Patriots woes continue as QB Mac Jones is benched at halftime after throwing two interceptions in 10-7 loss against the Giants... but Bailey Zappe completes first six passes for 38 yards

A quarterback change at halftime allowed the New England Patriots to at least score against New York Giants on Sunday.

After struggling in the first half, coach Bill Belichick decided to bench Mac Jones and called upon Bailey Zappe to facilitate the offense.

Zappe immediately made his presence felt by completing his first six passes for 38 yards. The 24-year-old also handed the ball to Rhamondre Stevenson who scored a touchdown to level New York's 7-0 halftime lead. 

Zappe finished the game having completed nine of 14 passes for 54 yards and an interception as the Giants prevailed, winning 7-10 over the Patriots.  

Jones remained the starter after Belichick refused to name a permanent starting quarterback for two weeks. However, his handprints were all over his team trailing at the intermission after throwing two interceptions. 

Both picks came from Jones making bad throws and resulted in wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster getting into heated exchanges with wide receiver coach Troy Brown on the sideline.

Sources have told ESPN that repetitions at practice had been split evenly between both quarterbacks this week. Jones got the nod with the locker room believing he had the edge in dealing with New York's complex blitz schemes.  

Jones was 212-of-324 for 2,031 yards with 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for the season ahead of Sunday's game. He had also been sacked 21 times. 

Against the Giants, Jones completed 12 out of his 21 passes for 89 yards before getting sent to the bench.

Zappe previously replaced Jones in the final drive of their 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on November 12. Zappe threw an interception in that frame as the Patriots suffered their third straight defeat. 

The Patriots are now 2-9 for the season, sitting fourth in the AFC East.