The New England Patriots are now 2-1 in their division thanks to some rare Mac Jones magic.
The Patriots pulled off a stunning upset Sunday at Gillette Stadium, earning a 29-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills capped by Jones' go-ahead touchdown pass to tight end Mike Gesicki with 12 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
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Jones' clutch pass to Gesicki gave the third-year quarterback his second game-winning drive of his NFL career and the first since his rookie season, when he led a late Patriots comeback over the Houston Texans. Jones also did something that's only happened two other times in the last three decades in New England.
That stat puts the drama of Sunday's ending into perspective. This was arguably the Patriots' most dramatic win since 2013, when Tom Brady marched his team 70 yards in 73 seconds before hitting Kenbrell Thompkins for a game-winning score with just five seconds remaining.
Jones has largely lacked that clutch gene in New England, but he channeled his inner Brady on Sunday, completing 7 of 8 passes to lead the Patriots 71 yards in 1:46 of game time en route to the game-winning score.
"He just did a great job in crunch time," Gesicki said of Jones after the game. "In the biggest moments of the game when our best was needed, he delivered."
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The Patriots entered Sunday as heavy underdogs against the Bills and emerged with their most impressive victory in at least the last two seasons. Jones has had a brutal season to date, but his performance in Sunday's win -- 25 for 30 for 272 yards, two touchdowns, and most importantly, zero turnovers -- was an encouraging step in the right direction.
Whether Jones can replicate that success next Sunday against the AFC East-leading Miami Dolphins remains to be seen, but he earned some well-deserved praise for his late-game heroics against Buffalo.
"I think he's done an unbelievable job internally of leading us throughout all that adversity," Gesicki said. "And today, back against the wall -- when you hear all the talk about us having a chance to win the game and we can't close and all that kind of stuff, and today we had a chance, and he stood in there and delivered play after play after play."