Bill Belichick was lauded for his gutsiness and genius after the Patriots secured a hard-fought road win over the Bills in Week 13.
While New England's head coach largely was playing the hand he was dealt on that windy night in Buffalo, Nick Wright believes the unorthodox game plan messed with Mac Jones' psyche.
The rookie quarterback only threw three passes in the first Patriots-Bills meeting of the season, which concluded with New England's seventh straight win. Belichick and his team were on top of the world on that Monday night in early December, but it was all downhill from there. New England lost four of its next five games, including Saturday's season-ending defeat at the hands of Josh Allen and Co.
As the Bills were beating the brakes off the Patriots, Wright pinpointed the momentum-shifter for Jones and, in turn, New England's offense.
"I was never impressed by Mac this season, but he was on a nice run before the first game against the Bills," Wright tweeted. "Then Belichick totally mortified him with that gameplan on MNF, the same week he registered two trademarks for his fledgling brand, and he's been flatly awful since then."
In fairness to Jones, he wasn't really set up to succeed over the back end of the season. The Patriots' defense absolutely imploded down the stretch, tasking the 23-year-old to lead multi-score comebacks week in and week out. That's a tough ask for a first-year signal-caller.
If you're a Patriots fan looking for a silver lining, Jones now is battle-tested and has learned how difficult it is to win in the playoffs. It's probably a stretch to say the future is bright in Foxboro, but quarterback doesn't appear to be a major concern at present.
