Mac Jones faces toughest test yet in Patriots' playoff quest
It was a struggle for Mac Jones on Sunday.
The New England Patriots fell 33-24 to the Miami Dolphins to close out the regular season. Jones was 20-for-30 passing for 261 yards, one touchdown, one interception — a pick-six — and one fumble.
Sunday's loss marked the third time in Jones' past five games that he had one or fewer passing TDs and the third time in his past four games with at least one INT.
Downward isn't the direction you want to be trending as you head into your first NFL postseason.
Still, Jones had a mostly successful rookie year. He was the only first-year QB to play at least 50% of snaps, and he ended the year with a playoff berth on the heels of the franchise’s only losing season in the past 20 years.
That said, the question remains: Is Jones capable of anything more this season? And if so, do the Patriots have a real chance in the wild-card round?
On Monday's "First Things First," Nick Wright said there's no defending Jones after the Patriots were crushed by Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins in Week 18. What's more, Wright said he has no faith that the first-year QB will be able to pull off a win in the wild-card round against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Saturday (8:15 p.m. ET, CBS).
‘Mac Jones is playing his worst football at the worst time’
"The Patriots would trade Mac Jones straight-up right now for Trevor Lawrence … for Justin Fields … for Trey Lance, in a heartbeat," Wright said. "Maybe Zach Wilson. And I think Davis Mills is better.
"He's playing his worst football, at the worst time, when all the other rookie quarterbacks are showing growth because they were allowed to make mistakes early."
However, Wright's cohost, Chris Broussard, said the 23-year-old QB deserves some credit for getting the Patriots this far, though he doesn't believe New England will make it beyond Super Wild Card Weekend.
"We saw that Mac Jones could get it done on a high level," Broussard said. "He may have been Offensive Rookie of the Year were it not for Ja'Marr Chase. He'd certainly be in the conversation.
"[But] this won't be the year a rookie quarterback leads a team to the Super Bowl. … He is struggling now."
In the regular season, Jones set the Patriots' single-season rookie touchdown record (22) and finished the season with a 67.6% completion rate, the second-highest by a rookie in NFL history behind only Dak Prescott.
Jones had two games with three-plus passing TDs, a feat only one other rookie accomplished (Mills). Jones is one of just 10 QBs to win 10 games this season and managed to do so despite being blitzed at the highest rate in the league (34% of his dropbacks). He finished fifth in the AFC in big completions (20-plus yards) with 52, more than powerhouse QBs such as Allen (51), Kyler Murray (49) and Jalen Hurts (44).
Truth be told, the Patriots' success will come down to their defense. New England is 0-5 when its opponent scores 25-plus points, which the Bills have done in all but four of their regular-season games.
That means that whether Jones rises to the challenge or not, a victory this weekend might not rely on his arm.
But if his arm is clicking, it certainly won't hurt.
