There will be plenty of time to dissect and discuss Mac Jones' career-worst performance and what that means for his and the Patriots' future at the most important position.
What we know from Bill Belichick's comments after the game: Jones will be starting against the Saints at home on Sunday (can't wait for those Zappe chants), and Jones wasn't benched for performance.
"No, I said there was no point in leaving him out there, so I took him out," an unusually disheveled (for a road game) Belichick barked.
I did find it very noteworthy that Belichick didn't bury Jones. If he truly doesn't like the QB due to disloyalty or what have you, as some believe, Belichick could have made Jones the scapegoat. But he didn't. In fact, he never mentioned the word "turnovers" at any point. Ask most Patriots fans, and they'd tell you Jones not only gave the Cowboys three turnovers and two touchdowns on returns — and 18 points overall — in the Patriots' embarrassing 38-3 loss, the worst of Belichick's career, and was the reason for the defeat. I'm not even sure I'd argue.
So if Belichick wanted to skirt responsibility for this debacle, his third-straight 1-3 start and 26-29 record without Tom Brady, he easily could have put a Texas-sized spotlight on Jones by saying something along the lines of, "You're not going to win many games turning the ball over three times, nevermind giving the opponent two touchdowns."
Heck, even some of the Patriots players — including Jones' fellow captains — said as much.
“Well, we turned the ball over against a really good team, that’s what happened," said David Andrews. "It’s self-explanatory you know, we gave up 21 points (actually 18) off of turnovers so can’t win in this league, can’t win at any level doing that."
Andrews was not wrong. The Patriots had a lot of problems in this game, but Backfoot Mac can't get strip-sacked when he's clearly getting pressured (returned for touchdown, 3-18 deficit), can't throw across the field against NFL defenses (returned for touchdown, 3-28), and can't throw a wet noodle into the flat on 4th and 2 (led to a field goal 3-31).
But Belichick, curiously, stayed well away from that. Perhaps he thought it was obvious. Maybe he just didn't want to pile on Jones. Maybe he knows he doesn't have anything close to better, since he released Bailey Zappe and has basically held open auditions for his spot since then.
Perhaps, Belichick has seen the light and understands exactly what the real issues are: Belichick and his coaches haven't been good enough to get this team (or any since Brady) to play disciplined, mistake-free football in big spots, and that the roster he assembled, especially on offense, just isn't good anywhere near enough to compete with good teams in this league.
“I just said we didn’t do anything well enough as a team," Belichick said. "That includes everybody: coaches, players, offense, defense, special teams. There wasn’t anything that was good enough.”
What about Jones' decision-making?
“I don’t think any of us played or coached well enough to be competitive today. Just everybody," Belichick said.
Because, after going back over what preceded Backfoot Mac's turnover-fest, what Belichick said right there is the issue with this team: the coaches weren't ready for this challenge, players weren't ready for this challenge, and they're just not good enough.
Let's go through the litany of issues:
Cowboys opening possession
- Dallas would get their biggest play, until the fourth quarter, on the second play of the game when Michael Gallup was left wide open in zone coverage thanks to Marte Mapu and he roamed for 29 yards. Patriots came out in a zone-heavy scheme, which is their usual — so is looking like Swiss cheese early.
- On the next play, Shaun Wade missed a tackle that cost 12 yards (Christian Gonzalez covered the TE).
- Everyone loves to say the Patriots' defense did their job early holding Dallas to two field goals and a touchdown on four of their first four drives. Don't forget that TE Luke Schoonmaker dropped a touchdown — and Dak Prescott and Tony Pollard ran into each other on 3rd and goal from the 1.
- On 3rd and 6, Myles Bryant missed a tackle short of the sticks that cost the Patriots 11 yards.
New England opening possession
- Second play from scrimmage is horribly blocked, loses 3 yards and it's 2nd and 13 two plays in.
- On 3rd and 6, Demario Douglas and Devante Parker run into each while Jones is running for his life, but he finds Douglas who makes a sensational move to gain 42 yards. It would be his only touch of the game.
- On 3rd and 1 from the 6, Mike Gesicki drops a touchdown on a perfectly fine ball from Jones.
- Belichick does not go for it on 4th and 1 and the team takes a delay of game penalty on a field goal.
Cowboys second possession
- Gonzalez is on Gallup (not CeeDee Lamb) as Brandin Cooks has an 11-yard catch for a first down.
- Mapu doesn't seal the edge on Lamb's easy 12-yard end around.
- Gonzalez gets injured near the end of his drive after being asked to cover Lamb once.
