The Colts hit the Patriots with a slew of punches over the first half-plus of Saturday night's game, but New England never threw in the towel.
The visitors found themselves trailing Indianapolis by two touchdowns seemingly in the blink of an eye late in the first quarter. Not much went right for the Patriots until the fourth frame, and they still managed to pull within three late in the final quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium.
New England wouldn't have been able to keep the Week 15 contest competitive without Mac Jones, who overcame a few miscues and showed a lot of guts in crunch time. The rookie quarterback's fourth-quarter play impressed one of his more outspoken critics, Rex Ryan.
"I will say this about New England, about your Patriots: Look, I was laughing about the peashooter and all that type of stuff," Ryan said on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown." "But, he showed me that in the fourth quarter -- that's one thing he had to answer. Could he bring a team back? He did bring his team back. So, to me, that's gotta be encouraging as well for the Patriots."
Jones held both himself and his teammates accountable after New England's 27-17 loss, showcasing once again that he's mature beyond his years. The 23-year-old also knows one defeat -- the Patriots' first since mid-October -- isn't "the end of the world."
As Jones noted during his postgame media availability, New England quickly needs to put the loss to Indy behind it and look ahead to the next challenge. The importance of the Week 16 Bills-Patriots tilt at Gillette Stadium cannot be understated.
