Well, if there's one silver lining in losing the New York Giants, the dream of getting a top-two pick in the NFL draft and a shot at one of the two prized quarterbacks - Caleb Williams and Drake Maye - remains very much alive.
And you know what? It's okay to admit that you were happy about Chad Ryland missing that 35-yard chip shot to force overtime because a) no one needed to witness bonus football between these two offensively challenged teams and b), most importantly, it gives the Patriots a better chance at changing the team's future fortunes by getting that potentially transformational quarterback. They need it because they don't have one on the roster.
Both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe played poorly. Mac threw two dreadful interceptions, with the second being significantly worse than the first, killing a promising drive and setting the Giants up for the first and only touchdown of the game.
Zappe got the nod from Bill O'Brien at halftime, and his mere presence gave the offense some juice to start the third quarter, driving them 60 yards down the field for the team's lone score. After that, however, the carriage turned into a pumpkin. Zappe threw one interception that set up the game-winning field goal midway through the fourth quarter, throwing a ball that never should have been thrown (coincidentally, on the same concept as used on Mac's first INT).
There was a crowd of three defenders around JuJu Smith-Schuster. But that wasn't his only puzzling decision. The second-year slinger had a tipped pass on the next drive - throwing sideways no less - that could have been picked off, then tried to squeeze in a slant on the following possession, and Bobby Okereke, who got Mac, should have gotten Zap. In fact, there is no Ryland miss if Okereke, a ball-hawking linebacker, makes that play.
Imagine deciding who gets the start next weekend. Neither of them is the answer. Too limited physically and, in Jones' case, just broken. He doesn't look anything like the player he was as a rookie.
Jones spoke on that postgame, first acknowledging during the question that the work he had put in prior - during his rookie year - had translated on game day.
"Yeah, it has."
So how did he end up here, with a career that is an absolute mess?
"It's tough to figure all that out," he said. "Like I said, I'm going to control what I can control and just try and put a better product and protect the ball better, really. Right? The turnovers and just throw the ball away and make sure I don't have those plays and see where we're at. That's the NFL. The teams that don't turn the ball over and do their job usually end up pretty good."
Those mistakes have defined Mac's season and the team's as well. This was his 5th career game with no touchdowns and at least two interceptions. That's the most by any player since Bill Belichick became the head coach in New England. So that's not just Tom Brady we're talking about, but Drew Bledsoe, Matt Cassel, and - gulp - Cam Newton. It feels as though Jones has gotten to the point of no return, where it's not only the physical holding him back but the mental.
"It just depends on the plays," said Jones when asked about his errors. "I always look at the film and try to digest what happens. I'm going to do that whether it's a win or a loss. I got to go back and see what I can do better, whether it's physical or mental, and evaluate everything."
Belichick evaluated his quarterbacks in the week leading up to the game and decided that Jones was the Pats' best answer, despite the verbal shell game he played with the press and fan base throughout the week. That continued in the postgame, with the 71-year-old saying he couldn't remember exactly when he told the quarterbacks who was starting, then later clarifying that it was before the team made the trip to New Jersey (which, oh, by the way, was Saturday afternoon).
"I thought both guys deserved a chance to play," said Belichick postgame.
Ummm, what?
"I told everybody to be ready to go."
Was the plan to play Zappe in the second half, or was that results-based?
"I told everybody to be ready to go," he repeated. "I think they both deserved to play."
If you have to play two, you have none.
On and on that dance continued, and Belichick later invoked that same song and dance when referencing the left tackle rotation with starter Trent Brown and backup Conor McDermott. Another example of the coach acting like the QB position is the same as any other. It is not. It never will be. When continually pressed about how he handled it this week, Belichick decided he had enough and ended his own press conference.
It's just another layer to what feels more and more like the final chapter in this 20-plus-year story in New England, one that will undoubtedly be connected to the quarterback position and Bill's failure to either maximize what he has in that room or deciding that the room was good enough in the first place.