EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As the saying goes, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Mac Jones got lucky on Sunday. A few times.
If the referees didn't call Jonathan Franklin-Meyers for a dubious roughing-the-passer penalty to erase a pick-six — when Jones appeared to throw it to no one in particular — and a potential 17-3 Jets lead at halftime at MetLife Stadium, who knows what kind of sliding doors moment we could have gotten.
That might have been enough, after a shaky, jittery first half of play behind an abysmal offensive line, for Bill Belichick to send Jones to the bench for Bailey Zappe.
Maybe permanently. Who knows what kind of magic the miniature Z-man would have weaved. If he rescued the Patriots and their season, there's no way Belichick would move away from Zappe.
But we'll never know. The yellow flag got tossed.
Didn't see a good enough replay of the Mac Jones pick-6 that wasn't. Appears to be an option route to Jakobi Meyers. He chooses inside, Mac throws out. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/52T5ru9TJ7
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) October 30, 2022
"I think that’s something I’ll have to see on film," Jones said when asked about the play and where he was throwing it. "I knew what I was trying to do with it, and just a little miscommunication, but I can’t have those. Penalty saved us, but definitely want to eliminate those plays and have to watch it and see what we can do better."
Jones didn't expect there to be a penalty. He picked himself off the turf and slowly walked with his head down to the Patriots' sideline. Probably saw his New England career flashing before his eyes. Then someone told Jones to hold up, there's a flag.
And then everything changed.
Of course, some guy who wore No. 12 got fortunate with a call at the tail end of his second NFL season and his course and that of the Patriots and Belichick — who moved into rarified air past George Halas as the NFL second all-time winningest coach with the 22-17 victory — were changed forever.
Instead of being down 17-3 and Jones' world crashing around him — regardless of the penalty, it came after Jones' throw right to a Jet 84 yards the other way — the Patriots got the ball, ran it every down to avert another disaster with their sped-up quarterback, and graciously took the field goal to trail 10-6 at the break. And the Patriots were getting the ball to start the second half.
"Ten-point swing. It ended up being 17 if you count what happened in the second half. It was a costly penalty," Jets coach Robert Saleh said. "(The officials said) he (Mac Jones) was hit too hard."
I'm not totally convinced that Jones was in the clear. He needed to prove he was settled down. He needed a drive like you read about, or who knows what would have happened.
With a heavy hand from Belichick, Matt Patricia and Jones regrouped at halftime. Obviously the Jets' pass rush — and the Patriots' complete inability to slow it down — was the priority. After the break, they rode the hoss that is Rhamondre Stevenson (23 touches, 143 yards) for a 35-yard carry, and then:
- Pass short left to Tyquan Thornton, 13 yards
- Pass short right to Jakobi Myers, 9 yards
- Incomplete pass short right to Meyers
- Pass short right to Meyers, 5 yards and a touchdown that must have looked like an oasis in a desert to Jones. The last time he led a TD drive was the fourth quarter against the Ravens on Sept. 25th — September! It's almost November (yes, he had the injury but still...).
Short, quick passes to negate the rush and grind out a six-play, 62-yard scoring drive.
The second drive of the second half was all no-huddle — another maneuver to negate a heavy rush.
Ten plays, 34 yards — talk about a grind — to leak a field goal and a 16-10 lead. The Patriots' pass rush and Zach Wilson wearing a Sam Darnold ghost mask did the rest.
"I think Coach Belichick and Matty P (Matt Patricia) and Coach (Joe) Judge did a good job just coming up with a plan of how we were going to attack, we talked about it, and they’ve done a good job all year of adjusting at halftime," Jones said. "I think that’s something they’re doing a great job of and that obviously benefits us in the second half and we were able to go down there and move the ball. Obviously, we want to score more points, we know that, and we’ll have plenty of stuff to work on, but super proud of the guys on offense for just sticking with it and trying to battle through against a really good defense.
"They have a really good defensive line and we’re just trying to neutralize that and move the ball quickly. Matty P did a great job calling the plays all day and I have to get the ball out on some of those sacks and stuff, so it’s not all one person or one thing, but I’ll definitely watch it and see how we can improve. You know obviously, we want to score more points and do all of that. A lot of progress, but have to keep going."
The crisis, for the moment, seemed to be averted. Belichick, who hung his young franchise QB out to dry with his pathetic three-series stint against the Bears on Monday and his less-than-full support this week, seemed to go out of his way to compliment Jones after the game.
"I thought Mac did a good job today," Belichick said. "He got the ball out quickly. We gave up some pressure but I thought he did a good job taking care of the ball. ... I thought Mac did a great job."
Belichick was asked if he was impressed with Jones' toughness or decision-making.
"Decisions for sure. Mac’s tough. There’s never any doubt about that. Mac’s a tough kid," Belichick said. "I thought he made some good decisions, managed the game well, managed our team well. That’s what a quarterback’s job is to do is to help the team win. That’s what he did."
The win, especially against the Jets and with his team at 3-4, is the only thing that matters to Belichick. Jones and his 24-of-35, 194-yard, six-sack, one-INT day did just enough to do that for one week.
I know Patriots fans are a bit spoiled by 20 years of Tom Brady. You got to see what greatness was on a weekly basis, so anything less looks like chopped liver. I get it. It's natural.
But nearly all young QBs in their second season need a lot to go right around them for them to look good. Brady had a great team around him and a stellar defense. Josh Allen didn't even complete 60 percent of his passes until his third season, and he was a turnover machine while starting 15-12. I was there when Aaron Rodgers took over for Brett Favre and he took a team that was in the 2007 NFC Championship Game and went 6-10 and started his second season 4-4 with a loss to a Bucs team that previously lost 20 games in a row.
Were those guys just not good enough at that point? Turns out they were pretty talented, and just needed to grow into the job and get some better pieces (a lot of issues with protection for both) around them to round into form.
I'm not saying Jones is going to be anything close to those two, and probably won't. What I am telling you is that all young QBs, just to have a chance, need to be a bit coddled. They need good gameplans, good protection, a nice running game and a solid defense. That's not Jones — that's all of them save the rarest of talents, like Dan Marino and Patrick Mahomes. Even Peyton Manning averaged 20 interceptions in his first four seasons.
Look at how things are going for Jones' buddies in the 2021 QB draft class. Do they all stink and lack talent?
I'm not sold that Jones is the guy for this franchise. I'm not even sure Belichick will let him finish next week's game against the Colts if he continues to look jittery.
What I am saying is just have patience, and see how things go. Root for Jones to have gameplans that put him in the best position to succeed, and enough protection to have a real chance to stand in the pocket longer than 2.8 seconds.
Even though Brady made it look easy for a long time, succeeding as a young QB in the NFL, one that has real staying power, is a work in progress.
Maybe Jones took a step in the second half against the Jets and a very tough defense. Maybe he just got lucky and put off the inevitable.
You're just not going to get an answer 23 starts into someone's career.