Mac Jones' Back May Be Okay, But Can Patriots Offense Be Fixed?

Three turnovers and only seven points is not a winning formula in today's NFL.

Good news: Mac Jones is fine.

Bad news: The New England Patriots are not.

While the Pats dodged a bullet with their starting quarterback only having back spasms and not a serious injury, they have lots to clean up in the wake of last week's ugly loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Of the NFL's 32 teams, only the Dallas Cowboys scored fewer than the Patriots' seven points in Week 1.

They have a chance to improve on that this Sunday in Pittsburgh, where Jones will apparently be ready to play.

“I definitely feel better and I want to be able to be ready to play against Pittsburgh," the quarterback said Monday. "My back hurt. We were trying to figure out what the issue was. They did all the tests and everything was fine.”

But Jones' availability isn't solely going to fix all of New England's problems that allowed the ugly showing in south Florida. Because of countless offensive mistakes, the Patriots are 0-1 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2000-01.

Against a Dolphins' team sporting a variety of weapons including speedster Tyreek Hill, the defense held up in allowing only one touchdown. But the offense ...

The much-scrutinized play-calling of Matt Patricia wasn't the issue. More so the execution of fundamental football.

*The offensive line opened holes for 78 yards rushing, but had a miscommunication, gaffe that allowed a strip-sack of Jones that resulted in a Miami touchdown.

*Receiver Kendrick Bourne was limited to only two snaps, one of which was a 41-yard reception.

*Mostly, of course, it was the three turnovers that doomed the Pats in Miami. Jones threw a costly interception to stop an opening drive destined for points. The sack of Jones was a gift touchdown most NFL teams don't recover from. And after driving inside Miami's 40-yard line trying to make it a one-score game in the fourth quarter, receiver Nelson Agholor fumbled after a catch.

“I think when we were rolling, we were in the rhythm,” center David Andrews said. "Then we kind of sputtered out, didn’t win first down, got behind the chains. It’s hard to win that way.”

You can actually see why coach Bill Belichick called it a "pretty even game." The Patriots moved the ball in Miami. Their 213 passing yards were only the 10th-fewest in Week 1. And 10 teams ran for less than their 78 yards.

But one thing we learned in Week 1: These Patriots aren't good enough to overcome bad mistakes.