Most people would say the nadir of Mac Jones’ uneven performance against the Dolphins Sunday came midway through the first quarter, when star cornerback Xavien Howard picked him off and returned the ball for a touchdown. The pick-six catapulted the Dolphins to an early two-score lead, and they never really looked back.
But in Jay Feely’s mind, the catastrophic misfire was a positive. The ex-kicker, who was on the call for the Patriots’ 33-24 loss to Miami alongside whispering play-by-play man Spero Dedes, said the deficit would serve as a great test for Jones heading into the playoffs. Throwing touchdowns is easy. Interceptions build character, or something.
“For Mac Jones, as a rookie, you have these moments,” Feely said. “Going into the playoffs, it’s kind of good to have a moment like this, where you throw a pick-six, you get down early, and you have to try to figure out a way to rebound. Hit the reset button, come back out, run your offense the way it was designed.”
mac jones to Xavien howard for 6!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/aKUuYgijit
— josh houtz (@houtz) January 9, 2022
The Patriots didn’t do that. Instead, they committed more errors, ranging from Lawrence Guy lining up incorrectly on a Miami punt attempt and Jones plain out dropping a snap in the second half. Their sloppy play matched Feely’s analysis.
Late in the contest, the broadcaster wondered whether the Patriots were losing on purpose to set up a more favorable playoff matchup.
Aside from Jones’ rough play, the big story coming out of Sunday’s game was the officials’ incompetence. Two of the calls — a phantom unnecessary roughing call against Brandon Bolden and weak pass interference flag against Dolphins corner Eric Rowe — were some of the worst of the season.
But nobody on the CBS telecast appeared to have much of a problem with them. Rules analyst Gene Steratore covered for his zebra brethren when discussing the Bolden play, which gave the Dolphins a new set of downs towards the end of the first half.
“It’s a tough judgment play, Spiro, for a couple of reasons,” Steratore said. “When a player starts to give himself up, if the defensive player has committed to that tackle right as the player is giving himself up, as is happening here — provided there’s no contact to the head area — which there also isn’t, you wouldn’t want to see a foul on this play. But that play is really a difficult play to referee in real time. I would’ve liked to see a pass on the play, but it’s a hard play to officiate in live action.”
Was anybody able to follow that word salad? Neither Dedes nor Feely pushed back on Steratore’s meandering explanation. Later, Feely described the Rowe penalty as a “tough call,” even though he barely touched Hunter Henry.
While the Patriots suffered a myriad of frustrating losses this season, their collapse in Miami might’ve been the most irritating. In that spirit, it’s appropriate that maybe the most infuriating analyst we’ve heard all year was on the call.
