Kyle Shanahan admitted was his original target when the 49ers traded up to pick third in the 2022 draft, has thrived. Jones and running back Christian McCaffrey have led a 49ers roster hit hard with injuries to a 6-4 record, including an upset win over the Rams in Week 5. Jones is on pace to throw for over 4,000 passing yards and 26 touchdown passes to 12 interceptions.
Shanahan has been clear that he intends to start Purdy when he’s healthy, but Jones has played well enough that it has created outside buzz for a quarterback controversy. On Sunday’s broadcast, referring to Jones, Tom Brady said you have to go with the hot hand, citing that it was how he started his career. Former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, who played for Shanahan, tweeted that he doesn’t see how Shanahan can take Jones off the field.
I just don’t see how Kyle will be able to take Mac Jones off the field with how he’s playing. I know Brock Purdy HAS to start if he’s healthy but this is a hot hand situation right now and MAC is rolling! Not trying to spark controversy but this is an obvious observation.…
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) November 9, 2025
Obviously, Sherman doesn’t speak for Shanahan, but it’s easy to see how some in the 49ers locker room could feel the same way. Jones has provided steady leadership and helped guide the 49ers through the storm. Also, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Purdy play a clean game. He’s been boom-or-bust going back to last season, when he had to shoulder more of the load of the offense than he had in his first two seasons. In his last five games, going back to last season, he’s thrown eight interceptions. However, the difference between the Jones and Purdy is that we haven’t seen Jones reach the heights that Purdy has.
Week 1, 8:57 remaining in the first quarter, third-and-8
On this play from Week 1, on third-and-8, the 49ers had receiver Ricky Pearsall run a deep dig route.
Before Pearsall got close to this break point, Purdy was already in the process of throwing the ball into the void of Seattle’s zone.
The ball hit Pearsall perfectly. These are the types of anticipation throws that Jones has thrived on. Purdy is fully capable of making these throws.
Last season was one of experimentation for Purdy as he turned up the aggression dial and played outside of the offense. Jones executes the offense more cleanly and makes his reads exactly as Shanahan wants, and completes throws with great accuracy. Purdy will wait for deeper passes to develop and throw to receivers that will even surprise Shanahan. Purdy balanced executing the system and playing outside of structure well in 2023, but he took a notch too far last season. Jones is showing that if you trust the offense, you can still succeed without your full complement of weapons.
Below, I compared Purdy’s 2024 stats with Jones’ this season, since last year, Purdy played in similar circumstances with the 49ers’ key offensive weapons missing multiple games.
| 2025 Mac Jones | 2024 Brock Purdy | |
|---|---|---|
|
Turnover worthy play rate |
2.40% |
3.00% |
|
Adjusted completion % |
78.90% |
74.10% |
|
Average depth of target |
7.8 |
9 |
|
Average time to throw |
2.84 |
2.6 |
|
EPA per dropback |
0.17 |
0.08 |
A major difference is Jones gets rid of the ball faster than Purdy ever has. Purdy’s average time to throw was only 0.06 higher as a rookie when he was just executing the offense rather than trying to be aggressive. You don’t want Purdy to totally rid himself of that instinct, but recent results have shown he needs to dial it back, and Jones’ success in the system is more evidence of that. When Purdy gets his job back, he should apply the lessons that he hopefully learned from watching Jones play.
A fair discussion is whether it was a bad decision to give Purdy a big extension, knowing that Shanahan can coax this sort of production from a quarterback that nobody wanted. Is it better to invest the money used for Purdy’s extension into other areas of the roster? Jones is producing at comparable levels to Purdy with a banged-up 49ers roster, but is only getting paid a little over $4 million a season, while Purdy’s cap hit next season will balloon to $24.796 million and will progressively get to $65 million. Purdy’s contract is actually relatively quarterback-friendly compared to other recent extensions, but it’s much more than $4 million.
It’s also moot because the 49ers made their decision when they gave Purdy the contract. They’re paying for proven playoff experience. The game changes when the postseason starts and we’ve seen Purdy find ways to win games and come back from deficits in the playoffs. Can Jones potentially do the same? Maybe. But we don’t know that. We’ve seen Purdy do it.
Who should be the Giants’ next coach?
Brian Daboll’s .336 winning percentage was ultimately why he was fired Monday, but he left the Giants with the ultimate parting gift: a potential franchise quarterback in Jaxson Dart. Reportedly, Daboll hand-picked Dart, and he’s going to make the Giants’ opening one of the most coveted jobs in this hiring cycle. Choosing whom to develop Dart will be imperative for his long-term success. You don’t want to start a cycle of constant system changes for him.
The Giants shouldn’t discount defensive-minded coaches, and there is more to being a head coach than play-calling, but it’s hard to deny the ceiling for a great play-calling head coach and young quarterback. Giants owner John Mara just got a glimpse of Ben Johnson’s instant effect on Caleb Williams and Bears offense in Sunday’s loss to Chicago.
Here are some potential offensive-minded head coaches that the Giants could consider, in no particular order:
Mike Kafka, Giants offensive coordinator
Dart is already in a great system that utilizes his running ability, and he’s shown improvement as a passer every week. The argument for Kafka is continuity, but he would have to show that he can get Dart to protect himself better and not rely on the quarterback run game.
Kliff Kingsbury, Commanders offensive coordinator
Kingsbury has proven himself to be the most creative quarterback run game designer in the league, and he’s garnering a lot of respect around the league in his second stint as a play caller. Dart would be a natural fit in his offense.
Klint Kubiak, Seahawks offensive coordinator
Kubiak will be the hottest name in this year’s hiring cycle. He has a ton of experience in the league, having coordinated offenses for three different teams (Vikings, Saints, Seahawks). The Saints offense got off to a hot start last year before they were decimated by injuries, and obviously, he has the Seahawks rolling. Dart isn’t a natural fit in his offense, but it could be seen as a positive to try to get Dart to play more on-schedule so he could take fewer hits.
Todd Monken, Ravens offensive coordinator
Monken is lauded for taking Lamar Jackson’s game to another level. He’s built two different offenses for the Ravens, which makes them tough to defend. They have their under-center, heavy personnel power running game with Derrick Henry and a creative shotgun quarterback run game that Jackson is used to running. Dart and Cam Skattebo could thrive in that sort of dual system.