The New England Patriots were one of the most surprising teams in the NFL this season, nearly winning their division on a year they weren't even supposed to compete.
Unfortunately for them, they just couldn't find a way to contain Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, allowing them to reach the endzone in all of their drives en route to a humiliating 47-17 loss.
Rookie QB Mac Jones threw for 232 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 picks, but most of those numbers can with the game already out of hand.
The rookie out of Alabama, however, wasn't heartbroken by the loss.
If anything, he has full faith in the organization and knows they can only get better with another solid offseason:
"To try to play better than we did. I think it just goes back to practice and just holding everybody to a higher standard," Jones told the Patriots. "I think we'll make a lot of progress in the offseason with that and my leadership and just being myself. Sometimes it shows on the field, but it's a result of how we prepare."
Jones is a hard worker and a film junky, so he knows he did all he could to be ready for his first playoff start.
Now, there's nothing else to do but hit the film room again and try to learn from his mistakes:
"We put a lot of effort into it, it's not like we don't do that, but I think just the little things show up in the game. Like tonight, just the little things for everybody, myself included," Jones added. "That's just something that I learned. I'll just try to watch the tape and learn from it. I do appreciate everybody on our team for having my back."
Jones knows he failed to live up to the task a couple of times along the way. Nonetheless, that's just the growing pains that come with being a rookie QB in the NFL.
"I think you get more comfortable with anything you do in life," Jones explained. "I always relate it back to being a pilot. If you're a pilot and you've only flown so many times, by the time you have hundreds of flight hours, it's just an every day thing for you. For me, obviously I was a rookie and I played like that sometimes and I shouldn't have and I can play better and that's my goal this offseason is just to advance and bring the guys along with me."
Jones won't beat himself too much over the loss. He knows his team overachieved and expressed how proud he was for how they performed all season.
"Losing is terrible and none of us wanted to do that tonight. There's nothing we can do about it. There's a lot to look forward to and be positive about and learn from. There's nothing to hang our heads on," Jones concluded.
The 15th pick in the Draft will get strong considerations to win Offensive Rookie of the Year after throwing for 3,801 yards with 22 touchdowns and 13 picks, leading the Patriots to the playoffs for the first time since Tom Brady's departure.
