Mac getting used to ups, downs of NFL
FOXBORO — Just six games into his NFL career, Mac Jones knows the fine line between a win and a loss in the NFL.
He’s walked it several times, and never more obviously than on Sunday.
Jones threw a pick-six with two and a half minutes left in regulation of the Pats’ eventual 35-29 loss to the Cowboys, then fired a touchdown pass on the very next play from scrimmage. That score, a 75yard connection with Kendrick Bourne, accounted for more than one-third of his total passing yards and inflated a stat line that had otherwise been limited by solid Dallas defense. The Cowboys largely outplayed the Patriots in regulation, but lost the critical moments, such as third downs and plays inside the red zone.
Then, including Jones’ pick and a failed third-down conversion in overtime that led to the Dallas’ game-winning drive, the Pats lost those, too.
“In the NFL it takes maybe three or four bad plays and you lose the game. The margin of error is very slim,” Jones said. “I guess when I have that feeling that something might be going bad, just throw it away, call a timeout or figure it out and just try not to make a bad play worse, so I could have done that tonight better. I think the people around me played really well and we fought really hard, and sometimes you fall short.”
Patriots center David Andrews credited Jones from bouncing back from his interception.
“He’s got some guts, he’s got some gusto. Talk about mental toughness. How do you respond any better than what he just did?” Andrews said. “We needed a play and we got one from him.”
Jones also took a massive shot from Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory, who knocked the ball free on arrival after beating backup right tackle Yodny Cajuste early in the second quarter. Jones insisted the hit didn’t affect him, though the offense ground to a halt until the rookie led a 13-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. In total, he took two sacks and five hits, despite the Patriots’ tight ends and running backs giving their offensive linemen regular help in pass protection.
Instead of Jones praising his O-linemen for paving the way to victory, the post-game story of Sunday’s win was how Gregory and the Cowboys became the fourth team this season to leave Gillette Stadium with a win.
“Honestly, I felt their O-line couldn’t block me or block any of us as long as they didn’t chip us. At least on the ends, and they did a lot of that,” Gregory said.
Judon takes hit
In the big picture, Matt Judon was right.
“Our offense went out there and scored. … They gave us the lead,” he declared after the Patriots’ 35-29 overtime loss to the Cowboys. “We gotta do our job.”
After staking two leads in the final minutes of regulation, the Pats defense couldn’t deliver a win, allowing goahead and game-tying drives. They even won the coin toss to start overtime. But instead of celebrating their first home win and rising to 3-3, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott knocked the Patriots out with a 35-yard touchdown strike to CeeDee Lamb.
Cruelly enough, on that play, the defense actually did its job. According to veteran safety and captain Devin McCourty, the Pats covered Prescott’s initial reads and forced him to throw it deep.
“We were in a tough call, I think, for the route they ran. They dialed up a good play for what we tried to do,” McCourty said. “(It was) kind of situational football. What they like to do, we tried to take it away, and Dak was able to hold it for another second. We kind of took the first two reads, the two tight ends to the flat on our left side. But extended play, he got back to the middle, and that’s where we were kind of light at. And that was it.”
Pats coach Bill Belichick saw the play similarly.
“We covered a flat receiver and then he just on the over route with another extended play,” he said post-game. “Obviously didn’t play it well enough, didn’t coach it well enough.
The closest Patriot to Lamb was cornerback Jalen Mills, who could only shove him after he’d crossed the goal line and clinched the win. Mills’ effort, a show of frustration, perfectly captured the defense’s performance: too little, too late.
Wynn, Onwenu make unlikely returns
For an offensive line down both starting tackles, the Patriots’ group was actually in good health Sunday.
Backup offensive tackle Justin Herron, listed as questionable on the team’s injury report Friday, started despite suffering a mid-week abdomen injury. Herron replaced left tackle Isaiah Wynn, who was active after being activated off COVID-19 reserve Saturday. Wynn missed the past
two weeks of practice and eventually relieved Herron after he allowed a sack.
The trouble was, Wynn also allowed a sack, and was pulled back to the sideline.
Like Wynn, starting left guard Mike Onwenu was active after getting lifted off COVID19 reserve this week. Onwenu practiced twice this week, but did not start. Practice-squad veteran James Ferentz earned a starting nod for the second straight week and was called for holding.
Onwenu made his game debut as an extra tight end, then replaced Yodny Cajuste at right tackle. Onwenu started 10 games at right tackle last season, but had practiced and played almost exclusively at left guard this season.
Harris breaks out for 100-yard game
Patriots running back Damien Harris insisted the ribs injury that knocked him out of the team’s last game at Houston didn’t affect him Sunday versus Dallas. The stats backed him up.
Harris notched the fifth 100-yard game of his career, rushing for 101 yards on 18 carries. He also caught one pass for seven yards. Harris rotated with fourth-round rookie Rhamondre Stevenson and veteran Brandon Bolden.
Stevenson finished with five rushes for 23 yards and a touchdown.
Second-year running back J.J. Taylor headlined the team’s inactives list pregame, the second straight game he’s missed. Taylor suffered a groin injury late in the week and was listed as questionable. He was a healthy scratch for the Pats’ 25-22 win at Houston.