This Supercut of All of Mac Jones 'Almost Comebacks' is Equal Parts Fascinating and Horrifying

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

A week ago, finding myself in a bad place mentally, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and metaphysically about the state of the Patriots at 0-2, I had this to say, among many, many other thoughts:

[T]the Patriots are finding ways to be just not quite good enough. To not convert on the majority of those dozen or so 50/50 plays that decide virtually every game. To lose every critical replay challenge. To come up inches short on the have-to-have-it plays. To not be able to close out a come-from-behind drive. To never pull an upset, despite the reality now that they're commonly underdogs at home. Seriously, when was the last time they won a game you weren't expecting? The only one I can recall without looking it up is that one against Buffalo that was played in the wind tunnel at a jet engine factory. They play well enough for moral victories against the elite teams, but not actual victories. And to beat the teams in the NFL's vast middle class, they need to have everything break their way. They're a hothouse flower that blooms in perfect conditions, but is incapable of winning a game they have no business winning. Which is the most un-Patriots thing you could say about them in the 21st century.

This was as the Pats were coming off back-to-back one-score losses that ended with replay reviews that showed they were an inch away from keeping their comeback drive alive. Which is astonishing when you think about it. You can go years without ever losing a game in that fashion, and they'd done it twice to open the season. But what was even worse, as you can tell from this expression of existential angst, losing that way to Philadelphia and Miami weren't flukes. Those were continuations of a pattern. One that's become a disturbing trend. A point that really gets driven home when you look at this 3:41 second supercut of failed comebacks in the Mac Jones Era:

Great Scott. When you see them all laid out in a row this way, it goes beyond painting an ugly picture, and becomes an eyesore mural the size of a city block. In case you can't watch the video the clips are, in order:

2021:

--Damien Harris fumbling in Miami's red zone in Jones first NFL game.

--Nick Folk doinking the crossbar at the end against Tom Brady's Buccaneers.

--The failure of a back shoulder throw to Nelson Agholor at midfield in OT against the Cowboys, followed by the game winner.

2022:

--Agholor fumbling at the end of a 28-yard catch and run against Baltimore.

--Two completions in bounds with no timeouts left at Minnesota

--Jakobi Meyers' 30 yards backwards pick-6 with 0:00 left in regulation at Las Vegas.

--Rhamondre Stevenson's red zone fumble against Cincinnati.

2023:

--Kayshon Boutte not getting his back foot in bounds.

--Cole Strange getting stopped one inch shy of a 1st against Miami.

One can argue it's unfair to call these "Mac Jones Almost Comebacks," because almost all of them are the result of somebody else's mistakes. But fairness has nothing to do with it. Comebacks are an official stat, kept by the league. And if you get credit for one, then a failed attempt belongs on your permanent record as well. It's a results league. If the QB had done more, the fumbles don't happen, the field goal attempts are closer and the receivers have room to get both feet down.

No, if I really want to be fair to Jones (spoiler: I do), I'll point out that this genius for finding ways to just not do enough to close out winnable games predates him. Lest we forget:

2020:

--Cam Newton can't punch it in from the 1 on the final play at Seatte

--Newton fumbles in the red zone down by a field goal at Buffalo

2019:

--Tom Brady can't connect with Julian Edelman on 4th & 3 from the Kansas City 5 down by a touchdown

--Needing to hold on for a win that would give the Pats a bye week in the playoffs, the defense gives up a 13-play, 75 yard TD drive to Miami

And here is my greatest fear: That this isn't strictly a Mac Jones problem. Though that is also a situation too terrible to contemplate. But that this has become part of the Patriots culture. Ingrained in it over the last five full seasons. In the way you could always count on certain teams (the Chargers, the Texans, the rest of the AFC East) to put a bullet through their own Nikes if you just kept the game close, this team has become one of them. 

I don't believe we're there quite yet. I mean, Bill Belichick hasn't suddenly transformed into Norv Turner or somebody. But it's not a small sample size any more. It's been 4.3 seasons, and we've yet to see anything that could truly be considered a signature win or a comeback with any level of drama attached. While pf course we'd all be perfectly happy with blowout win after blowout win, there's something about proving you're capable of pulling out a close one in the end - and that you're never truly out of a game - that is absolutely necessary in order to be successful in this league. Until the Patriots as currently constituted prove they possess whatever gene makes comebacks possible, they're never going to be anything but what I said last week. Which is "not quite good enough." And that is why this video is the stuff of nightmares.