Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated

How many more times can we call it a “new low” for the Patriots?

The loss to a clearly tanking Washington team was supposed to be rock bottom. But, with the entire world watching on Friday morning as the Pats faced the Colts in Germany, Mac Jones threw yet another critical interception late, was sacked five times and benched for Bailey Zappe on the game’s final drive before he too was picked off and New England dropped a grotesque 10-6 decision.

Now at 2-8, there’s a legitimate possibility that we’ve seen the last of Mac (15/20, 170, 1 INT) as a starter here in New England and more importantly, after seeing a dejected Robert Kraft on camera at one point, the noise regarding Bill Belichick’s tenure here is only going to intensify during the bye week.

“Obviously it was a disappointing game. Similar theme that we’ve had to other games this year. Just too many missed opportunities in all three phases of the game,” Belichick said postgame. “Just got to play better situational football and do a better job taking advantage of the opportunities that we have. We just didn’t do a good enough job today.”

The worst throw of the Mac Jones Era came with 4:24 left in the game. Jones had Mike Gesicki wide open behind the defense when the Pats snapped the ball from the Indy 15 yard line. He threw off his back foot, short-arming an easy touchdown, allowing Justin Blackmon to pick it off. It was just another brutal decision and a mind-blowing lack of execution in a growing list of infractions for Jones.

“It was a terrible throw,” a visibly rattled Jones said during his postgame press conference. “Practiced it, hit it in practice, snugged the throw, and I knew where to go. I just didn’t do it. Didn’t do it right.”

Jones was also asked if he feels like Belichick still has confidence in him and for the first time probably ever, Jones sounded very unsure.

“I mean, at the end of the day, I’ve got to play better. To make people believe, you’ve got to be better. I’m not sure. I don’t know,” he said.

The defense found a way to get the ball back and Zappe took the field with no timeouts down four at the New England 14 with 1:52 left. New England managed to get to its own 40, but an odd fake spike play ultimately ended with Zappe being picked off in triple coverage to seal the game and possibly the fate of Bill Belichick.

When asked about the decision to move to Zappe and whether it would be permanent, Belichick wouldn’t say one way or another, especially with a full week to get things situated during the bye and an eight-hour plane ride home to ponder how the hell it got this bad.

“I just thought it was time for a change,” he said. “Look, I made the decision. That’s what it was. We’ll deal with next week next week.”

Belichick was also asked about the noise surrounding his job security.

“Well, I just do the best I can every day,” he added.

The first half was offensive both to American and German football fans. Jones was sacked five times and the teams combined for seven punts. Indy led 7-3 at the break as New England opened the game with a 13-play drive but had to settle for a Chad Ryland field goal (he was 2-3 on field goals) and the Colts answered with a 14-play drive that ended on a short Jonathan Taylor touchdown. The Patriots had just seven first downs in the first 30 minutes and 264 yards total for the game. The only positive for the offense was the rushing attack as Rhamondre Stevenson had 88 yards and Ezekiel Elliott added 54.

The Patriots reached the red zone on three different occasions in the second half and came up with just three points.

Following a near-interception in the end zone for Jones before a Ryland field goal made it 7-6, RKK was shown on camera looking dejected and seemingly pondering what his next move should be. The decision to move on from Belichick will never be an easy one, but if there was ever a time to do it, it feels like now is it.

That’s still probably not going to happen because of everything he has done. But, with a new QB presumably starting against the Giants in two weeks and the season officially swirling down the drain in rapid fashion – not to mention a a worldwide audience was subjected to the putrid product – the end of the BB Era feels inevitable.