Mac Jones and the New England Patriots suffered their second straight loss of the season in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins, and it was a contest that felt far too similar for the Pats and their fans. New England fell behind early, managed to rally late in the game, but watched their comeback attempt fall short once again. Sound familiar?

If it does, that's because, well, that's pretty much been the story anytime the Patriots lose a close, hard-fought game. New England lost this game 24-17, but there wasn't much to differentiate it from their season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Pretty much the exact same script took place in that game, and you can trace this pattern all the way back to Jones' rookie season in 2021.

Jones isn't fully culpable for New England's inability to pull out victories in close games, but his continued failure to deliver late in the game has practically made him the polar opposite of his predecessor Tom Brady, despite their many shared physical traits. Jones is still young, but at some point, the Patriots need him to turn these close losses with moral victories into games they actually win.

Mac Jones needs to prove he can deliver in the clutch for the Patriots

To this point in his career, Jones hasn't really had a defining victory in the NFL. Everytime he gets the ball with a chance to complete a comeback, the offense sputters. In Week 1, Kayshon Boutte couldn't keep his feet inbounds on a catch that would have converted 4th & 11 and put New England at the Eagles eight-yard line with just under 30 seconds left in the game. In Week 2, Mike Gesicki came up just short of the sticks on 4th & 4, and his magnificent lateral to Cole Strange ended up being just inches short too.

Throughout the first two seasons and two weeks of Jones' career, when New England wins, they are typically winning big. The average margin of victory throughout the first 16 wins of Jones' career is 18.5 points, which indicates that the Patriots can comfortably dismantle inferior opponents. On the other hand, though, the average margin of defeat for Jones in his 17 losses has been nine points, with eight of those losses being by seven points or less.

This is a roundabout way of saying that in games where the Patriots have a chance to right their wrongs from earlier in the game, Jones hasn't been able to deliver. It's a stark contrast from when Brady was under center with the ball late in the game, as you could count on him to deliver more often than not.

Now, it's worth noting that not all of this falls on Jones' shoulders. His supporting cast on offense pales in comparison to what his former Alabama Crimson Tide teammates in Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa have on the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins, and yet he very nearly managed to beat both of them. But very nearly winning doesn't count. Jones had shots to win both of these games, and failed to deliver on both occasions.

Jones could benefit from more help, but he's made due with the fairly lackluster complement of options he has around him before. Having a lethal defense helps, but the offense has to turn their stops into points far more frequently than they have been able to do to this point. And as the leader of the offense, that falls on Jones' shoulders.

At some point, Jones is going to have to prove that he is the guy who can deliver these sorts of wins for the Patriots. New England has won one score games with Jones under center, but they largely haven't been because of his offensive production. Beating the Eagles of Dolphins to open the season would have shown that New England had actually taken a step forward on offense in 2023.

Yet two games into the season, it's been more of the same for the Patriots. These losses are similar to each other, but they also look eerily similar to losses against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys from Weeks 4 and 6 of the 2021 season, which were also the fourth and sixth games of Jones' young NFL career. Jones has improved in some areas of his game, but this is not one of them.

In order for New England's fate to change, they have to find a way to grind out victories against high-quality opponents. Jones isn't alone in his struggles to lead the Patriots to these sorts of wins, but he is also the leader of the offense as their quarterback. There's still time to figure this out, but at some point, Mac Jones has to deliver for New England, especially now that they have crawled out to an 0-2 start on the year.