Patriots Doomed by Mac Jones Turnovers with Season on Line in Buffalo Loss
The holiday season has come and gone. Alas for the New England Patriots' playoff hopes, the team's offense was still in a giving mood.
Topping a Buffalo Bills team that still had lingering incentive to play on Sunday was going to require a few factors going right: New England (8-9) managed to overcome an instant deficit in the form of Nyheim Hines' 96-yard runback of the opening kickoff as well as familiar antics from quarterback Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs.
But the Patriots' propensity to protect the ball, losing it only three times since Nov. 20, disappeared when it mattered most, as Mac Jones threw three interceptions en route to a 35-23 defeat. Combined with the Miami Dolphins' dramatic 11-6 victory over the New York Jets, the Patriots' loss eliminated them from playoff contention.
It's perhaps easy to brush off Jones' final aerial error: by the time one of his final desperate tosses was taken by Tremaine Edmunds, New England's fate was more or less written in ink. But the first to the Tre'Davious White, converted from a would-be fade score to Nelson Agholor more or less changed the course of the game. The Patriots immediately got the ball back on a Devin Singletary fumble two plays later but the ensuing five-yard drive yielded only a field goal, partly breaking the team's will as they gave up a second Hines score on the ensuing kickoff.
One last Jones interception was a swift blow of reality to Patriots fans, who now face a most curious offseason. Any prayer they had to declare with just over five minutes remaining was denied by a Matt Milano aerial takeaway in the end zone.
The Patriots' turnover woes came with an aura of macabre irony: the defense likewise forced three takeaways to keep the margin even, one of which might've served as the final defensive catch of Devin McCourty's lauded Foxboro career.
Jones also threw three touchdowns in defeat, but the passes most remembered over the next few months will undoubtedly be the ones that landed in the hands of those wearing streaking Buffalo helemts.
With leashes on the most important position in football shorter than ever, Sunday might've paved the path for not only the Patriots' January but the months beyond as well. Jones' surprise benching in favor of Bailey Zappe was shocking as it was, but just imagine what could be determined and conjured with months to speculate and theorize. Jones did his part to get the Patriots to this ... throwing only one interception over the previous eight games. ... but his shortcomings in a win-and-in contest left much to be desired in the throne that succeeds Tom Brady.
Granted some of the accusations toward Jones ... i.e. affluenza ... feel pretty bizarre and appears to be the punchlines of desperate football comedians desperate to pile on the downtrodden Patriots organization. But with Jones already facing scrutiny for his attitude and on-field demeanor. Such a downfall on the brightest of football stages is far from helping his case for New England-based longevity.
With the offseason arriving earlier than anticipated, the games among Foxboro can officially begin. Time will tell where Jones ends up on the gridiron chessboard.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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