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The Patriots fell to 6–6 on Thursday night after dropping a pivotal AFC East matchup at home in a 24–10 loss to the Bills (9–3).
The 14-point margin of victory suggests the contest was more competitive than it actually was, but in reality, the Thursday Night Football audience saw New England trail for most the night thanks, in part, to a woeful performance by Mac Jones and the offense. A touchdown on their second drive gave the Patriots an early 7–3 lead, but the club soon found itself down 17–7 at halftime and never recovered.
During the second half, TNF cameras caught an intense moment involving Jones as he came off the field following another frustrating drive. The second-year quarterback was seen walking toward the bench with his helmet off and looking down the Patriots sideline before unleashing a F-bomb filled tirade as he sat down.
“Throw the f-----g ball! F-----g quick game sucks! F---,” an irate Jones appeared to shout, seemingly referencing the team’s gameplan vs. the Bills’ ailing but fearsome pass rush.
After the game, Jones was asked to explain his strong comments, and told reporters they came in the heat of the moment. He also clarified that the remarks weren’t directed at Patricia or any other member of the team.
“Obviously, just kind of let my emotions get to me,” Jones said. “We were kind of playing from behind and what I said was about throwing it deeper. … It’s the short game that we kept going to which was working but I felt like we needed chunk plays and I shouted that out to kind of get everyone going. That’s emotional, that’s football. I’m passionate about this game, obviously, you don’t want to let your emotions get the best of you but that’s pretty much it. It wasn’t direct at anybody, just emotion coming out, we kind of needed a spark.”
On a night where it seemed the Patriots couldn’t get anything going, the viral clip of Jones’s NSFW message to the team ended up being the only noteworthy part of New England’s evening.
While the offense did manage to score, the play didn’t come from one of Jones’s regular weapons but, instead, belonged to rookie return specialist and defensive back Marcus Jones on a 48-yard catch-and-run score. Jones, who hadn’t logged an offensive snap prior to Week 13, finished the game as the Patriots’ leading receiver with 51 yards on two catches.
In all, New England punted the ball on five of its next seven series after the score, with the other two resulting in a 1–of–2 showing by kicker Nick Folk. To make matters worse, their struggles were magnified by an all-around dominant showing by Josh Allen and the Bills; Allen and Co. owned the time of possession battle 38:08 to New England’s 21:52 and registered 350-plus total yards (355) for the ninth time this season.
Meanwhile, the Patriots logged just 242 total yards, and saw many plays stopped in their tracks due to a lack of vertical plays and short dumpoffs to running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Jones ended the night with 195 yards on 22-of-36 attempts while Stevenson logged 54 rushing yards and added a team-high six receptions for 24 yards.