- On the first play after Gonzalez is injured, Prescott has a cushy pocket despite a five-man blitz, FS Jabrill Peppers fails to give Myles Bryant good enough help in an obvious mismatch against Lamb, and it's an easy 20-yard touchdown. Dallas leads 10-3.
Patriots second possession
- As the first quarter ends on the third play of the Patriots' series, Dallas held the ball for 9:19 in the first quarter and averaged 7.6 yards per play. Does that sound like good defense to you, one of the league's best? Mind you, Jones has done nothing wrong yet.
- After a dime throw from Jones to Gesicki, Ezekiel Elliott goes for no gain, Juju Smith-Schuster drops a pass that Jones barely got off with Micah Parsons in his grill thanks to Vederian Lowe, and Mike Onwenu gets the first of his three penalties to bring up 3rd and 15.
- Jones makes a terrific throw to Smith-Schuster in traffic, who is falling again as he tries to catch the ball. They are 1 yard short.
- Belichick goes for it here, but Bill O'Brien calls for the tush-push behind an obviously bad line. No one learned from last week as the Patriots are stuffed.
Patriots third possession
- The defense holds, but the world's most expensive special teams (which botched two snaps on field goals last week), allows Douglas to be creamed for a 2-yard loss to the Dallas 10.
- Owenu makes it worse with another false start. Now it's 1st and 15 at the 5.
- Two plays later, O'Brien calls the exact same play as the one that sprang Pharoah Brown last week — as if the Cowboys don't have film — everyone is covered, Lowe allows Dante Fowler to run around him and strip-sack Jones for a scoop and score TD.
- Special teams gets pantsed again (how many coaches do they have now?) as Cowboys special teams maven John "Bones" Fassell saw something on film and has his team make a check as the Patriots rush all 11 players hard on an extra point and some DE named Chauncey Golston is left all by himself for the 2-point conversion to make it 18-3.
Patriots fourth possession
- On second down, three blocks are missed as Elliott goes for 1 yard to bring up 3rd and 6.
- On third down, Backfoot Mac almost throws another pick-six with two pass rushers bearing down on him.
- Punt
Cowboys fourth possession
- Time for the great defense to make a stand to keep the team in it. That's how they built this team.
- Second play goes to Jake Ferguson for 21 yards in more zone as Wade jumps the flat instead of taking the vertical receiver.
- Easy 12-yard pass to Lamb with no one around Prescott.
- 16-yard run from Pollard.
- 9-yard run from Dowdle
- On 3rd and 5, there's confusion among the safeties and Ferguson gets a quick, easy 12 yards.
- Drive: 11 plays, 73 yards, 5:33. Field goal.
- It's now 21-3 with 4:03 left in the second quarter and the Patriots' defense has allowed the Cowboys to gain 210 yards on 34 plays (6.2 average).
We didn't even get into how the Cowboys saw the Patriots' weapons as zero threat (Giardi took care of that) and played them as everyone should: even without their best corner, Cowboys played man and/or squatted on routes in match zone because they knew the Patriots wouldn't be able to get open while their pass rush won.
Or how at some stages of the "comeback" the Patriots were using two running backs, two tight ends and a receiver.
"We didn’t play good today at all, at all levels, and we got exposed, and just wasn’t good," said Henry. "We have been preaching not turning the ball over and you give them 3 turnovers, two of them are points. Just too many mistakes man, it’s hard to say exactly where (the problem) is, but I’m still optimistic you know, I know the group of guys that we have in that locker room wasn’t good enough today but we have a resilient bunch and we’ll learn a lot… a lot.”
How can anyone read all that transpired up to 21-3 and conclude that the quarterback was the reason why the Patriots were outclassed on national television? This is not to absolve the QB at all — Backfoot Mac made it all worse, and we'll get to him tomorrow with the coaches' film. But their defensive plan was terrible - before Gonzalez went out - and they were rolled over. Special teams got worked. Penalties. Poor coaching decisions. Offensive line got whipped. An obvious lack of talent all over the place. Mike McCarthy and company clearly outcoached Belichick and his staff.
Just like the Eagles and Dolphins, the Patriots are not in the Cowboys' weight class. And that's only because of the quarterback? Open your eyes to what has been going on back to 2019 when Brady was here.
Maybe Belichick knew exactly what he was doing when he didn't throw Jones under the bus despite having it served up on a tee.
He knows the QB is just like the rest of the team, players and coaches: not good enough.
Or, at least, not as good as they used to be once upon a time.