I'll Take an Extra Helping of This 'Mac Jones is Now Giving Them a Chance to Win' Talk on NFL Network

When you find yourself clinging to life in a desperate survival situation, it's not just helpful to find little sources of hope; it's essential. When you read the accounts of the men who survived the Ernest Shackleton expedition to the South Pole when the Endurance got trapped in the ice and they had to eat their sled dogs, they fashioned costumes and put on shows for one another, just to keep the esprit de corps up in the least hospitable place on Earth. It's why Andy Dufresne put Mozart's Marriage of Figaro on the Shawshank PA system. It was worth the beating he took just to remind everyone there's something to hope for. And hope is a good thing. 

And with the Patriots are headed to Germany in middle of their worst season in 33 years, it's necessary to look for positives, just to survive in this metaphorical Antarctic hellscape. To find those little rays of hope amid the vast, unforgiving bleakness. Here's a small mercy to make you able to face Week 10, the bye, and beyond:

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I know this is not going to land with a substantial segment of the population who are in no mood to hear good things about Mac Jones. And I get it. Totally. A quarterback, by the nature of his job, is going to bear most of the blame for losing in the same way he gets an undue share of the credit for success. They don't have Win Shares in football. They don't keep W-L stats for centers or linebackers. Nature of the beast and all that. 

And here's one W-L stat that won't help his cause any. That loss to Washington Sunday was the 13th home loss of Jones' 41 career games. In Tom Brady's 20 years as a starter in New England, he lost a total of 27. 

Which is just my way of conceding that there's a reason for everyone's frustration. A lot of people were never sold on Jones. Despite his solid rookie season. I certainly was. And blamed all of his 100-mile step backwards in Year 2 on bad coaching. I convinced myself that season would all be forgotten like the Gas Leak Year of Community and we could go back to developing him into the Franchise QB of the present and future. Which I was truly beginning to doubt when the Pats managed just 3 points over two games at the beginning of October. 

But that was then. And in the now which we find ourselves, neutral observers like Ian Rapoport in that clip and Brian Baldinger in the following one are seeing promise. 

Watch this Baldy Breakdown and tell me the fact the Pats couldn't score more than 17 on the Commanders is a quarterbacking problem, and not a receiver problem. Warning: Awful route-running. Viewer discretion advised:

Again, he doesn't have a dog in this fight. The pinkie on Baldinger's right hand may be crooked, but he gives it to you straight. He's just an analyst who breaks down film and sees a handful of receivers incapable of receiving. Across the board, guys who can't get separation. Can't defeat single man coverage. And as he says, where's Jones supposed to go with the ball on these plays when every defensive back stays in phase, running the routes better than the receivers do? And then when he does get an open man and puts it where they're paid to catch it, he gets these:

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Which is not to argue that it's all on them and Jones deserves none of the blame. But it's inevitable that when a passer is getting few opportunities and has to be perfect on the ones that he does get, that he's going to start missing some. He gets sloppy. He rushes throws with bad mechanics:

Or fails to see the guy coming open, even if he checked the play to him:

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It becomes a snake eating its tail. We just need to recognize that it starts with an incredibly thin wide receiver depth chart that's missing both the de facto WR1, Kendrick Bourne. the guy who sees himself as the WR1, DeVante Parker. And even Parker has had route-running/catching issues. Including two that cost his team the Las Vegas game:

Since that game, Jones has thrown just two interceptions, one of which was a perfect spiral thrown between the meaty parts of his veteran wideout's thumbs with a game on the line. And it's getting fairer and fairer to point out what the national pundits are saying. That Mac Jones is improving. Whether anyone in New England wants to hear it right now is questionable. But personally, I need something to keep me from questioning my existence and drinking myself to sleep every night. This'll have to do.

Now please don't make liars out of us in Germany, McCorkle.