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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick recorded his 300th career regular-season win in dramatic fashion Sunday, as quarterback Mac Jones led a touchdown drive in the final minute of a 29-25 triumph over the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots (2-5) were on the cusp of letting a game they led for large stretches slip away from them before Jones engineered an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive after taking over with 1:58 left on the clock. Jones hit tight end Mike Gesicki on a 1-yard pass with 12 seconds remaining.
It was the type of final drive that Patriots fans had grown accustomed to during Tom Brady’s playing days but had mostly been elusive for Jones, who is in his third season.
“I want to continue to do that and make people believe,” Jones said.
Jones was 11-of-13 for 127 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. He finished 25-of-30 for 272 yards with the two touchdowns and no interceptions, and his 83.3 completion percentage was the third highest in franchise history in a game with at least 30 pass attempts.
Jones had been pulled from blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints in Weeks 4 and 5, as costly turnovers that were turned into points loosened his hold on the starting job. Players rallied around him after Sunday’s win.
“I don’t think a lot of the talk and stuff that happens with him is fair, honestly,” Gesicki said. “I think he’s done an unbelievable job blocking that out and internally leading us through all that adversity. Today, back against the wall, and you hear all the talk about ‘We can’t close,’ and he stood in there and delivered play after play after play.”
Jones’ only other late-game winning drive came in Week 5 of the 2021 season, in a 25-22 overtime win over the Houston Texans. As for Belichick, whose team was off to the worst start in his 24 years as coach, he becomes just the third head coach in NFL history to reach 300 career regular-season wins — behind Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318).
Including playoffs, Belichick has totaled 331 wins, shy of just Shula’s 347.
“He’s probably the best to do it,” safety Jabrill Peppers said. “Knowledgeable. He knows how to win. He coaches the right way. He knows how to push the right buttons to get guys going. We’re going to continue to play hard for him.”
Belichick downplayed the honor, saying: “It’s great, but I’m really more focused on our team and this year. Will worry about that later. Thank you.”
The Patriots’ final drive was needed after the Bills turned a lost fumble from receiver Kendrick Bourne into a touchdown and 2-point conversion to take a 25-22 lead on the first play after the two-minute warning.
It started with a 34-yard catch-and-run from running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and a 15-yard connection from Jones to tight end Hunter Henry on third-and-8 was another critical play.
“We watch those guys take ownership in practice,” Peppers said. “Mac had a great week … and it showed. I know they feel good they can win the game for us when it mattered.”
Gesicki’s touchdown marked the third time in the past 30 seasons that the Patriots have scored a go-ahead passing touchdown in the final 15 seconds of a game, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The others were quarterback Drew Bledsoe to tight end Ben Coates with no time remaining to beat the Bills in 1998, and Brady hitting receiver Kenbrell Thompkins with 5 seconds remaining to beat the New Orleans Saints in 2013.
Source: www.espn.com